Soul Calibur II: Casino Edition is a title that I worked on for GameCo, LLC.

It is an arcade port of the classic fighting game, with the addition of letting the player place a wager on the outcome of matches. This title was part of our broader goal of integrating Esports games into the casino environment.

Since the core game mechanics were already in place, I was tasked with creating a new UI system for the casino environment, as well as a functional leaderboard design for up to 32 simultaneous players.

I began by conceptualizing various UI styles. Since we were adding a gambling element to an existing game, the pieces that I created had to work harmoniously with the original art.

The Soul Calibur franchise is known for having an ornate style with lots of frilly embellishments. My top priority was working within the IP’s established guidelines, but we also wanted to create something that was striking enough to stand out on a crowded casino floor.

I created this art for the Attract Screen, residing on the upper monitor of the game cabinet. The progression ladder with the chains was done in 3D Studio Max. The blue flames at the bottom were animated in After Effects and the rest of the assets were put together in Photoshop.

Note: I did not create the game characters in this screenshot.

Since this game was designed around having a strong multiplayer component, we needed a leaderboard system that could accommodate up to 32 players. The team was looking for something reminiscent of Tron in this design, sci-fi and futuristic. Our goal was to use the leaderboard for additional titles beyond Soul Calibur, so it didn’t need to conform stylistically with our previous work.

I made a few animated mockups for the team as a proof of concept.

Below is the final 32 player bracket approved mockup.