Gaming America - G2E 2020 Preview

www.gamingamerica.com

Virtual Vegas Your complete guide to G2E as it meets the challenges of today's face-to-face demands

• KORBI CARRISON: WHAT TO EXPECT

• FULL SCHEDULE OF G2E 2020

• INTERVIEW WITH AGA'S CAIT DEBAUN

• EXHIBITOR & PRODUCT PREVIEWS

Taking care & business We’re being put through a serious test these days, whether it’s a swab in the nose or managing finances to keep the doors open, or both. And sometimes we’re not satisfied with the results. The worst case scenario for either doesn’t bear thinking about, but if we were told in January of the world we’re now living in, we wouldn’t believe getting through it would be possible, much less the reality of it occurring in the first place. But we’d like to think we’ve shown a brave face, met the challenge and the worst is behind us.

The industry continues to rally to pick up the pieces, but we’re not in the clear yet, and sometimes we lose our grip and those pieces fall back down again, so we continue the fight. Alas, a lot more work needs to be done. Case in point is the fact G2E 2020 has had to retreat from its land-based spiritual home of the Sands Expo Convention Center in Las Vegas to computer screens around the world. They may give off heat, but it won’t be the same warmth as the face-to-face interaction that has been the bedrock of this pillar meet-up of the year.

The decision to go virtual was not an easy one, but given the alternatives, it was the hand organisers were dealt and they had to make the most of it. So persevere they did, and in lieu of the bustling pathways, eye-catching stands, products on display and the pulsing ambiance, visitors will be able to explore the next best thing from the comfort of their own homes. As you’ll see in this G2E Preview, many exhibitors will still be able to walk you through what they would have showcased in Las Vegas, and for those in the area, some companies will organize live demonstrations, so a handful of lucky people can get the best of both worlds. But for the vast majority of us, make sure you have a quality WiFi connection.

We hear from Reed's Korbi Carrison and the AGA's Cait DeBaun, as well as give a nod to the Global Gaming Awards. But the vast majority of this special edition is dedicated to a dynamic cross section of exhibitors who answered the call to do whatever they could to make this year’s show as big a success as possible, thereby helping every brand, not just their own, show some mettle to see these tough times through until we all meet again in those freezing convention halls in scorching Las Vegas. All for one and all that. So we hope you not only get a lot of good information and insight about this year’s G2E from this issue. We hope you get inspired.

Carl Friedmann, Editor

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A word from reed

No time to waste Ahead of the virtual edition of G2E, Gambling Insider sits down for a few precious minutes with a very busy Korbi Carrison, event director of the expo. new opportunities like enabling more diverse participation from the global gaming community. Because of the initial interest in G2E 2020, we are thinking about how to continue virtual components in future editions and as we work to make G2E a year-round brand engagement. The effort required to stage a seamless and value-driven show remains the same in any format.

Whether planning a virtual show or our typical in-person gathering, we remain focused on how we can bring the industry together to offer a global spotlight on innovation and provide opportunities for learning and collaboration.

korbi carrison

How are you looking to capture and replace the usual networking and benefits of an in-person conference to a virtual one?

We chose the dates for the 14 October kickoff and the two-day event 27-28 October based on input from participating exhibitors and stakeholders involved across all areas of G2E. Above all, we are thrilled to welcome the participation of top exhibitors, sponsors and speakers who will provide engaging and valuable content for our attendees.

Every year, I’m amazed by the latest developments in technology that enhance the planning and meeting experience for G2E attendees. This year’s platform enables exhibitors and visitors to conduct business through virtual showrooms, product demos, AI-driven matchmaking and one-on-one meetings. Attendees can virtually browse, meet and connect directly with other attendees and exhibitors through video meetings all within the platform. We’ll also close out each day with themed networking sessions to allow for that personal connection I know everyone is looking for during these unusual times.

Can you speak about your experience of industry cohesion as you went through the rebuilding process for G2E 2020?

How much interest has there been in the virtual panels, both from speakers and potential viewers?

We have continued to lean on our global gaming community for input and support throughout this months-long effort to plan and deliver an exciting G2E 2020. We’re grateful that while navigating their own challenges, our G2E audience has been insightful and incredibly understanding throughout every step in this process. It was not surprising to experience such cohesion among the G2E community since we all recognize now is the time to come together to collaborate and help propel our dynamic industry forward.

We have designed this year’s education offerings to reflect the industry’s current challenges and emerging trends, from sports betting and payments modernization, to lessons learned during the industry-wide closures and what’s next on the horizon. We’re excited about the enthusiastic response we’ve already received about G2E’s education sessions, both from panelists and registered attendees.

How were the dates for the virtual show ultimately decided?

Can you speak about how you built a virtual show from scratch, describing the logistical challenges?

Navigating this year’s changes has been a learning experience for everyone. The importance of communication, collaboration and engagement with stakeholders cannot be understated. We quickly learned that moving to a virtual event format allows for 6 GAMINGAMERICA

What are you looking forward to most about G2E 2020?

