SUPPLIERS SPECIAL REPORT

Looking forward to the summer’s sporting delights

1XBET

After last year’s sporting hiatus, 1XBet is looking forward to a packed sporting calendar this year, including the European Football Championships and the Tokyo Olympics, which at the time of going to press are still going ahead.

The company is working on promotions and special offers to keep the audience engaged, as well as technical improvements to improve the player experience. It’s also keeping a close eye on regulatory developments in Japan.

Do you have any new products/ initiatives focused on the Asian markets?

In the development of the 1xBet product, we always cater for individual approaches. For different regions, we are implementing adjustments that will make the experience of playing at 1xBet unique and enjoyable.

Often in each country, there are specific sports that are especially loved. For example, for the Japanese version of the product, we have added several sports that are popular in this country. These include a variety of racing types - keirin (bicycle), keiba (horse), motorboat and motorcycle.

We have applied a similar approach for slot lovers. At 1xBet, Japanese players can enjoy games from a provider like JTG, which is particularly popular with local audiences.

To top it off, we would like to note that our promotional offers are also geared towards regional specifics. Therefore, players receive unique offers that are not found in other regions. For example, Indian players are regularly offered cricket promotions. And this is just one example.

What are you expecting for the second half of the year?

The previous year was rife with match cancellations and postponements of various sporting events. This year, the world of sports has seen far fewer such force majeure events. For us, as a bookmaker, this is a big plus.

We are looking forward to the second half of the year: summer will delight everyone with major tournaments. These are the Tokyo Olympics and the European Football Championship. Such competitions are in the focus of the whole planet, and 1xBet is here to keep the audience interested.

We are preparing promotions and special offers for the top events so that our players not only enjoy the competitions but are also able to win valuable prizes.

In addition, we continually work on improving the product. This year, many technical innovations will be implemented to make your stay on the site and in the application even more pleasant.

There is discussion about opening to sports betting in Japan. How significant is this?

The regulation of the gambling industry at the legislative level is a very good step on the part of the government. We always support such initiatives because it contributes to greater transparency, creates new jobs and brings money to the state budget. Bookmakers are interested in all these processes being regulated and for players to have free access to their products.

Such a step will give a huge impetus to the development of gambling in the entire region as a whole, because Japan has every chance of becoming one of the centers of the industry.

But, of course, the final word is with the authorities. And they will certainly make a well-considered decision.

High performance gaming systems meet modern needs

ADVANTECH-INNOCORE

Advantech-Innocore, the gaming-focused business group of Advantech Corp, has launched two brand new DPX Products, The DPX-E145 as well as the DPX-J100.

The DPX-E145 is a passive-cooled, complete gaming system for the regulated casino and AWP gaming markets, combining all the hardware features necessary for a gaming platform together in a high performance industrial-grade system.

Breaking new ground in integrated graphics performance, the new 11th generation Intel Core processors with Intel Iris Xe graphics allow the DPX-E145 to meet the ever-increasing demands placed on casino slot machines for a multi-screen, high resolution, immersive player experience.

At the heart of the DPX-E145 is the 11th Generation Intel Core processor, which includes high performance CPUs up to Dual Core at 3.0GHz (3.9GHz maximum turbo), Quad Core at 2.8GHz (4.4GHz maximum turbo) and sporting massive cache up to 12MB. The system can be supplied with up to 64GB DDR4 PC3200 system RAM.

The “Discrete-level Graphics” core outputs to four independent monitors via four DisplayPort DP++ ports. The graphics engine features the latest Intel Iris Xe architecture with up to 96 graphics execution units, providing unrivalled performance and features including Direct X 12, OpenGL 4.5, OpenCL 2.2 and support for video decoding HEVC/VP9/SCC (10 bit). The new display engine is optimized for four 4K displays at 60Hz but also supports two 8k displays at 60Hz.

The DPX-E145 is designed with the same format as the other E series products (DPX-E135, DPX-E140) and has the same “Cabinet-ready I/O”. This innovative design puts all the connectors conveniently in one area and uses typical slot machine industry connectors to provide an economical, robust harnessing design. The need for additional connector boards or backplanes is eliminated saving costs and simplifying cabinet layout and harnessing.

As well as the DPX-E145, Advantech is pleased to launch the revolutionary DPX-J100, which is a complete gaming system for the regulated casino, AWP, redemption and skillbased gaming markets.

This product also combines all the hardware features necessary for a gaming platform together in a high performance industrial-grade system but at an incredibly low price point.

These two exciting new products extend Advantech’s large portfolio of gaming platforms giving the slot machine OEM an even broader range of price, performance and formats to choose from for their next generation gaming machines.

APE teams with historic Macau bakery

APE

Asia Pioneer Entertainment’s newly launched Snap Buy vending machine brand has teamed with historic Macau bakery, Choi Heong Yuen Bakery to provide popular gifts 24 hours a day.

