G2E PREVIEW DR Gaming Technology
DRGT’s CEO, Jurgen De Munck, talks system-driven jackpots and a rather novel new development in cashless ahead of this year’s Vegas showpiece where DRGT will be located on booth 4405.
J
on Bruford: Jurgen, you last exhibited at G2E in 2019, it’s hard to believe it’s been three years? Jurgen De Munck: Absolutely! We’ve missed it a lot, and are looking forward
to exhibiting again in mid-October. You know, with the event being called off in 2020 we obviously couldn’t attend, and then due to the relevant travel restrictions that were still in place last year, logistically it was just too risky for us as a European-based entity. Nonetheless, our tickets are booked, our bags are packed, and our goods are all in transit; Vegas here we come.
JB: You sound quite excited which is great to hear; I am sure that is the sentiment of all of this year’s exhibitors and attendees a like. JM: I have no doubt it is. In our engagements with our partners over specifically the last six months or so, they too are very keen to meet up face-to-face. ICE London and G2E Las Vegas are our key two showings each year, and remain the two biggest gaming shows on the planet by some margin. Notwithstanding ICE 2022 and the efforts Clarion went to in order to execute the exhibition and conference, I am of the view that G2E 2022 will be the first ‘back to normal’ event post COVID.
JB: Agreed. That said, I attended an online Gaming Operations Academy workshop during June or July last year presented by Lucien Wijsman where he discussed the ‘Influence of Return to Player (‘RTP’) on the Player Experience’. Now granted you’re a sponsor of that workshop, but he made some very sensible and positive comments about your system-driven jackpots – something you will be showcasing in Vegas. JM: That’s good to hear; our association with the course was really a no brainer. As a dedicated systems and jackpot developer, our products talk 100% to the player experience Lucien discusses. It’s also a nice play on our design mantra ‘The Player First’.
JB: Can you expand a little on what a ‘system-driven’ jackpot is? JM: Until relatively recently jackpots were completely standalone, operating as a bank of ‘linked’ manufacturer-specific machines on a single casino floor. Then as data connectivity
increased those jackpots were linked across casino floors and estates – the on-set of wide-area progressive (‘WAP’) jackpots. Unfortunately, and understandably, these massive WAPs didn’t get won very often; players got frustrated quite quickly, and ultimately lost interest. Jump to the new millennium and mystery jackpots became the ‘next big thing’, whereas today most casino floors are driven by jackpots, a feature that is now almost a non-negotiable in every new game. That said, operators remain at the behest of the developer in terms of what they can and can’t do (configure) with those jackpots. What our system-driven jackpots afford
operators is arguably the widest selection of configuration options currently available in the market, with the ability to not only ‘set-up’ a jackpot as they see fit on any 3rd party EGM, but then serve it to whomever they choose, when they choose. A solution driven by our patented drSMIB that connects every slot machine in a casino to one another, in so doing linking every machine and every player (or not) to every jackpot (or not) as and when and where the operator sees fit. No additional jackpot controllers or other add-on equipment is required, reliability is unsurpassed, and with our system in place all that operators need to do is literally enable the jackpot feature on our drSMIB.
JB: To leverage this properly though, you need player and game play data, and that is where your cashless offering plays a massive role, correct? JM: Exactly! The player experience you can affect when you’re able to tailor jackpots to specific players or groups of players with the data captured via Cashless based on what they play, how they play, and when they play is invaluable.
JB: If you had to pick one key product visitors to G2E should look out for from DRGT at G2E what would that be? JM: You know, thanks to COVID, as the Benjamin Franklin saying goes: “…out of adversity comes opportunity”. To that end, cashless gaming (much of our bread and butter and a technology we have been advocating since our inception) has gained significant traction (and approvals) globally. What our latest cashless development does, and it is this that I urge visitors to G2E to come and have a look at, is allow players to top-up their account without having to leave their EGM. All a player needs to do is select ‘top-up’, and then an amount, on their drScreenUltra player tracking display. Our technology then generates a unique QR code which the player then scans with their smart phone. The QR Code then ‘takes the player’ to a selected secure pay gate (e.g., PayPal) where the payment is affected in much the same way as you’d purchase an airline ticket online. The transaction is then verified by the
player through their own personal banking App and the transfer is affected; either directly to the slot machine or, depending on local regulatory requirements, the players account/card. Pretty simple and something our customers, and many of their players are really enjoying.
OCTOBER 2022 47
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