For 20 years, G2E has served as the hallmark event for the global gaming community. October holds a bookmark in the gaming calendar for this annual event, so any opportunity, albeit virtually, to convene with our colleagues and friends from across the globe is worth celebrating. Like my industry colleagues, I am excited for the chance to reconnect and learn from industry leaders and the wider gaming industry during this critical time.

aga

Answering the call Ezra Amacher speaks with Cait DeBaun, senior director of strategic communications and responsibility at AGA, about the decision and necessity to hold G2E virtually this year.

As the calendar turned to summer and the coronavirus took hold, the American Gaming Association (AGA) and Reed Exhibitions were faced with the unenviable task of canceling the in-person version of the Global Gaming Expo (G2E). The annual event, which consistently draws 30,000 to Las Vegas each October, brings together the gaming industry like no other event. Between early July and the start of September, the AGA and Reed thought of ways to best serve the industry and ultimately landed on hosting the G2E in a virtual format.

“On not having an in-person event, there was uncertainty around having a viable market place,” Cait DeBaun, AGA senior director of strategic communications and responsibility, exclusively tells Gaming America. “At the time when we needed to make the decision, the travel ban limited our ability to welcome a truly global audience.”

G2E organizers were also aware of Nevada regulations limiting the number of people who can gather in an indoor space. The idea of packing thousands of visitors into the Sands Expo Convention Center was not only unrealistic but likely impossible according to Nevada’s social distancing policies. Though visitation in Las Vegas is steadily returning, large conventions are likely on hold until 2021.

“At the time we made the decision, we didn’t know what it would look like to have large public gatherings in the fall, and that changes day by day, week by week, state by state,” DeBaun says. “It was at the time and I’d still say the right decision to move and convene our audience in a virtual format.”

Once the decision was made, the AGA and Reed got feedback from exhibitors, operators and stakeholders who all expressed support for the new virtual format. Communication became essential as they worked to involve all participating parties in the organization and layout of the convention.

With so many in the industry hurting as a result of the pandemic, it was more important than ever for the community to be able to still gather in one place. “I think everybody generally understood and supported our decision,” DeBaun says. “As we look to building our digital components, I think we got some really great feedback since we’ve made the announcement and started to build out a program, and I think that’s going to reflect in what we are about to present.”

The organizers learned there are some advantages of moving virtual. For one, G2E 2020 has the chance to be more inclusive.

Whereas the traditional in-person convention often turns away people unable to book flights, the online format is able to reach all corners of the gaming universe. “We can broaden the participation 8 GAMINGAMERICA

cait bebaun

from the global gaming community and similarly expanding the universe of speakers and education content,” she adds. “Travel can limit who we can have, so by going virtual, anybody can join from their home or office, so we’re excited to use that to our advantage.”

The move also allows the AGA and Reed to see what online elements they may want to incorporate in future events. As the industry embraces an increasingly digitized way of doing business, the problem-solving solutions built around organizing G2E 2020 will only help going forward.

“I think what we’re offering this year allows exhibitors and potential buyers a turnkey format in a time where that might not be available otherwise,” DeBaun says. “What we’re doing in October can also serve as we expand G2E to a year-round brand and look at future G2Es. Our intention is that virtual components are part of G2E moving forward to truly capture the global gaming community.”

Through all the ongoing change, organizers are intent on keeping the substance of the convention consistent. “Our goal is always to provide leading quality content, networking opportunities, and driving engagement among participants, and that’ll be no different this year,” she says. “I think of our educational offerings specifically and I’m excited for some of the keynotes we’re lining up.”

When G2E attendees log in to the virtual convention, the hope of organizers is that they’ll be able to forge connections and make discoveries like in any previous year.

“With our partners at Reed, we were fortunate to quickly develop and scale this virtual offering. That’s not to say there won’t be hiccups along the way but on 14 October, and 27 and 28 October, we’ll show the industry what G2E has been for the last 20 years.”

G2e 2020 sCHedule

schedule aT a glance Even though you had to cross off the dates in early October for the in-person G2E, and possibly cancel flights to Vegas, the show must go on and your attendance is more important than ever. here we run down the schedule, so plan accordingly!

oCToBEr 14

oCToBEr 15-26

oCToBEr 27-28

Complimentary Kickoff Session

Planning and Exploration

Virtual G2E Experience

Wednesday, october 14 The schedule is subject to change

11:00 AM - 12:00 PM ET 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM PT

LEADING THROUGH COVID-19: REAL COVERSATIONS ON RESILIENCE Speakers: Justin Carter, General Manager, Hollywood Casino Toledo; Kathy George, CEO Firekeepers Casino Hotel, Battle Creek; Laura Stensgar, CEO Coeur D’alane Casino Resort and Hotel moderator: Brian Cristopher, Social influencer, BCSlots.com Open to all G2E Badge Holders

12:00 PM - 12:30 PM ET 9:00 AM - 9:30 AM PT OCTOBER 14 OCTOBER 26, 2020

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G2E PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT Open to all G2E Badge Holders

G2E PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT Open to all G2E Badge Holders

PLANNING AND EXPLORATION G2E Virtual Platform opens -Open to all G2E Badge Holders

