NEWS How the VLT world turns
As territories new and old continue deploying terminals, export deals for technology and content abound
Here’s some news that may not surprise you: an Italian firm and a foreign one have signed a deal for the supply of video lottery terminals (VLTs). But despite the reams of coverage given in the last couple of years to the still-ongoing rollout of VLTs in Italy, this story is not what you think. For the VLT trade goes both ways, and it is Spielo – a subsidiary of Italy’s Lottomatica – that is selling 5500 of its ProdiGi Vu VLT terminals to Société des Loteries Vidéo du Québec (SLVQ). Owned by the province’s lottery operator Loto-Québec, it has Canada’s largest VLT network.
Inspired game content will be rolled out to at least 3000 Multix VLTs
These, the third generation of Spielo VLTs in Québec, are said to be the first distributed
VLT units in North America based on the Game to System (G2S) standard.
They will be installed in 2013, under a contract that runs to 2016. And Spielo has also won the contract to provide a system for monitoring the SLVQ VLT network, using its G2S-based Intelligen product. Exporting in a more familiar direction is Aristocrat
Lotteries, the division of Aristocrat Leisure that specialises in server-based gaming. It is extending its arrangement with Italian VLT operator Cogetech to encompass a further 750 of its TruServ terminals, taking to 3000 the total that Aristocrat is providing to Cogetech’s IZIPlay outlets. “We are proud that with our support, Cogetech is the first concessionaire in this market to have nine games approved and live. Furthermore, we are delighted with the launch of our latest title for Italian players, 5 Dragons, one of the most successful slot games globally,” said Aristocrat Lotteries Italy Manager Bostjan Torkar. “Of the major slot providers in the US casino market we
are the only one at this point to successfully take our system through the stringent Italian testing and certification process, and we’re generating significant play on our games in this important market already,” added Aristocrat’s Managing Director for Emerging Businesses & Strategy, Sam Nickless.
Meanwhile, another major exporter of VLT products to
Italy, Inspired Gaming Group, has also secured a contract to supply content to the Multix VLT system run by Norsk Tipping, the not-for-profit Norwegian operator. Starting in September, Inspired’s slots, fixed-odds games and other content will be rolled out to at least 3000 terminals, a number which the firm expects to grow over the four-year life of the revenue-sharing deal. Two other companies are also providing Norsk Tipping with VLT content. According to Aristocrat, its success in the tendering
process highlights “a trend of how boutique game developers with customisable and bespoke content offerings are outperforming the traditional big slots companies”.
The other side of town
ICE Totally Gaming plans to leave Earls Court. But don’t worry: the January event still hearts London
London’s ICE Totally Gaming is to move to the Docklands area in the east of the city from 2013, finding a new home at the ExCeL exhibition centre. The event was previously at the much older Earls Court facility in west London. “The huge investments they have made in the last 12 months in their facilities and infrastructure, the upgrades to the Docklands Light Railway and Jubilee line [of the London Underground], the Olympics legacy, as well as their close proximity to London City Airport mean that ExCeL is the right venue to enable us to meet our ambitions to further grow ICE and our international audience,” said Julian Graves, Managing Director of Clarion Events, which runs the expo.
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Many event managers favour Earls Court and its nearby sister venue Olympia because of their proximity to Heathrow Airport and easy access to London’s Tube network. Until recently, ExCeL was less well-served by public transportation. That may, as Graves says, be changing but the new location will still place ICE some distance from both Heathrow and Gatwick, the main airports serving passengers from beyond Europe. London City and the comparatively easily-reachable Stansted, however, provide ample service to the European continent. Intriguingly, the five-year deal with ExCeL means ICE is likely to be using the same venue as EAG Expo, the amusements show which takes place on similar dates to ICE, managed by Swan Events and linked to the British trade body BACTA. It’s not clear whether the two plan to run simultaneously or sequentially; either way, both could benefit from crossover attendance and easier logistics for exhibitors trying to reach the amusements sector as well as casinos.
PEOPLE
PROVEN LEADERS Winners of the 2010 Great Women of Gaming Awards in the Proven Leader category are Patricia Becker, Executive Director, International Gaming Institute at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas; Janie Dillard, Executive Director of Gaming, Choctaw Casinos; Cynthia Hays, Senior Director, WMS Gaming; Sharon House, Attorney at Law, Oneida Nation of Wisconsin; and Darlyne Sullivan, General Manager and Executive VP, Atlantis Casino Resort Spa.
RISING STARS Six further women were also named as Rising Stars in the awards. They are Jennifer Bighorse, Marketing Director, Osage Million Dollar Elm Casino; Colleen Birch, Director of Revenue Management & Distribution, The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas; Audrey Damonte, Director of Government Relations & Legal Affairs, IGT; Christine Gabaldon, Player Development Manager, Buffalo Thunder Resort and Casino and Cities of Gold Casino; Candace Lucas, Executive Director of Marketing Operations, WMS Gaming; and Georgia Noble, Chairwoman, Sac & Fox Business Enterprises Board.
GREAT FOUNDATION Neil Goulden is the new Chairman of Britain’s Great Foundation, succeeding Andrew Tottenham. New Trustees at the responsible-gaming charity are Andrew Love, Executive Chairman of The Ritz Club; Ken Turner, CEO of Sceptre Leisure; and Jonathan Paveley, Executive Chairman of Admiral Taverns.
ATRONIC Matjaz Petek is Atronic’s new Gaming Operations Manager for EMEA. Former employers include Casino Portoroz in Slovenia, and Alfastreet. Meanwhile, James Illingworth has become Sales Development Director for EMEA.
EGT Euro Games Technology has named Daniel van Marissing as Director Sales & Marketing. He was formerly the firm’s Director of Sales.
ARISTOCRAT Bas Visser is now Head of Product & Marketing at Aristocrat Technologies Europe. He spent more than 15 years at Holland Casino.
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