Interview
G2E LAS VEGAS 2018 IGT Interview
support to both grow and defend your install base. Aside from the Core Video turnaround, I think the most important achievement we’ve made has been the stabilisation and growth of the Premium install base, which was absolutely imperative and where the value of the company lies. We are really pleased with our progress in Premium, especially in regards to multi-level progressives, of which we brought six to G2E 2018, four of which are proprietary, as IGT declares its intention to be the number one link provider in the market.
What are the most important elements/features of IGT’s Links that make them competitive in the current marketplace?
One of the driving elements is that there have been some great Link products releases in recent years that have revolutionised this space.
I think that player-selectable, multi- denomination has become extremely relevant and something that had been phased out of the market, but with floor space becoming limited and critical, allowing players to ‘jump up’ in their experience is very rewarding to the player and enables operators to gain a higher utilisation. We have also seen a much larger portion of the RTP channeled to the progressives. Te base game is now a vehicle for the player to reach the progressive, whereas previously we used to lose sleep over trying to strike the balance between the base game and the progressive. Recent products have really turned this upside down. Te lock and respin mechanic has become really popular and we’ve seen no saturation in the market, so there’s no
P56 NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / MARKET DATA
The way we are going to win at IGT is through scale and by hitting a home- run in every part of our portfolio. In regards to the S3000 mechanical product, we have a major focus on regaining market leadership in high denomination, where we have always been a leader, while our low- denomination continues to be very strong for the business, which has to lead to incremental sales for us in both video and stepper.
shame in including those types of games in your portfolio. Finally, much attention has also been focused on the way you pay the jackpot, or the way the jackpot is triggered - which is where the secret sauce lies.
Links have become the torch-bearer brands for games developers - can standalone games drive the same level of iconic interest from operators and players?
Yes, they absolutely can be as popular. Standalone games are available for sale while the vast majority of Links are reserved for participation pricing, although there has been a movement over the last couple of years for Links to be sold. In addition to the fact that lots of players continue to seek out standalone gaming sessions, hyperlink products, in which players can play their favourite base game underneath a progressive, have energised this space too. Players gain access to their regular free games and regular features, but with a progressive chase on top, so I think there’s still plenty of room for progressives and standalones to coexist. However, what I would add is that in the standalone Core Video game segment there has been a huge proliferation of jackpots, which
has been led by the Australian market. In Australia, 90 per cent of the floor is jackpot- related product and we are seeing that trend take shape in the US as well.
As a market-leader in mechanical reels, how do you bring new designs and innovation to this traditional product?
Te way we are going to win at IGT is through scale and by hitting a home-run in every part of our portfolio. In regards to the S3000 mechanical product, we have a major focus on regaining market leadership in high denomination, where we have always been a leader, while our low-denomination continues to be very strong for the business, which has to lead to incremental sales for us in both video and stepper. Our goal is to take the lion’s share in both parts of the portfolio. We don’t win if we sell less stepper and more video. In order to achieve this goal, we undertake a huge amount of work segmenting the portfolio with our sales team to ensure we are approaching both equally to drive greater market share and not simply cannibalise one for the other. In today’s market it is critical that we use our scale to sell more of both video and stepper products.
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