The offering will include favourites such as Almond Cakes, Phoenix Egg Rolls and Liquorice Lemon.

APE, which is a gaming supplier and service company, has been seeking to diversify its revenue sources to offset the impact of Covid.

A new generation of smart vending machine is equipped with a flexible mechanical arm to ensure that goods can be delivered to the customers smoothly without any damages. Customers do not need to bend down to pick up the goods. The humanized design is used to enhance the shopping experience of customers. The smart vending machine is also equipped with a variety of latest electronic payment methods to meet the consumption habits of different users.

“Under the trend of intelligent retail and self-service, combined with the encouragement from Macau government to push the use of electronic payment, I think “Snap Buy” smart vending machine has a great potential for development,” APE and Snap Buy head Herman Ng.

Aristocrat introduces Lucky Fortune Link

ARISTOCRAT

As a content and technology driven company, Aristocrat never ceases to innovate and create new concepts that support our customer’s business and cater to different player appetites.

Our talented teams have continued to focus on the development pipeline during various lockdowns in Asia, to ensure that a robust portfolio of games are readily available for our ever-changing market, instilling confidence in the path ahead.

Aristocrat maintained our commitment to the Asian market by continuing game builds throughout the crisis and as a result, we have a stronger portfolio in 2021 than ever before. In fact, we have increased our D&D investment year-on-year to ensure we have a suite of content readily available to support customers, regardless of form factor, as players continue to migrate back to properties throughout Asia. In the next 12 months, we are dedicated to strengthening the Asian market with over 30 new titles to be released which includes a variety of Links, Standalone and Standalone Progressives.

In the Link space, we were excited to debut a new product during Chinese New Year called Lucky Fortune Link. With two recognisable characters from classic Chinese literature, Da Sheng Yeah and the Great Empress Wu Ze Tian, Lucky Fortune was built in response to the player favourite Hold & Spin feature and will be launching with a new Picture Pays mechanic.

Players can choose their lucky Chinese Zodiac in the Lucky Fortune feature, collect the Zodiac pictures to award the credit prizes and jackpot, while adjacent credit prizes combine to bigger symbols for bigger prizes. This product is a great fit for Chinese New Year and is ideal for operators to promote with “Sending Away the Year of Rat and Welcoming the Year of the Ox.

As we look forward at the year ahead,

Aristocrat is committed more than ever to our continued partnership with our Asian customers by delivering our strongest portfolio yet. To find out more about our dynamic product line-up please reach out to your Aristocrat sales representative or visit our website at www.aristocrat.com/apac.

eSports picking up pace

BETCONSTRUCT

Betconstruct has been actively working on localizing its product portfolio and adding new games in its live casino segment. During the pandemic it has seen particularly strong growth in the esports segment, which is continuing. As for the land-based industry, the company says it has become clear that more flexible business models are needed.

What kind of recovery are you seeing in the land-based industry in Southeast Asia?

It goes without saying that the land-based industry suffered the most from the pandemic with most of the casinos shut down for quite some time now, while others were open temporarily.

As a result of this, the need and necessity for a new and more flexible business model became obvious, and this is the reason why many casinos are looking to expand or transform their operations online.

Of course, governments are also supporting this by making necessary changes in the regulations to enable these transitions, as they, too, are suffering from the financial downturn and lack of income.

What are you expecting for the second half of the year?

Looking at the situation in South East Asia at the moment, especially in India, where the second wave is hitting really hard, we can only hope that in the second half of the year the situation will be more in control and travelling restrictions will be lifted so that hopefully the industry can attend networking events again, even with limited capabilities.

In the meantime, as online businesses are continuing to grow, we are seeing more and more online or virtual events, and we are also happy to be hosting our own East and West virtual expo to provide a safe and convenient platform for providers and operators to stay connected.

Do you have any new products/ initiatives focused on the Asian markets?

We are constantly working on expanding our products portfolio and following the market trends.

At the moment, we are actively working on localization and also adding new games in our Live Casino product such as Asian Baccarat and Dragon Tiger with multiplay modes and many other interactive features for the players and configurations for the partners. Esports has been pretty strong the whole season. We’ve increased our coverage to 22,000 matches monthly, added a new user-friendly layout for mobile and saw a 300 percent bet amount growth.

How much opportunity do you see in the Philippines opening its online market (PIGOs)?

This is a huge opportunity for the landbased casinos in the Philippines, and actually a long awaited one, so we can say that this will result in very good increase in traffic for the land-based casinos who were limited to their physical location and premises.

Now they can target a bigger range of players with the PIGOs, and, of course, get back the revenue they lost during the pandemic.

