G3 Interview ARISTOCRAT TECHNOLOGIES
Highlighting Aristocrat’s connection to global gaming markets, the Aristocrat team in Europe has recently swollen in ranks, adding a number of well-known and highly respected gaming executives to its roster. While others are downscaling in Europe, Aristocrat is investing in market specific talent. Ms. Sweeney explained: “We have been hiring talent from the industry who really understand the customers across a mosaic of markets. We see a real growth opportunity in Europe in which we are seek- ing to cover all markets.
“Aristocrat is totally focused on games and clients,” continued Ms. Sweeney. “My background is from IBM, where everyday you wake up and think about your clients. We have made changes to personnel to enable us to know both our clients and the market more intimately. We recently hired Brooks Pierce in the US, as part of our cus- tomer focused approach. His unique skill set and insights will be valuable to our Americas and global strategy of delivering a broad portfolio of great performing games and cabinets as well as exceptional service to our customers. At Aristocrat, we create industry leading content, cabinets, social and skill products. We are a company that has not ‘thrown out’ what we are good at.”
Some of the big themes from G2E Las Vegas centered around skill-based gaming, eSports, social games and the need to attract millennials. While these could potential- ly be seen as ‘off topic’ for a major real-money games developer, Ms. Sweeny pointed out that these are subjects that fall within the sniper-focused remit of Aristocrat. “We are already focused on the social gaming side of the business,” stated Ms. Sweeney, “but that doesn’t just mean online. We are looking at skill-based gaming and at sys- tems that can drive online players back into the casino. Skill-based gaming is of great interest, but while we don’t have the technical standards at present, we are showing mock-ups to clients to see if this style of gaming makes sense to the operator and to Aristocrat. I think there will be a lot of ‘try and test and iterate,’ before skill-based really takes off, but it is exciting because it’s trying to offer a different player experi- ence. Ultimately, we’re looking to solve the issues that are worrying operators right now and if skill-base plays a part in that then Aristocrat will be at the forefront of that development.”
Asked why Aristocrat recently divested itself from its lotteries division, just as its competitors are consolidating around core lottery businesses, Ms. Sweeny pointed out the different approach Aristocrat is taking. “We are very clear that at Aristocrat we don’t want to be everything to everyone,” Ms. Sweeny underlined. “We have to ensure that we get a return on every dollar we spend on R&D and you can only do that as part of a very focused business. The market is hugely competitive and it’s not enough to take Australia-focused content and distribute those games globally, we have to devel- op products for local markets and local players. It’s an investment that demands focus and to achieve that we have to ensure that we concentrate upon our core competen- cies.”
We understand operators’ are facing a hugely competitive market. That is why we are developing products for local markets and local players. It’s an investment that demands and receives our total focus to achieve, and we have to ensure that we con- centrate on our core competencies to help our customers achieve their goals.
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