G2e 2020 sCHedule

Tuesday october 27 The schedule is subject to change

Full 24 Hours

PRODUCT DISCOVERY AND BUSINESS MEETINGS Open to all G2E Badge Holders

11:00 AM - 12:05 PM ET 8:00 AM - 9:05 AM PT

KEYNOTE PRESENTATION Open to all G2E Badge Holders

12:15 PM - 12:30 PM ET 9:15 AM - 9:30 AM PT

G2E PROJECT SPOTLIGHT Open to all G2E Badge Holders

12:00 PM - 12:30 PM ET 9:00 AM - 9:30 AM PT

THE FAN OF THE FUTURE? HOW LEAGUES ARE CAPITALIZING ON SPORTS BETTING THROUGH PARTNERSHIPS*

TRIBAL GAMING AND THE PANDEMIC RECOVERY: WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD?* Presented by

ONLINE GAMING: IS YOUR STATE NEXT?*

HOW PAYMENTS MODERNIZATION ADVANCES RESPONSIBLE GAMING*

1:15 PM - 1:30 PM ET 10:15 AM - 10:30 AM PT

G2E PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT Open to all G2E Badge Holders

1:30 PM - 2:30 PM ET 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM PT

GLOBAL GAMING AWARDS VIRTUAL EVENT Open to all G2E Badge Holders

2:30 PM - 3:15 PM 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM PT

G2E VENDOR SOLUTION SESSION Open to all G2E Badge Holders

THE C-SUITE IN A SEA OF CHANGE* Presented by

4:30 PM - 5:00 PM ET 1:30 PM - 2:00 PM PT

G2E VENDOR SOLUTION SESSION Open to all G2E Badge Holders

G2E PROJECT SPOTLIGHT Open to all G2E Badge Holders

3:15 PM - 3:30 PM ET 12:15 PM - 12:30 PM PT 3:30 PM - 4:15 PM ET 12:30 PM - 1:15 PM PT

G2E VENDOR SOLUTION SESSION Open to all G2E Badge Holders

INDUSTRY-FOCUSED NETWORKING*

REOPENING NEVADA: A DISCUSSION ON RECOVERY AND LEADERSHIP*

NEW FRONTIERS: EXPANDING SPORTS BETTING TO NEW STATES AND CREATING A MEANINGFUL CONSUMER EXPERIENCE*

INDUSTRY-FOCUSED NETWORKING*

PANDEMIC OR NOT: HOW CONSUMER ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOR ARE CHANGING*

INDUSTRY-FOCUSED NETWORKING*

*ACCEss TO ThEsE sEssIOns Is GRAnTED Only TO full G2E VIRTuAl ExpERIEnCE (EDuCATIOn) bADGE GAMINGAMERICA 11

G2e 2020 sCHedule

Wednesday, october 28 The schedule is subject to change

Full 24 Hours

PRODUCT DISCOVERY AND BUSINESS MEETINGS Open to all G2E Badge Holders

11:00 AM - 12:00 PM ET 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM PT

KEYNOTE PRESENTATION Open to all G2E Badge Holders

11:30 AM - 11:45 AM ET 8:30 AM - 8:45 AM PT

AGEM MEMORIAL AWARDS Open to all G2E Badge Holders

11:45 AM - 12:00 AM ET 8:45 AM - 9:00 AM PT

G2E PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT Open to all G2E Badge Holders

12:00 PM - 12:45 PM ET 9:00 AM - 9:45 AM PT

1:00 PM - 1:45 PM ET 10:00 AM - 10:45 AM PT

G2E VENDOR SOLUTION SESSION Open to all G2E Badge Holders

G2E VENDOR SOLUTION SESSION Open to all G2E Badge Holders

THE FUTURE IS GAME CHANGERS: HERE AND IT’S WOMEN IN PAYMENT GAMING PAVING THE WAY* MODERNIZATION*

G2E VENDOR SOLUTION SESSION Open to all G2E Badge Holders

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? PART 1: HOW EACH MARKET HAS REOPENED*

Presented by

Presented by

Presented by

1:45 PM - 2:15PM ET 10:45 AM - 11:15 AM PT

G2E PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT Open to all G2E Badge Holders

G2E PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT Open to all G2E Badge Holders

G2E PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT Open to all G2E Badge Holders

2:30 PM - 3:15 PM ET 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM PT

GAMING DURING THE PANDEMIC: VIEWS FROM ACROSS THE INDUSTRY*

THE OPERATORS’ GUIDE TO OMNICHANNEL SYSTEMS*

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? PART 2: THE REGULATORY RESPONSE* Presented by

INDUSTRY-FOCUSED NETWORKING*

INDUSTRY-FOCUSED NETWORKING*

EVOLVING SPORTS BETTING RESEARCH TRENDS: WHAT IS THE CONSUMER THINKING?*

INDUSTRY-FOCUSED NETWORKING*

*ACCEss TO ThEsE sEssIOns Is GRAnTED Only TO full G2E VIRTuAl ExpERIEnCE (EDuCATIOn) bADGE 12 GAMINGAMERICA

G2E PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT Open to all G2E Badge Holders

KEYNOTE PRESENTATION Open to all G2E Badge Holders

3:30 PM - 4:30 PM ET 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM PT 4:30 PM - 5:00 PM ET 1:30 PM - 2:00 PM PT

SPORTS BETTING AND TRIBAL GAMING: THE YEAR IT ALL CAME TOGETHER*

GGA lAs veGAs

counTdown To celebraTion lead Partner

The 2020 Global Gaming Awards is now in its seventh year, and this time around, with a virtual format, it will look like no other. but events manager Mariya savova explains that like all the ohers, it will be a year to remember

SAVE THE DATE October 27th at 10:30am PT/1:30pm ET so, when is it all happening?