G+D walks customers through difficult times

GIESECKE & DEVRIENT

The pandemic has had a huge impact on casinos in Southeast Asia, and the market recovery depends on both the current pandemic situation and lifting travel restrictions. We expect Macau will be the first city to recover as travelers are gradually returning from Mainland China. However, Singapore has slightly regressed in previous weeks; Malaysia, the Philippines, and Cambodia are still in lockdown in certain areas; and Korea and Vietnam are experiencing a daily increase of positive cases. Because of this, some casinos are only in partial operation and revenues have dropped significantly. The recovery of the tourism industry still needs to wait until the end of 2021 or 2022.

G+D is a long-term business partner of casinos. During the pandemic, we have supported our customers like a trusted partner walking through this difficult time together. In addition to providing service support, we have helped casinos plan for future count rooms and cage equipment once the market recovers. G+D provides various banknote processing and automation solutions such as BPS M5, BPS C5 with BPS Connect Casino for count rooms, and BPS C2, BPS C1, BPS B1 for cage equipment. The combination of the equipment depends on the needs of the casino. We also provide our knowledge and experience to assist customers with future planning.

Recently, Philippine Inland Gaming Operators (PIGO) received approval to provide online gaming that allows their existing registered members to play table games and electronic machines within the Philippines. The scheme has helped casinos boost their revenue during the pandemic, especially casinos that could not open fully, and it has served as a good opportunity for casinos to develop online sports betting.

Sports betting is also a hot topic in Japan. It is only legal for races involving horses, motorboats, motorcycles, and bicycles. However, the pandemic also prompts the discussion of opening sports betting to other popular sports, such as football and baseball, both of which are huge potential markets and could help Japan’s economy.

New products greet customer return

IGT

What kind of recovery are you seeing in the land-based industry in Southeast Asia?

As we all know, the industry has been hit hard, and some countries have had more prolonged and repeated impacts than others. So, it’s been a two-stage ‘recovery’ with Macau now leading the way, and other countries seemingly recovering and then going backwards into lockdown again. We are very hopeful for our customers that we will see a stronger bounce back on reopening as we have seen in other countries, such as Australia and in the USA.

What are you expecting for the second half of the year?

Well, we know that there will be operational challenges for not only our customers, but also for IGT. Social distancing and travel restrictions will apply for some time to come, into 2022, so we expect that may limit our customers’ ability to invest in as many new gaming upgrades.

Also, there are global shortages in the supply of electronic components such as semiconductors that is affecting every industry – from Apple to Ford – and this is impacting gaming equipment supply too, so that presents another challenge for us all.

At IGT, we’ve been continuing to develop new games adapted to the COVID environment and new systems functionality such as more cashless tools to help our customers do more with less. We’ve also been working closely with customers to provide updates to their gaming fleet so as players come back, they are seeing new products that give a great experience such as our popular Ying Cai Shen link.

Do you have any new products / initiatives focused on the Asian markets?

Yes we are launching a series of innovative games designed specifically for Asian markets, one of which we are particularly excited about is Fire Dragon. Fire Dragon has a fantastic feature to get more players into slot machines by giving them the faster gratification available on table games. Players can get Instant Free Games by increasing their bet with the Dragon’s Touch – taking them straight to the feature.

Also when you look at our class-leading ADVANTAGE system solution, we’ve been working throughout the pandemic on adding to our suite of contactless and cashless system products – now customers can be COVID compliant, keeping their customers safe while boosting their efficiencies and revenues. We have also seen countries like Australia, where casinos are announcing that they will be phasing out cash – our ADVANTAGE solution set is ready for this.

Eyeing convergence opportunities as market challenges remain

INTERBLOCK

Interblock says it’s still seeing challenging times across Asia, with the ongoing travel restrictions forcing jurisdictions to extract as much value as possible from local markets. The company welcomes the Philippines’ lead in allowing local IRs to begin accepting online bets and says this may be a new area of opportunity.

What kind of recovery are you seeing in the land-based industry in Southeast Asia?

There has never been a more challenging time than the year 2020, and halfway through 2021, there are still challenges that lay in waiting ahead. While the COVID-19 vaccines are being rolled out worldwide, many countries in Asia are still struggling to keep their borders tight and keep community transmission under control. With this in mind, any kind of recovery for the land-based gaming industry is dependent on the resilience of the local domestic market. In contrast, the international tourism market is still heavily restricted with limited travel bubbles.

A sign of recovery is the relaxed domestic travel restrictions, which have included the promotion of staycations to support the local industries, such as the increased number of visitors to Macau, increased hotel occupancy in the Philippines at IR casinos and improving local club visits in Malaysia where players cannot travel abroad to spend at other gaming destinations. Expats who cannot travel back to their home countries are another source of recovery for the gaming clubs in Vietnam. Countries such as Laos and Cambodia may take longer to recover while international borders are still closed.

What are you expecting for the second half of the year?

The second half of 2021 will be very challenging due to the ongoing lockdown situation in Laos, Cambodia, Singapore, Nepal and India. Hopefully, more travel destination bubbles will be open, allowing vaccinated travels.

