News
EUROPEAN UPDATE
Merkur Gaming continues to supply the Comma 6a market in Italy alongside VLT gaming
Merkur Gaming has chosen two paths in Italy, both concentrating on the strengths of its manufacturing and games offer in the Comma 6a and 6b markets. Continuing to develop its Magic line for the Comma 6a sector, Merkur Gaming has now released Magic 1, 2, 3 and 4 of its multi-games packages, with the latest homologated game now ranking each of its multiple titles, letting the player chart their current favourites from the menu screen. While the majority of the world's machine suppliers have focused solely upon Italy's VLT sector, Merkur Gaming has delivered on both fronts, combining its skills with Inspired Gaming Group in the VLT sector, and launching the first multi-game video product for Comma 6a.
Italy's gaming monopoly, AAMS, has recently begun a reduction process of machine numbers across the country's bars. In places with four machines as part of their licence, but who in actuality have 6-7 Comma 6a machines, a purge is ongoing with machines removed and fines imposed. At the same time, large numbers of Comma 6a machines have been exchanged for VLTs, reducing the market by around 20 per cent of the entire Comma 6a stock placed in arcades. While the impact has been significant, it's actually much less than was anticipated, with the remaining 320,000 machines enjoying a pronounced increase in play and resultant revenue spike. "80 per cent of the market has not been affected at all by the introduction of VLTs," stated Jens Stradtmann, CEO Merkur Gaming. "We don't envisage that this number will be significantly affected in the future by VLTs as single sites and bars are unsuitable locations for VLTs. We might see a slight drop in Comma 6a revenues, but it's both a stable and good market, now and in the long-term. The connection of every Comma 6a machine delivers transparency for the government and is an appropriate machine for the single site locations. We may see an increase in prize and win in the Comma 6a sector to reduce the gap with VLTs, but we don't see VLTs replacing the entire 6a estate."
Results from the first quarter of 2011 have actually seen revenues from 6a rising in comparison to 2010, while VLTs have also spurred machine revenues in Italy. A new type of player has entered the mini VLT casinos/arcades with little substitution of play, rather there's been an additional new revenue stream as different players are now looking to play closer to home. "The maximum 10 euro bet means that
Scaling new heights in Italy
players can play 500 euros very quickly on a VLT," stated Mr. Stradtmann. "This is much more the casino type of player and there are plenty of players in Italy who want that kind of game, but until now they have had to travel to find it. The introduction of VLTs has meant that they don't need to journey far, with the possibility to enjoy their favourite games and gameplay close to home."
The benefit of VLT game deployment for Merkur Gaming is that unlike Comma 6a gameplay, it is possible to track VLT
G3 I MAY 2011 I PAGE 22 Merkur Gaming’s
Jens Stradtmann pictured at the
Rimini Spring ENADA gaming show with
the company’s new Himmelsstürmer
AWP cabinet - or high flyer - which allows
the player to recline the chair and view the top-most screen in a lounging position.
games remotely, giving details about what stake levels have been chosen, the duration of play, the game preference, etc., with the system then able to react and adapt to these choices in the field. Merkur Gaming is also working with operators to create special VLT zones within their locations, with terminals dedicated to roulette or poker in banks, which means that players can quickly and easily seek out the type of games that most interest them from amongst the range of machines on offer. It's a method that's working very effectively for new
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 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68