As per usual the Global Gaming Awards ceremony will be held on Day 1 of G2E. However, I should mention that the road to the ceremony is quite long. With the Awards growing in popularity every year it is a major task to research and build the final Shortlist. We started the Awards process at the end of February when we opened the self nominations and allowed companies to tell us why they believe they deserve a Global Gaming Award.

We then asked our expert Nomination Panel to put through their recommendations before the Gambling Insider and Gaming America editorial teams could review all submissions and narrow down the list of nominees to 10 in each category. Once we had

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a final Shortlist, we contacted each nominated company and asked them to submit a short supporting statement, telling our 100-strong Judging Panel why they should win. In September all GGA judges were asked to cast their votes for a winner and a runner-up in each category with KPMG Isle of Man monitoring the entire process.

Before they can sign off the Awards, KPMG selects a few judges at random and asks them to confirm their votes, so I couldn’t stress enough how rigorous the entire process is. This is exactly why each winner of a Global Gaming Award should be incredibly proud because they have won fair and square. We are super excited to announce who this year’s winners are on October 27

GGA lAs veGAs

at 1:30 pm ET / 10:30 am PT. The ceremony is one of the many great things happening during the virtual G2E so make sure you stay online even after you’ve seen who the GGA winners are.

How do i find out who is shortlisted?

The full list of nominees can be found in the official Global Gaming Awards Shortlist magazine available to read on globalgamingawards.com/vegas. In the 12 days leading up to the ceremony, we will also release videos on our social media channels, announcing the nominees across the different categories, so keep an eye on our LinkedIn and Twitter pages.

In this year’s Shortlist we have a few companies who had a good year and received multiple nominations for their efforts, such as IGT and Scientific Games, with five nominations each; and Hard Rock & Seminole Gaming and MGM Resorts with four nominations each. We have a few firsttime nominees such as Game Changing Technologies, Global Payments, Twin River Worldwide Holdings and PointsBet USA, and for us, it’s a pleasure to recognize their achievements.

The Slot of the year category I find particularly interesting this year because it combines digital and land-based products and it shows the huge diversity and creativity in this industry.

And another particularly interesting category for which we received a record amount of self-nominations is Product Innovation of the year.

We truly believe all the companies that have been shortlisted deserve a Global Gaming Award, but unfortunately, we can only have one winner in each category. Nevertheless, receiving a nomination is still an incredible achievement and to all the companies who made this year’s Shortlist, we say well done. You should be proud!

do you have any surprises for this year?

The whole event this year is almost all a surprise because rather then it taking place in a beautiful banquet hall in the Venetian

in front of 600 guests, it will be streamed to all Global Gaming Expo attendees. In addition, we will also broadcast it live on LinkedIn and of course the globalgamingawards.com website, which means that a lot more people can attend this year, albeit virtually.

Two new additions I particularly like are our gift box that we are sending to all shortlisted companies. It is an achievement to be shortlisted and we wanted to send them something to make them feel the sense of achievement and to help celebrate the awards ceremony with us. And after the main presentation event announcing the winners, we will move into the after show special.

We will try to video call winning companies to get their reaction live on air. This is super scary mainly because we just don’t know what is going to happen, but at the same time it’s exciting and should be a great way to celebrate with the winners. We were sad none of them will get that special moment on the stage with the room applauding them, so it was the least we could do.

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everi

For Everi Occasion Lee Higgins, manager of product marketing at Everi, discusses the gaming supplier’s broad range which will be on offer at G2E. What products would you have advertised on the floor at G2E this year?

Everi has a robust lineup of recently released and upcoming premium titles including The Mask and The Karate Kid, both available now on the Empire DCX premium cabinet. MonsterVerse featuring Kong and Godzilla in earth shattering 4K display will be available later this year on the Empire DCX. Cash Machine Jackpots and Gold Standard Jackpots on Skyline Revolve are based on the awardwinning three-reel mechanical game Cash Machine that combines the popular Win What You See gameplay with the win potential of a mechanical wheel top box. Both themes are available now.

Among its for-sale offerings, Wicked Wheel Panda and Wicked Wheel Fire Phoenix, the highly anticipated extensions of Everi’s award-winning Smokin’ Hot Stuff Wicked Wheel game, as well as the Beast Uncaged series, are available now on the new Empire Flex cabinet. Diamond Lock Ruby and Diamond Lock Sapphire with its popular lock and respin feature and Triple Double Patriot and Triple Double Gems with frequent, lucrative multiplier action were also recently released.

On the fintech side of the business, CashClub Wallet, a fully cashless integrated mobile product that delivers one-source, bi-directional functionality, is expected to be live in the first casinos in the fourth quarter of 2020. It’s a convenient, cost-effective solution for operators who desire 360-degree visibility and compatibility across their on-premise and online player amenities. With CashClub Wallet, players have for the first time the ability to move funding transactions bi-directionally – from one wallet to another while either gaming on the floor or on a casino’s online offerings.