Do you have any new products/ initiatives focused on the Asian markets?

We are focused on delivering innovative products such as the Universal Cabinet with a suite of ETG games such as Roulette, Sicbo, Craps, Blackjack and Baccarat with a single deck and double deck of flip flop cards. In addition to our popular mechanical Roulette technology, we now offer a Golden Ball feature in the MiniStar platform or stadium settings. Another unique feature for the roulette game is the Dual Roulette functionality, where two Roulette wheels synchronized to produce alternating results allowing players uninterrupted gameplay.

How much opportunity do you see in the Philippines opening its online market (PIGOs)?

Allowing the domestic online gaming market in the Philippines is a very positive move. The IR casinos can reach out to their members beyond the property boundaries. There would be opportunities for us as a manufacturer to adapt our current technologies and innovations once all the requirements are defined.

Looking forward to the boom times

JADE

We have seen little change to land-based operations at the halfway point in 2021 and I expect this to continue through the remainder of the year. We will start to see a slow recovery in 2022 once vaccinations reach the masses and 2023 will be a BOOM year for the gaming industry in Asia.

The Philippines will lead the boom as the Philippine Gaming and Amusement Corp. (PAGCOR) has been proactive in allowing landbased properties to start offering both tables and slots online. Over the next 12 months this will allow the land-based properties to have a business continuity plan and use their online offering to grow their customer database.

Those properties with the best marketing and branding for their online product will lead the land-based boom in 2023. Over the next 12 months the properties’ social media assets will be critical for developing a strong customer base.

PAGCOR has also regulated to allow sports betting to go online within the Philippines and Jade Sportsbet is preparing its remote gaming services to go live in the next few weeks. This together with its retail offering will drive its sports betting business. Jade Sportsbet has returned to Okada Manila and will be launching new products i.e Order Bet, Cash Out and Bet Builder.

Since the start of the pandemic Jade has been building its product base in the area of online services and these include the integration of on property live dealer to a full online casino and sportsbook book platform.

Jade is available for consultancy to land-based properties that want to learn how to ∫ between land and the internet.

Jumbo releases new products at G2E ASIA Online

JUMBO

COVID-19 has prompted faster digital transformation among companies. How to stand out in the global market has become the main issue for businesses and countries across the globe. As the world is still under the threat of the pandemic, Jumbo Technology has been unable to attend trade shows abroad. Global Gaming Expo (G2E) Asia is an online marketplace for gaming and entertainment vendors worldwide to interact and communicate with one another. Through this platform, Jumbo Technology demonstrated its latest products and games.

The expo was held online on May 25. Allen Hsu, Associate Vice President Jumbo, said, “We appreciate G2E Asia for providing this platform to let us align with the global trend, and release our new products online without being restricted by the epidemic. Clients and audiences around the world get to participate in this grand activity.”

This year, Jumbo’s ARK-65 GLI Six-Seater Multiplayer Fishing Game was the highlight that caught people’s eyes. Immediately upon release, it became one of the products that gained popularity in the industry. The new game, Ocean Phoenix, features the Mighty Phoenix, the Elegant Mermaid, the Ancient Crocodile, and the Flawless Octopus. With the feedback from the players and the advancement by the R&D team, the game has been improved to provide an unprecedented gaming experience. When the players successfully capture the Phoenix, players will be pampered with dazzling visuals as the phoenix soars high into the universe by leveraging special effects. The Elegant Mermaid is the ocean goddess of love. Upon successful capture, the elegant Mermaid will play the harp and bubble up all the species on the field, awarding players with many points.

On top of that, one cannot miss many other jackpot link games by Jumbo. Jumbo launched this year the Money Bull of the Jin Fa Cai jackpot link with a 43-inch curved screen.

It symbolizes fortune in the year of the Ox, which conquers difficulties and brings good luck. Spin & Stack was added in the game to let players collect coins to trigger higher levels of challenges. In the Fortune Treasure and Golden Horse Treasure of the Long Yi Fa jackpot link, Hold & Spin was added and that has proved highly popular among players. It is expected that these types of games will become hot products at casinos in Asia.

Other than the fishing games and jackpot link games, Jumbo also released the new J-Multi series for the Multi-Game ETG. It provides more betting options for Baccarat, Roulette, and Sicbo. In particular, augmented reality (AR) was added to the J-Multi roulette. It allows players to better pick up random pay and the betting situation in each game.

At the expo, Jumbo’s business partners also showcased new functions for casino management systems, which include a bonus system that connects the bonus systems across casinos to quicken the accumulation of the bonus; The customized marketing campaigns allow gaming suppliers to flexibly arrange the schedule to attract more players; Operational advice, including risk control, is provided for gaming businesses.

