NEWS VLT operators hedge their bets
Italian firms are placing big orders for terminals, but don’t seem to favour any one technology supplier And still they come.
Suppliers of gaming systems are revelling in one of their biggest bonanzas in recent years thanks to big orders from Italian operators of video lottery terminals (VLTs), the networked gaming terminals which began appearing in the country earlier this year after swift legalisation by a government keen to open up a new revenue stream. Most recently, Cogetech – which has licences to operate about 5200 VLTs, also known as Comma 6b devices – has contracted with WMS Gaming to take an undisclosed number of its terminals, marking their Italian debut. “The top-performance WMS VLTs will enable us to offer top-quality products and an extensive product range to our customers,” said Fabio Schiavolin, Cogetech’s CEO. “We are convinced that our customers will appreciate our choice [and] we enhance our portfolio of game content.” For WMS, of course, the order is not just about selling a
few truckloads of terminals. It’s also a vote of confidence in the vendor from a significant operator which could enhance the vendor’s standing internationally and lead to other contracts. “We will optimise WMS’s ability to bring new gaming entertainment experiences to this market and create a path for further growth in international markets,” said Brian Gamache, WMS Industries’ CEO. The Cogetech-WMS deal is just the latest in a series that has involved plenty of big numbers but, as yet, no clear leader on the supply side. Indeed, many operators appear to be opting for a multi-vendor approach. For example, Cogetech earlier ordered more than 2000
VLTs from Aristocrat Technologies’ ACE Interactive subsidiary, mostly its Viridian terminals, as well as game
content, retailer site controllers and jackpot signage, all based on ACE’s TruServ server-based gaming systems. In this case, familiarity rather than novelty appears to have clinched the sale: “Italian players are already used to Aristocrat’s game styles,” said Schiavolin. When it comes to choosing their VLT vendors, then, operators like Cogetech are juggling a number of factors including the local appeal of game content, the functionality of the server-based network management system, and of course that all-important regulatory approval.
Atlantis World’s B Plus – the biggest operator, with nearly 12,000 of the 57,000-odd licences that were issued – recently placed an order for “at least” 1000 VLTs with Merkur Inspired, the partnership of Merkur Gaming and Inspired Gaming Group. “Particularly when it comes to comparing the range of games on offer, Merkur Inspired seems to be leading the way with new and exciting content for VLTs and by having the largest range of games,” said B Plus CEO Alessandro La Monica.
Also helping land that order was approval from the
Italian regulator, the AAMS, for Inspired’s Open VLT platform. Italy places stringent demands on technology suppliers, including a requirement that all random-number generation takes place on the servers at the heart of each VLT network, rather than on individual gaming devices. Inspired is doing particularly well out of Italy. Another
recent order for 1300 Open VLT terminals, including its HD Storm and Prospero cabinets, from Sisal Slot brought the total that the operator is buying from Inspired to 3300. Sisal, however, has licences for nearly 5000 – and most operators seem not to have placed orders to the limit of their quota yet. It takes time to deploy the systems, and doubtless some are hoping to fund future installations with the income from their first rollouts. So it may be a long while before we hear basta!.
US casinos “not spending on slots” A tough climate for suppliers could prompt welcome game innovation
Slot makers are cutting their prices and focusing on fewer, better-performing titles in an effort to persuade casinos to shake off the downturn blues and update their gaming floors again.
Despite stabilising revenues for many US casino operators, they are still postponing upgrade plans, according to Robin Farley, an industry analyst with UBS. “It’s not an expansion market any more. It’s a
replacement market,” Orrin Edidin, President of technology vendor WMS Gaming, was quoted by the Associated Press news agency as saying. “This is a tough sell because they’re looking at our offers and saying, ‘Where’s the value-add that compels me to need to buy this now, or can I wait?’”
6 DECEMBER 2010 INBRIEF
DOMINATING TROIA International Game Technology (IGT) is to install nearly 160 games as well as networked systems at Amorim Turismo Group’s new Troia Casino in Portugal. “I have pioneered many successful technologies in Portugal and I cannot open Troia without sbX [IGT’s server- based system] and a majority floor share of IGT’s games if I want to stay ahead of the game,” said Amorim’s CEO Jorge Armindo. In total the casino will have around 230 gaming machines, with IGT accounting for some 70 per cent.
SANDS RECORD Las Vegas Sands reported record net revenue of $1.91bn for the third quarter ending 30 September, up nearly 70 per cent on the comparable period in 2009. Earnings grew 136.9 per cent to $645.2m. The company credited much of the increase to its Macau operations and its new Marina Bay Sands location in Singapore. However, both its Venetian and Palazzo properties in Las Vegas also experienced higher gaming volume and hotel occupancy.
One possible strategy for suppliers, said Edidin, is to attempt to focus casino management’s minds on the value that the latest slots technology can bring. WMS, for example, claims that using its software to customise games can generate up to 35 per cent more betting volume, compared with slots that don’t have that enhancement.
Another big supplier, International Game Technology (IGT), is concentrating on a smaller range of more popular machines, and trying to create games that will attract players hitherto largely uninterested in slots, such as younger consumers and middle-aged men. It’s a bitter change in the commercial climate for manufacturers that were long used to frequent re-ups at the big casinos.
For gaming operators, however, it may be good news if it
forces more innovation among the creators of slots – as well as lower prices, of course.
EVERYONE WHO’S ANYONE More than 300 exhibitors are now signed up to January’s ICE Totally Gaming Show in London, according to organiser Clarion Events, with 20,000 square metres of show-floor space accounted for. Just over 50 companies are expected to be appearing at the event for the first time, including BuzzBet UK, Spain’s Gigames, Lotos Casino of the Seychelles, and Proizbira of Slovenia. While suppliers to the land-based gaming sector continue to have most of the biggest stands at the expo, one of the largest will this time be occupied by an online gaming firm, Playtech Software.
HERE’S ONE WE MADE EARLIER As we went to press, Wizard Gaming – an Isle of Man developer of online casino software – had just concluded an auction of its games and back-end software, presenting it as an opportunity to acquire the systems at a much lower cost than in-house development would involve. It said it had spent $5m over four years on building them.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54