How will Everi approach the virtual edition of G2E?

reopened and where our fintech business is aligned with our casino operators, we began to generate revenue as they reinstated operations. This revenue stream and the swift actions we took in March to reduce our operating costs and preserve liquidity led to better than expected results in Q2 2020. In addition, we benefited from prior investments in technology innovations and game development through the strong performance of our installed base of recurring revenue games and financial technology solutions as our customers began to reopen faster than previously expected.

What are your general product plans for the next few months?

We will continue to prioritize innovation across our portfolio of products from game development to cashless funding solutions.

On the games side, we’re focused on delivering on the strength of our pipeline of new game content across all our product categories and dedicated to maximizing our customers’ investments they have made with Everi. We’re also committed to partnering with customers in this COVID environment, providing gaming and financial technology solutions that help ensure player and staff safety. More specifically, our fully featured banked product Empire Arena is inherently designed to promote safe social distancing while our fintech business has several contactless cash access solutions and has generated significant publicity recently. These products include our CashClub Wallet and the award-winning QuikTicket solution, offering alternatives to dispensing cash on the floor. The Everi Cares Giving Module is another solution that has continued to receive attention as it enables guests to donate the change from redeemed vouchers and operators with a new avenue to promote corporate social responsibility and support their communities while lessening ticket abandonment and coins dispersed.

We will use this virtual edition of G2E to showcase some of our latest and most compelling themes from our standard and premium games portfolio all aimed at heightening player engagement and helping operators generate higher returns on their investments.

We will also virtually demonstrate our industry leading cash and cashless access funding solutions that meet players’ and operators’ preferences as well as our self-service player loyalty products.

The virtual tradeshow will provide Everi a platform to share with customers our extensive, integrated fintech and loyalty product lines that help operators operate more efficiently both in front- and back-of-house and maximize funds to their floor.

How has the pandemic affected your company?

Everi went through the same process of cost-cutting and furloughs as many of our peers when the pandemic struck. When casinos 16 GAMINGAMERICA

the CashClub Wallet

goldfinger

A new Gold standard in monitor manufacturing Monitor production company Goldfinger's Evan De Vine walks us through its latest touch and touch-free technologies at G2E. How has the pandemic affected how you market and sell your products?

touchscreen monitor

We are doing a lot more remotely as far as meetings go, using platforms such as Microsoft Teams to review designs and drawings of monitors with customers in real-time, which has been great. Some of those more engineering focused meetings can all be accomplished online now. We are still at our customers’ discretion, with their permission of course, still doing some business face-to-face just because we do enjoy the relationship and personal touch. Of course there have been social distancing measures at our office and at our distributors as well. Really the thing that we have focused on is maintenance and cleaning of products. There’s been a big focus on that. There’s definitely an increase in cleaning from the customers so we put together a recommendation of different alcohol- and water-based solutions, and recommendations for how to actually apply it to the glass – not to scratch it up or ruin any of the technology.

With the switch to virtual this year, what products will you display at G2E in its new format?

Will investing in virtual promotion continue after the pandemic ends?

We will be displaying monitors, both touch and non-touch using a variety of different touch technologies, namely infrared as well as projected capacitive touch screens. Some of the new features that we are highlighting this year are the addressable or customizable LED lights. They go around the entire perimeter of the frame of the monitor as a nice attraction feature for the cabinet. That’s fully customizable.

The infrared technology doesn’t particularly call for direct skin to screen contact like some of the other touch technologies do, so you’re able to protect yourself from transmission by wearing a glove while you play, or you can use an instrument or a stylus to distance yourself and reduce the chances of transmission of any bacteria or viruses that might be on the surface of the glass. We are one of the fastest growing monitor companies in North America, servicing a lot of markets other than just gaming like kiosks, hospitality, retail as well as industrial and manufacturing applications, so we’re proud of that.

I would say so. This virtual show of G2E will really be a benchmark for us as to how successful a virtual show and generating leads virtually can be. If we see success and fruit from that labor, I have to imagine that we will continue to do that even maybe after some of this has subsided.

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What are some bright sides that have occurred during this time?

A lot of States and municipalities are looking for ways to generate revenue and slot machines, and skill-based gaming is a very good way to do that. We’ve seen a big spike in demand over the summer leading into the fall as there is some laxing of or some leniency from legislatures and different state rules that are allowing for our customers to operate more freely and to build more games. The States are seeing the benefit from that too by way of taxes and fees.

inCredible teCHnoloGies

ThaT's incredible!

Caitlin Harte, director of product marketing at Incredible Technologies, details what will be showcased at G2E. what will incredible technologies have on display at G2e?

Our message is all about showing our continued investment in R&D as we demonstrate the depth of our product catalog along with proven performance. Our lineup consists of a great mix of new and established software across all our product segments, as well as our award-winning socially distanced bank configurations.

Our most exciting product launch in 2020 is the release of our class II gaming products. For nearly a decade we've produced class III games exclusively. We are entering class II Tribal markets with class III themes on our Infinity Skybox cabinet, and are sure our products will fill a need for innovation and stunning hardware on class II floors. Our customer-focused reputation will be more critical than ever and we think our products, backed with IT service, will be a standout for customers.

