we are not forcing operators to take the ‘full stack.’ Tey can pick and choose the components that best fit their needs today, adding elements as those requirements change over time. We are widening the gaming opportunities for our customers, enabling interactive experiences, adding mobile capacity, best-in-class casino games and sports-betting to the mix to provide the most flexible and comprehensive experience for the end user - the player.”
Mobile will play a huge part in IGT’s player experience and is, according to Mr. Ascoli, at the heart of gaming’s interactive future. To drive the point home, the IGT stand at ICE was festooned with mobile connectivity options, all based on HTML5 technology that has now become the enabler for social, interactive and mobile gaming, allowing the player to navigate seamlessly from one environment to the next.
“We are providing content that adapts to the context,” states Mr. Ascoli. “We take advantage of the smartphone in the player’s pocket and we serve content to their PC or to a casino cabinet. We surround the player with a seamless customer experience simultaneously connecting with them across every kind of device, placing mobile at the forefront of this strategy.”
Renato Ascoli, Chief Executive Officer, North America Gaming/Interactive, IGT at ICE 2016 IGT Presents the Best of all Worlds at ICE
Te unveiling of the new Wheel Of Fortune True 3D video slot at ICE 2016, marks a milestone in the journey IGT has made since its merger with GTECH last year. Not only does Wheel Of Fortune 3D fuse iconic gaming content with bleeding-
edge 3D cabinetry, but it showcases the depth of IGT’s combined back-catalogue, the breadth of innovation within its design teams and the speed of integration to produce this show-stealing product
Speaking to Renato Ascoli, Chief Executive Officer, North America Gaming/Interactive, IGT at ICE 2016, he succinctly described Wheel Of Fortune True 3D as a “niche innovation delivered by IGT as a macro market product.” Boasting an installed base of 1,500 units in North America alone, True 3D has been an emphatic hit for IGT, which has built upon and enhanced the original GTECH product. IGT’s influence and professional sheen was obvious across the complete range of products on the stand at ICE, with standouts including Baywatch 3D and the new CrystalSlant and AXXIS 23/23 cabinets.
It’s also clear that the legacy of GTECH has strongly influenced the current crop of IGT games, not simply through innovations such as True 3D, but in one of the most important aspects of games creation - testing. In the summer of 2015, Mr. Ascoli and his team formed a CAB - customer advisory board - to discuss, listen to and actively involve customers in the development process.
In June, more than 40+ customers engaged with IGT to ‘talk shop.’ Tey discussed new technology and focused on products they want to see on their floors both today and in the
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future. Seven months later, the results of that meeting shaped IGT’s entire exhibition stand at ICE. “I have been managing B2C operations throughout my career and understand first- hand how critically important it is to thoroughly research and test products on the floor ,” states Mr. Ascoli. “Driven by experience, we have introduced those disciplines here at IGT. We will never deliver a product to the market without thorough in-field testing and, where necessary, we will recall a product from the testing phase in the field, whenever we feel the product is not performing to the requisite level.”
While it’s obvious to conclude that the combination of IGT and GTECH has brought greater volume and diversity of product, the emphasis on in-field testing and quality- assurance has also ‘distilled’ this product. Added to that, greater variety across the multi/omni- channel spectrum allows operators to pick and choose the components that suit both their player and regulatory needs, without compromising on the connectivity of each individual gaming element, be that online, social, mobile or land-based.
“We have put together a compelling offer in the marketplace,” underlines Mr. Ascoli. “However,
Game development at IGT has already begun to shift along these lines with ‘Mobile First’ titles starting their lives as HTML5 code on smartphones before continuing their journey from pocket to PC, to play ‘within’ and ‘without’ casino locations. In Mr. Ascoli’s words, every device has the same dignity.
“Te boundaries are changing,” describes Mr. Ascoli of the conversations he’s having with operators at ICE. “Customers still come to the stand to view the latest slot machines, but the conversations are concerned with ensuring success in the long-term. Tey want to build success today that will expand the customer base in the future. Where at one time that conversation brought up questions of cannibalisation, no one’s raising that issue now. Operators understand the technology and they want to take that proposition to their customers.”
Choosing the best technology for the future doesn’t mean that operators need to reinvent their wheel. Te new Axiss cabinet from IGT offers better resolution, faster processors and streamlined ergonomics as a direct replacement for the Oxygen cabinet. It’s an evolution of a proven, successful product and compounds Mr. Ascoli’s view that the company must provide operators with long-term solutions that work from the ‘get-go.’ “We are lucky in that we’re supported by our shareholders to plan for mid- and long-term success,” confirms Mr. Ascoli.
“We are not driven by Q1 or Q2 results that can compromise such success. It is within our DNA to take the player’s point of view, which is why we are conducting 90 day field tests, focusing intently on the final 30 days of that process. Our promise to customers is that we will never deliver an E, D or C-level product to market as this harms credibility in the long-term. You have to establish a bond with your customers and to do that we must be disciplined and believe in the products we deliver.”
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