Looking for a post-pandemic bounce back

JCM GLOBAL

JCM Global General Manager Asia Pacific, Ian Payne, said the recovery from Covid in Southeast Asia has been slow. However, JCM hopes that once the pandemic subsides the region will see the same bounce back due to pent up demand as the U.S. In the meantime it’s helping clients to protect revenue and assets with technology.

What kind of recovery are you seeing in the land-based industry in Southeast Asia?

The economic recovery in Asia is moving forward slowly on a case-by-case basis in countries across the region. We are pleased to see how Macau is steadily recovering with more visitation being opened to Chinese provinces. We continue to work closely with our customers in southeast Asia, in the larger APAC region, and around the world, helping them as best we can to move forward and to protect their revenues and assets with our technology solutions.

What are you expecting for the second half of the year?

Southeast Asia will have a slow recovery of land-based casino revenue; however, once Covid is stable and international travel resumes, we are hopeful that will help increase land-based casino revenue. While consumer preferences are always evolving between land-based gaming and online gaming, JCM hopes our land-based APAC partners experience a surge in postpandemic business due to pent up demand for travel, socialization, and hospitality, similar to what is currently happening in the U.S.

Do you have any new products/ initiatives focused on the Asian markets?

We are helping our customers migrate from the legacy UBA series to the more technologically advanced products like UBA Pro and the iVIZION. Security is always a top priority, and these products feature superior sensor packages and patented anti-stringing technologies. They also have faster noteto-note speeds and a 2- or 4-way barcode reader, giving operators greater flexibility. Of course, tables are a traditional part of Asian gaming, and we are helping customers secure their table transactions with CountR’s TITA system. This is a payment solution that enables TITO and POS transactions, along with high-speed and high security currency validation using JCM’s MRX bill validator, all directly at the table game.

Live multi-games outperform

LT GAME

he COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated “Thow drastic and rapid changes on the world’s business environment can be brought by a single incident. The days ahead are no doubt full of challenges, but there are always opportunities co-existing in the midst of such difficulties, particularly in the region of Southeast Asia where more integrated resorts are scheduled to open, for instance in Japan, Cambodia, Vietnam, etc. Macau is also reviewing all aspects of the application of gaming concessions in an effort to perfect the market, which shall contribute to the city’s economy bringing further opportunities,” said Jay Chun, Chairman and Managing Director of Paradise Entertainment.

It is encouraging to see Macau’s GGR rose 1,014 percent year-on-year in April 2021, according to DICJ figures. For the remaining months of the year, Chun remains cautiously optimistic that land-based gaming markets should be proceeding along the recovery path. Due to the stringent travel restrictions, gaming patrons were almost filtered out from crossing the borders before. Thanks to the respective governments of Macau and the PRC, who have continued to perform admirably throughout the pandemic with proactive and decisive leadership in containing the spread of virus, the crossborder resumption allowed gaming patrons from the Mainland to visit Macau during the recent China “Golden Week” holiday. As the pandemic situation in Hong Kong stabilizes, it is generally expected that travel restrictions between Hong Kong, Macau and the Mainland will be lifted soon and visitation and spending in Macau will respond positively.

As always, Paradise operating under its trade name or brand “LT Game”, is dedicated to continuous innovation in the gaming equipment industry using top-notch and innovative technology to create good electronic gaming products that are primarily catered to the mass market. Despite the challenges imposed during the pandemic time, Chun observed LT Game’s flagship product, the live multi-game machines, performed exceptionally well. This is due to the distinctive features of these machines being capable of aligning with the specific measures imposed by the DICJ to maintain a safe distance between gaming tables, and between gaming machines. In respect of development and deployment of LT Game’s own slot machines, its new Jackpot Series has recently been approved for the Macau market, which contains a group of slot games that are straight-forward, simple and perfectly suited for high denomination areas with nonprogressive, standalone progressive and linked progressive options. Slot games of the series have received encouraging results when the products were launched in the North American markets. LT Game’s other brand-new slot game, namely, “TEKKEN” series has also hit the market. Being a famous Japanese media franchise, TEKKEN centered on a series of fighting video and arcade games, which have been very popular with players over decades.

Pragmatic aims to lead Asia market growth

PRAGMATIC PLAY

Pragmatic Play is one of the top content providers to the iGaming industry. With a multi-product portfolio of over 200 titles across slots, live casino, Fishing Games, bingo and virtual sports, Pragmatic Play continues to focus on expanding its footprint in emerging markets across the globe. This has put it in a position to enjoy sustained growth.

The provider’s Live Casino products are among the most widespread in the industry, and nowhere more so than in Asia. Games such as Baccarat and Mega Roulette are hugely popular, delivering immersive experiences that replicate the brick and mortar experience, utilising the very best in modern audio-visual technology. Highly trained dealers, 4k cameras and artfully crafted environments ensure that its games are delivered to a top standard, offering a level of immersion unmatched in the igaming sphere.