In class III, the momentum we felt through Q1 2020, with high performing titles coming off our test banks, was temporarily slowed when the world began shutting down in March. The great news is that when properties began reopening in the spring, our performance picked up right where it left off, with several of our titles hitting industry performance charts throughout the summer.

is investing in virtual promotion for incredible tech something that will be practiced even after restrictions are lifted?

There is definite value in being able to reach customers without traveling, but there is a human connection element that just simply cannot be replicated in a virtual meeting. We’re looking forward to hearing feedback from our customers regarding virtual events this year to gauge the effectiveness.

We’ve been missing face-to-face contact with our friends in the industry, so we plan to start connecting in person as soon as it’s safe to do so. I expect to see a mix of both virtual and in-person events once restrictions are lifted and we may never see attendance numbers or event frequency like we did before COVID-19, but I have confidence the industry will rebound and adjust safely.

Are you able to properly engage with customers virtually to strengthen the it brand?

In March our entire company shifted to working remotely, so we had to quickly adapt to a new virtual style for meetings both internally and externally. We’re happy that we can provide our customers with an option for meeting with us and can virtually keep them up to date with our catalog. It’s been extremely successful thus far, and we’re looking forward to using more digital media for product updates, even when in-person events begin again.

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universAl jumbo edGe lAndsCAPe

will you have to adjust your sales strategy? what is your plan to generate greater interest in your offering?

It’s no secret that G2E and the traditional selling season of 2020 is unlike any other. We must be mindful of our customers’ situations, both financially and operationally. Some may be operating with decreased revenue and a smaller team, so sales agreements may not be as guaranteed as in previous years. Right now, we have to support our customers however we can and showcase our investment in R&D in a compelling way. We’re fortunate to be able to offer new game content, as our development teams have been more efficient than ever as we work remotely. We’ll be sharing our new themes and promoting socially distance compliant hardware like our Edge and Universal Jumbo Edge spacing solutions.

what is the aim for the rest of 2020 and into 2021?

IT employees are fortunate enough to stay the course for the foreseeable future. Our leadership has kept all staff employed with no COVID-related layoffs to date, so the entire company is now focused on creating value. We are developing software for both class III and II on our existing Infinity platform and aiming to continue to provide new content to maintain our fair share.

Looking to 2021, the additional time we’ve had to reprioritize our R&D efforts has presented new opportunities for IT to diversify its product offerings. We’re eager to pursue new business ventures in iGaming, international expansion and continue our path of land-based casino innovation. In short, we’ll continue to provide award-winning games with exceptional service and support.

table trac

Staying on Trac Eric Cunningham, training and marketing manager at Table Trac, Inc. explains how the company has been able to weather the COVID storm with casino management innovation and touchless monetary systems.

It goes without saying that 2020 has been a challenging year. However, from significant challenges come remarkable achievements. As everyone continues to adapt and explore new paths forward, Table Trac Inc. has maintained its commitment to innovation by developing new products that provide value to our customers and enhance casino operations.

Throughout the early part of 2020, we carefully monitored the changing state of our nation and looked for ways to step in and help get our customers re-opened safely while adhering to specific local and state requirements. Our development team responded to the social distancing need by quickly innovating and patenting the Dynamic Auto Social Distancing (DASD) application that partners with the Clean and Disinfect machine shutoffs in our CasinoTrac casino management system.

CasinoTrac customers can maintain the diversity of game offerings for their players by keeping all of their games in

“Table Trac's footprint in the gaming industry is solid and growing steadily. While we appreciate the in-person interaction, we’ve always maintained a forwardthinkingand adaptive approach in our business exchanges. Strong virtual communication has always been a focus of TableTrac to ensure the best client interaction possible,whether by virtual meetings or video presentations.”

service, thereby ensuring a player's favorite gaming machine is available while still encouraging responsible social distancing. DASD is provided at no charge to all CasinoTrac customers.

Table Trac has continued the innovation path with a new approach to cashless gaming and increasing customer time on devices with a newly patented approach for touchless secure monetary management at gaming machines. CasinoTrac CMS customers will soon be able to offer their guests the ability to check casino account balances, redeem promotions, and transfer funds and promotional credits to gaming machines using a mobile application on a smartphone or tablet while at the property. The new mobile application mirrors the look and functionality of our new KioskTrac Player Rewards Kiosk that began rolling out to customers in September.

As a company, Table Trac has also had to find new ways to interact with our current and future customers. A significant part of the casino business is in-person interactions, which can be challenging to translate to a virtual environment. With physical trade shows moving to a virtual platform, companies have been tasked with finding new creative ways to reach their audience. Virtual tradeshows provide an opportunity to connect with potential customers that may have previously been missed using only social media and websites.

Table Trac's footprint in the gaming industry is solid and growing steadily. While we appreciate the in-person interaction, we’ve always maintained a forward-thinking and adaptive approach in our business exchanges. Strong virtual communication has always been a focus of Table Trac to ensure the best client interaction possible, whether by virtual meetings or video presentations. The addition of virtual tradeshows has opened a new avenue to engage potential customers and highlight the features and functionality that set CasinoTrac and DataTrac products apart from the competition.

