Review G2E LAS VEGAS 2016
Market leaders in Australia and Asia, Aristocrat Technologies looked every bit the US domestic developer at the G2E show, so attuned were its licensed gaming choices, its vast array of cabinet variants and the quality of its in-house proprietary titles.
Speaking to one of Aristocrat’s rising stars within its international business, Senior Vice President of Global Operations, Matt Wilson, he described Aristocrat’s current position in the US as having built ‘formidable momentum’ with Aristocrat not only in the top three games developers for the market, but challenging for the top spot with its diverse, market-honed range of gaming titles.
Game of Trones, Buffalo, X-Files, Britney Spears, Downton Abbey, Tim McGraw, etc., Aristocrat has been very deliberate in its investment in key licensed titles to precisely pinpoint its target market, as well as simultaneously leveraging its studios for proprietary content. On the Aristocrat stand at G2E there was a deft balance and mix amongst the company’s development studios with a series of licensed games that will resonate with a wide demographic and very specific new cabinets aimed at carving up the gaming floor to deliver a product for every play preference.
“We are growing at warp speed in the US market,” underlined Mr. Wilson on the show floor. “It’s been an amazing turnaround story in the last five years that’s been driven by a people-first strategy. We’ve put together a dream team of talent that’s been able to focus down on targeting game styles; entertainment, proprietary and lease games, to ensure that we’re diversifying the product for all sectors of the market. We’re still number three in the North American gaming operations market, but we have aspirations to be number one.”
BOOSTING THE ENTERTAINMENT FACTOR Aristocrat has really cranked up its
entertainment games output having stolen the lead with titles such as the Te Walking Dead, a trend-setting title that “opened up the entire industry to a whole new group of licensed brands,” according to Mr. Wilson. Cult films such as My Cousin Vinny and the Big Lewbowski, alongside other branded titles that include Sharknado, Downton Abbey, and Tim McGraw, the country star gracing the Arc Double cabinet. At G2E the music superstar descended from the rafters of the Sands Expo and Convention Center alongside the new game as thousands of attendees gathered on the convention floor. “I’m thrilled to introduce a great new game that I hope both you and your players are going to love,” McGraw told the heaving crowd of gaming operators and fans. In total Aristocrat showed more than 200 new Class III games, new Class II games by VGT and
P84 NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE /
247.COM Matt Wilson with Dragon Link at G2E
In creating the successor to Lightning Link, has Aristocrat revealed the perfect slot machine?
system innovations at G2E in Vegas. Gaming operations titles unveiled at G2E included: Mariah Carey, Game of Trones II, Te Big Lebowski, Te X Files, Candy Land, Dumb & Dumber, Mystery Date, Zorro, Dragon Reign and Tapatio. A new stepper cabinet also brought new versions of the chart-topping Britney Spears and the runaway hit Buffalo, as well as the original Diamond Link linked product. Aristocrat’s Arc Double cabinet also featured new titles Downton Abbey and Elvira, Mistress of the Dark.
Core video product was extremely strong, but the contender for product of the show was Dragon Link, the next-generation of Lightning Link, the linked multiple progressive product that has been a phenomenal international hit for Aristocrat. “Lightning Link has been a remarkable success for Aristocrat around the globe, knocking Wheel of Fortune off its top spot in the US market for the first time in six years, such has been the impact of this link,” describes Mr. Wilson. “And the remarkable thing is that it’s such a back-to-basics title; it’s not complicated,
there aren’t not too many features and it offers a really easy to understand game mechanic that’s been an extraordinary hit with players.”
STAYING STRONGER FOR LONGER Lightning Link combines a highly innovative
jackpot mechanic with a multiple progressive jackpot link that is triggered an average of every 100 spins, with the top Grand Jackpot hitting every 25 days on average. Lightning Link is a simple, intuitive game that rose to the top of the charts and stayed there, reinforcing the Aristocrat mantra of ‘stronger for longer.’ Dragon Link is the heir apparent to Lightning Link’s throne and the next evolution of the company’s multi-site progressive product. Dragon Link uses the latest upgraded hardware, Arc Single 32ins. cabinet with toppers, premium signage and an Asian theme.
One of the key elements is Lightning Link’s success according to Mr. Wilson, was its multi- denomination configuration, ranging from 1c, 2c, 5c and 10c. Te new Dragon Link base game used a fast hitting four-level progressive
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