The expansion of the provider’s Live dealer range has included the recent ‘Mega’ series of games, Mega Roulette, Sic Bo and Wheel, all of which incorporate a slot-style random multiplier, in some cases of up to 500x. These hugely exciting titles are a core part of the supplier’s growing Live Casino offering, with the simple yet engaging Dragon Tiger being added to the portfolio. Dragon Tiger is a card game where players bet on the highest card to be drawn – Dragon or Tiger. With ties, side bets and lots of features available, the simple gameplay is aimed at fans familiar with Baccarat and others just looking to enjoy a unique Live Dealer experience in a purpose-built studio.

With so much room for development in the Asian markets, Pragmatic Play isn’t resting on its laurels. The increasing acceptance of igaming has seen a slow change in attitude towards regulation, with more and more markets on the cusp of delivering legislative roadmaps, which will truly propel the market to a period of hypergrowth – something Pragmatic Play intends to be at the forefront of. With an intense roadmap of products launched regularly, the vendor has never had a wider range of products to engage players with, and this is something that it intends to continue doing.

From Megaways™ games to classic slots, localised Roulette to innovative Live Casino products and Fishing Games to fast-paced virtual sports, the multi-product provider has never been more primed to capitalise on the growing popularity of igaming within the world’s largest continent.

With an innate understanding of the demands and requirements of some of Asia’s most exciting markets, the vendor’s presence in the region is set to soar, bolstered by a thrilling product suite. With so much more scope for growth in terms of markets size, Pragmatic Play is set to reinforce its status as a leading provider to operators globally and continue to be at the forefront of innovative products for some time to come.

Esports View to provide new look games

PINNACLE

The professional esports scene grew out of the East Asian heartlands and it’s these same markets that have enabled esports betting to now sit at the top table of sports betting brands worldwide.

We’ve come a long way since the proof-of-concept offerings from over a decade ago. They may have lacked in varied content, but they did demonstrate a lot in the way of potential, both in the demand for esports betting content and the scope of the future product. With many of these product improvements realised, we’re now much better positioned as an industry to persuade future esports bettors that we have something for them.

The Asian fan base propelled esports into the stratosphere, and the same communities are now also having a huge sway on the direction of the esports betting product. Knowing the unique demands of this audience, we’re continuously looking for ways to shape our own esports product in their image, not merely reskinning traditional sports and tweaking the same markets and bet interactions.

The Esports View is set to be a major step forward in providing the Asian esports bettor with a more immersive betting experience.

Having incorporated significant feedback from both existing esports bettors and those who follow and stream the likes of CS:GO and Dota 2, but are yet to bet on them, we’ve developed a unique layout that specifically suits their betting requirements.

Set to go live in Q3, the Esports View isn’t just an alternative odds layout, it’s an

investment in the esports community and a showcase of the best esports betting content in one easily accessed location. We’re excited to bring it to market, delivering partners in East Asia a unique means of driving trust with the esports audience, as well as a fast track to becoming standout esports betting brands in their own right.

Play’n Go introduces Prism of Gems

PLAY’N GO

Our latest release gives you much more than you bargained for! Prism of Gems is a 5x3 cascading payways slot with plenty of great features to give players more entertainment in more ways than one.

The game is the latest addition to our ‘Gems’ Series of games, following Frozen Gems and Perfect Gems.

Our game series provides players with a new way to enjoy the type of entertainment they prefer while still seeking out new experiences without worrying that they won’t enjoy it. Each title within a series is a standalone game with its own stories, designs and features. However, they are all interconnected by themes and certain mechanics.

For instance, if a player enjoys games with expanding symbols, they can pick any game from our Dead series, like Rise of Dead Legacy of Dead or Cat Wilde and the Doom of Dead. They know that they’ll get the feature that they most enjoy while experiencing other fun features and still having various games to choose from.

The Gems series all feature a splitting symbol feature. In Prism of Gems, there is a horizontal bonus reel that can affect the main grid in various ways.

Any symbol that lands on the bonus reel will instantly split identical symbols that land on the corresponding reels below, increasing the payways and giving more ways to win.

But they will also form part of the payways, meaning this game can go from 576 payways all the way up to 3,087 and the potential of a 1000x win multiplier!

Now, any fans of the previous Gems games can enjoy the splitting symbols and extra payways, alongside the fun of a cascading gridslot and a fun free spin feature.

They can trust the product based on what came before, meaning no sticking to the same old games and getting bored, or trying something new and feeling dissatisfied.

Slot gaming is evolving as an entertainment industry; it’s time to evolve the way we entertain.

SG talks convergence, virtual events and evolving Asian tastes

SCIENTIFIC GAMES

Scientific Games’ leading decision makers in Asia offered their views on developments in the market and what we might expect from the year ahead in the suppliers’ inaugural SG Asia Summit & Virtual experience.