Through our continuous innovation of products and forward-thinking approach, Table Trac has quickly adapted to the ever-changing needs of our customers over the last 25 years. As we move to a more virtual-centric society, we'll continue both traditional and virtual platforms to communicate and engage customers, and our future plan is to continue the customer-centric approach that has made us a premium offering within the gaming industry.

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suzohapp

Source of the matter Tiffany Sadler, Suzohapp's global marketing manager, explains the company’s approach to make the most of G2E. 2020 has been an unprecedented year in many aspects. We have all encountered obstacles and challenges that we have never faced before and are approaching our business and work from new perspectives such as working remotely and trying new business models. How we approached G2E this year was also unprecedented.

Here at Suzohapp we had to evaluate a difficult choice: do we try to make some digital magic work to get a similar feeling to what we would normally have for what is one of the industries largest shows of the year, or do we conserve our efforts and simply focus on our customer needs during this difficult time? Although there have been a lot of great strides made in the technology available to make a show like G2E happen virtually, because it is still a relatively new medium, there are still a lot of unknowns in how best to make a virtual show work from an exhibitor perspective. The best practices sheet, market research and consumer behavior to support how to put your best foot forward for events like these just does not exist yet.

Early on during the pandemic closures, our leadership team sat down and evaluated how we wanted to move forward as a company and ultimately found that our focus had to remain on the needs of our customers. Without that focus, we would only be reactive, rather than proactive and we would lose sight of who we are, what our values and what our brand means to our customers.

In that light, our focus for G2E is simple and true to the Suzohapp mission: we simplify your sourcing.

Under normal circumstances that would mean displaying a wide variety of products as we have been known for years as being the supplier that has everything under the sun for the gaming industry.

But digitally, that does not make sense in a virtual show as it would simply be a second iteration of our website if we tried that approach.

Instead, we determined that we would highlight those products that customers are likely having difficulty finding now that companies have closed or discontinued specific lines. To that end our product offering for the virtual G2E is simple. We aim to fill the gap.

Touch screens have been a vital product in the gaming industry for years and are used in a myriad of games. Thus, it was surprising to us when 3M decided to exit the SCT business this year. There are so many customers who rely on these 3M Micro Touch screens that would now need a new source. To fill this void, we worked with our network to find exact drop-in replacements. Our long-time industry experts evaluated the competition in this market and found TPK to be the best replacement source. TPK has been in the industry for a long time, their products are top quality and, in our opinion, easier to use than the 3M models as the tails are standardized so you get 22 GAMINGAMERICA

TPK Screen SUZOHAPP more flexibility and value from a single product. Suzohapp’s TPK offering includes screens from 15” to 32” with stock available for all the top selling corresponding 3M products.

We saw last year at G2E and at ICE that consumer interest was shifting back toward tangible gameplay with a rise in pull levers and reel mechs as opposed to virtual ones. These physical components have been a part of the Suzohapp portfolio for a long time. As others exit this tangible product market in the UK and in Europe we have recommitted to this business and will continue to be a source for these items especially as the popularity in these games grows to help customers get that nostalgic and retro feel.

Our reel mechs will be highlighted prominently in our product lineup for G2E to help ensure customers that there is a source for these products, and we aren’t getting rid of them anytime soon.

Keeping costs low is something that everyone is looking for in this economy due to the pandemic. We’ve seen a lot of operators looking for ways to upgrade their existing games rather than buy new ones.

To fill that need, at the virtual G2E we will highlight our DPS button deck. This LCD button deck is brilliant because it was designed to fit most standardized cabinets thus making it a drop in upgrade and replacement. This makes it cost effective for smaller operators and allows for a quick and easy upgrade to help attract new customers.

As we can also customize the DPS button deck, we can make it work for anyone with our design engineers.

While these products are but a small sample of our overall product offering, we felt that by focusing on these key items we can keep that digital experience simple for G2E and also help reassure customers that the products that they need are available and easy to find from one simplified source.

kambi

Kambi What the sportsbook provider plans for G2E. With a range of partners including Penn National Gaming, Rush Street Interactive, Seneca Gaming Corporation and Four Winds Casinos, Kambi is the leading provider of sportsbook technology and services to the US regulated market.

Since the repeal of PASPA, Kambi, more than any other provider, has underlined the strength and capabilities of its sports betting technology. Our relationships with regulators, commitment to the highest levels of sports betting integrity and expertise in compliance have been key factors underpinning the progress we have made, and Kambi is now live in 11 US states, having delivered market firsts in nine.

Our scalable sportsbook has been the centrerpiece of the success we’ve helped our partners to achieve in regulated markets all over the globe, with a high-performance sportsbook core the vital aspect for operators in offering a product that can not only attract new players and gain market share, but retain on a consistent basis.

Our team at this year’s virtual G2E will be on hand to talk delegates through how we can help to unlock their sports betting ambitions. The Kambi virtual showroom will outline our leading on-property and online offering, as well as details to get in touch with us and find out more.

The Kambi sportsbook’s powerful open APIs represent a blank canvas upon which our partners can build a completely proprietary front-end, most recently demonstrated by the launch of Penn National Gaming’s Barstool Sportsbook.

The capacity for differentiation offered by the Kambi sportsbook also extends into pricing. A traditional criticism of sports betting suppliers is that their partners offer the same odds. With Kambi, this isn’t the case, and over the past 12 months we have further developed our price differentiation tool to enable operators to adjust the odds on one specific outcome (rather than total vig), giving them greater control over their competitiveness in the market, to take into account regional bias if they wish and to better control risk.