The Q&A sessions offered insights into some of the key questions being asked by casino operators around Asia and the world. Below, we’ve summarised some of the most interesting takeaways from these sessions.

1.Virtual will stay, but physical trade shows will be essential

When asked whether Scientific Games’ digital conference would become an annual event, and whether the company believes that digital events will be the way forward, SG’s Vice President and Managing Director Asia Ken Jolly reserved his optimism for digital conference platforms over the long term.

“I do believe that virtual [conferences] is the situation we’re in because of covid,” said Jolly. “And virtual is something that will last for a couple of years but at some point we’re going to want to be face to face again. I think the trade show will come back. Whether it will be as big or large or as bold in the past remains to be seen,” he said, adding that the expense of physical trade shows are enormous.

Adrian Halpenny, SVP of the Australian and Asian division said he believes the virtual format will remain as part of the “suite” to engage customers.

In Asia, there is only one key trade show to connect with customers, said Halpenny, adding that [a virtual trade show] will add more opportunities to connect with customers.

2. Land-based/online convergence to dominate

When the panel was asked how the shift to online / digital during covid had impacted landbased gaming, the panelists said digital wasn’t seen as a threat, but more of an opportunity to grow the industry.

“This whole covid situation has triggered a convergence between land-based and online,” said Halpenny. “When lockdown came in , our digital business did well. However, when landbased markets reopened, the money flowed back in, and we saw a lot of pent up demand.”

This shows that both online and landbased offerings can be relevant concurrently, said Halpenny.

“The people we’ve brought on board are really tailored to converging our online digital and land-based offering and bringing into a 360 view of the player.”

Halpenny said he’s seeing a lot more landbased gaming operators getting concessions to start offering their products online in Europe, Australia and the US., and this is also slowly coming into Asia.

“I don’t see it as a threat. It’s an opportunity to grow our industry,” he said.

Nathan Drane added that around 30 percent of Scientific Games’ online games are based on land-based game titles, which has seen immense growth over the last 14 months.

3. Returning customers will go back to favorites

Halpenny, describing the uptick in revenues in Australia when properties reopened said that he saw returning customers going back to their favorite games, with revenues up from 2019 despite less players on the floor.

That being said, he expects the increased distancing between machines to remain even post-covid.

Halpenny also notes that while the more hardcore players returned initially, the post covid enviroment will see a more diverse customer base heading back to gaming venues – who will be also interested in other aspects of the venue such as entertainment, food & beverage, etc.

4. Game diversifying outside of Chinese themes, linked progressives to rule

In a poll conducted during the Game Design Panel, around 52 percent of respondents believed that players would be interested in Chinese, Asian and a variety of Western themes, as opposed to only Chinese, or only Chinese and Asian themes.

“The market is clearly evolving in Asia. There is a level of sophistication and diversity that was seen as risky ten to twelve years ago,” said Peter Wilkins, VP of Product Management at SG.

“With technology and efficiencies, the ease of bringing a product from one of SG’s global studios are [now] a lot easier,” said Wilkins. “Operators can now afford to experiment with games that are slightly off the convention that they’re used to.”

“We’re still very passionate about Chinese and Asian themes,” added Drane. The poll results do open up some options. It doesn’t mean we’ll flood the market with Western themes, but it means we can hand select key themes and key mechanics and bring them to the market.”

When asked where are the biggest opportunities in SG’s game product portfolio, a vast majority of respondents picked linked progressive. Interestingly, none of the poll respondents picked “Licensed Content”.

5. Players moving from table games to ETGs during covid

During the Tables Games Panel, the panelists were asked whether they had observed players moving from tables to ETG during the pandemic, and what revenue growth has been seen in respective regions.

Rob Bone confirmed there was definitely an increase in players moving from live tables to ETGs for a variety of reasons, not just due to a restriction on the number of players allowed to gather at tables.

Bone said that casino patrons have seen ETGs as a much more hygienic terminal than any other in the market.

“Casino operators have moved terminals to allow for social distancing and have been very conscientious about cleaning these units,” he said.

“As a result players have jumped across to electronic table games.”

This has been the case especially for Singapore, which has seen a massive increase in electronic table game play, well above normal levels pre-covid.

Focusing on versatility and performance

SEGA SAMMY

Sega Sammy is seeing a patchy recovery in Asia’s markets, but says once social distancing measures are removed, there appears to be underlying pent-up demand. The company has been active with projects and product placements and is finding its stand-alone electronic table game product is highly suitable to the operating conditions imposed by Covid-19.

What kind of recovery are you seeing in the land-based industry in Southeast Asia?

Due to the pandemic, there are still ups and downs in the situation of the Southeast Asian (SEA) market. We do see signs of player demand picking up when Covid is under control in some regions. The land-based industry in SEA always had shown strong growth in pre- Covid times, but since then these operators are actively revising their strategies, with all having individual challenges due to the varying degrees of limitations. We expect that once the Covid situation eases, SEA will come back strongly.

What are you expecting for the second half of the year?

Just like other regions, it depends on the varying dynamics of the pandemic. How each region deals with limitations such as border closures, quarantines and social distancing measures is as diverse as there are countries. A positive thing is that we have been active with many projects and product placements throughout this time. We also have never stopped developing new products during the pandemic, so we have a wide range of products ready to go for our customers. We will continue to work together with operators to bring our new games for their floors that cater to their specific needs.

Do you have any new products/ initiatives focused on the Asian markets?

Our Standalone ETG product is produced especially for the Asian market. We focus on “Versatility” and “Performance.” Many operators are taking advantage of this flexibility of our product to maximize performance. For instance, social distancing requirements can be achieved more easily with standalones as they can be banked in creative ways, that allows more product to be activated. Performance is another important factor with us, as we have a track record of 100 percent trial pass rates across a variety of venues (IRs, local slot clubs). Due to this our Standalone ETGs are well accepted by players so will still receive steady orders from operators despite the pandemic. In the same way, we now have a variety of slot games focused on the Asian market such as “Dragons Foo”. A Popular ‘Dragons” themed game with the feature of Wild Addition. Our goal is to work with operators through these challenging times by bringing valuable products to their floor.

Dragon Lamp enters the Philippines

ZITRO

Zitro has introduced its Dragon Lamp video bingo product to the Philippines. Zitro said the success of Dragon Lamp began in Mexico and Spain and is gradually spreading to other countries around the world.

“Our video bingo has always been overwhelmingly successful with players in the Philippines, and now Dragon Lamp has come to further increase the hype for our machines,” says Nadège Teyssedre, Zitro’s EMEA Sales Director. “Progressives can now be won much more frequently, as you don’t have to do ‘bingo’ to win the Jackpot. In addition, we incorporated completely new games with highly sophisticated graphics and sounds, an unmistakable hallmark of the Zitro brand and which enchants the Filipino players”, Nadège concludes.

UltraPlay offers advice on establishing esports in Asia

ULTRAPLAY

Advanced betting solutions provider UltraPlay has recently took part in the SiGMA Roadshow Manila conference, where it covered one of the hottest topics – How to establish a profitable eSports betting brand in Asia. The company’s CEO Mario Ovcharov explained how it all started for UltraPlay and what kind of challenges there are in the region in terms of an eSports betting operation.

“UltraPlay has been one of the early adopters of eSports betting. Back then we decided that we need to have a proper offering of eSports with pre-match and live odds. Since then we have won 20 international awards, we have a big team of traders and our product is one of the most recognized in the eSports industry.”, says Mario Ovcharov, CEO of UltraPlay.

In terms of differences, starting off from the top would be the games that are more popular in the Asian region compared to Europe. CS:GO is not so dominant in Asia, it was lately adopted on the continent, where in Europe and America is among the top titles for over 20 years.

Secondly, there is a difference in the devices and the localization of the websites could be challenging. People in Asia are using different browsers, blockages, languages in each of the countries that create local environments. They can be targeted separately later on. There is a specific language, and views of the offered markets on the website, the so-called Asian view. The list of challenges for every new eSports betting website could be long and operators should have a trusted partner by their side.

UltraPlay is well-established in the Asian region and over the past year of pandemic has supported many companies out there.

Adding value through innovation

WIN SYSTEMS

WIN SYSTEMS is a leading technology supplier of management solutions, electronic roulettes, and slot machines to the casino and lottery industries, with 25 years of experience and presence in more than 60 countries around the world. The company’s products allow you to build a seamlessly integrated, profitable, and flexible casino floor with best-in-class customer support and unbeatable adaptability for your business requirements.

During the last year, the company has been working on two main priorities at the forefront: the first being helping casinos to maximize their income and profitability in such a complex business environment. Our second priority was to facilitate the efficient accomplishment of hygiene and social distancing measures, both for players and for the casino staff. As an example, the new PlaySafe functionalities have been developed within our casino management system Wigos, which allow casinos to achieve both objectives at once.

In the Gaming division, too, Win Systems works very hard to enhance player’s experience thanks to innovation that adds value to players and boosts their excitement when they return to the casinos and gaming venues.

Another great example is the Gold Club Huo Long electronic. The Huo Long roulette has been specifically designed for the Asian players in casinos worldwide. It is based on the traditional roulette game, thus incorporating betting elements that are related to the Chinese culture. Even the gaming layout has the shape of the figure eight, which is related to luck in the ancestral Chinese tradition. As an additional feature, the Zero 50/50 exclusive game allows players to recover their bets after each spin, increasing the fun and odds to win. To maximize flexibility and chances to attract new public, players can choose whether they prefer to play traditional lottery or Huo Long roulette at any time and in each gaming position individually.