This doesn’t require them to react immediately to events in-game, and can be set before the event begins. Put simply, with Kambi the levers are there for operators to differentiate on price in-game just as they can pre-match. It’s even possible for an operator to offer different odds in different jurisdictions, granting our multi-regional partners even greater control over their strategy.

Unlocking on-property potential Furthermore, Kambi’s on-property expertise is enabling our partners to maximise their casino floors. The Kambi sportsbook 24 GAMINGAMERICA

kambi kiosk has been proven to produce a sportsbook halo effect, increasing engagement with every aspect of the casino floor and drawing in new players with higher long-term value.

Our virtual G2E stand will display the Kambi kiosk, which has proved transformative to the manner in which people like to bet in the US, generating up to 75% of handle at our partners’ casinos.

We will also showcase our unique Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) technology. With the importance of social distancing set to remain for some time, casinos could look to encourage the wider use of mobile devices on their premises to facilitate an experience that is both engaging and safe.

It is here that Kambi’s BYOD technology can be leveraged to allow for an easy and exciting on-property sports betting experience conducted in a safe and contactless manner.

The technology enables bettors to view lines and construct bets anywhere, generating a QR code that can be scanned at the counter or Kambi kiosk, placing their wagers without coming into contact with any surfaces.

Some of our partners are seeing up to 40% of on-property bets being placed using the technology, underlining its ability to protect betting volumes while allowing sports wagering to be conducted in a safe manner, which keeps physical touchpoints to a minimum.

Furthermore, long queues can run the risk of putting bettors off, especially when they have the option to bet their money elsewhere on the casino floor. Alongside the Kambi kiosk, our BYOD reduces queueing and makes the sportsbook more inviting, quickening the player journey and thereby optimising turnover.

Kambi is trusted by visionary operators worldwide to act as a platform and incubator for growth and differentiation.

Visit our virtual G2E showroom to find out more about how our data-driven sportsbook core and flexible technology have served as a springboard to success for operators on six continents.

global payments

Finding Solutions Chris Justice, president of Global Payments Gaming Solutions, speaks about current products and adapting to a virtual G2E.

chris justice

There are a few products we were hoping to showcase this year at G2E. First, we have VIP Mobility. This gives casino operators the flexibility and opportunity to reduce costs while facilitating a seamless player experience from funding through cash-out. VIP Mobility surpasses traditional forms of wagering and betting by enabling casinos to connect to existing responsible gaming systems while equipping patrons with the technology to better track, manage and control expenditures.

This solution enables guests to create digital TITO tickets on their mobile device by scanning an existing voucher or using their VIP Preferred e-check account. Patrons can then pair their mobile device to any slot or table game by scanning a QR code. They can reload from their phone and retrieve funds once they are finished playing.

Then we have our VIP Financial Center, which is advancing the role of cashless gaming within the industry by enabling casinos with the flexibility to meet the preferences of players who choose to use cash as well as those who prefer a cashless experience. VIP Financial Center is the industry’s first true full-service solution that provides convenient self-service TITO, bill breaking, e-check, ATM and cash advance capabilities to casino guests. VIP Financial Center not only enhances the player experience, but it also helps casinos maximize spend across all physical and digital properties.

The high-performance solution is designed to equip casino operators with robust service capability, high dependability, easy serviceability and enhanced security, all in a slim profile design.

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This enables casinos to achieve maximum value for the floor space occupied by their kiosk solution, while saving more room for revenue-producing slot machines or table games.

Finally, our iGaming solutions enable a multi-channel approach to online gaming with capabilities like iLottery, daily fantasy football, online casino, sports betting and horse racing. The blending of digital and physical drive higher guest satisfaction and put more dollars in play with lower risk.

The suite of iGaming solutions leverages Global Payment Gaming Solutions’ VIP LightSpeed platform to connect online and brick & mortar gaming experiences, and streamline the management of online credit/debit processing, cash advance and e-check. Tapping Global Payments’VIP Preferred e-check network, guests are enabled to quickly access funds from their checking account without having to re-register, and with the same limits and terms available to them at the cage, in a seamless, frictionless manner.

In lieu of a physical G2E conference, we’re working to provide attendees with an option to book virtual meetings at the show, as well as hosting a series of Lunch and Learns with media during the week of October 13, with the purpose of demoing VIP Mobility for local and industry media. Our goal is to drive greater awareness of Global Payments Gaming Solutions’ cashless capabilities within the gaming media industry.

The pandemic forced us to adjust our business and sales strategy this year. However, we leveraged this time to reset and strategically plan for the industry’s reopening. As so, we emerged from the onslaught of the pandemic not only able to provide the modern, digital approach we’re known for, but also help casinos understand how these solutions can be used to adhere social distancing measures and provide a truly cashless experience. Specifically, we created a resource center explaining how our solutions encourage social distancing, as well as helpful tips to maintain safety and security during COVID. In turn, our solutions are system agnostic, interoperating with the infrastructure in place on the casino floor, allowing current systems to operate as they do. Casinos’ processes and procedures remain in place and Global Payments effectively delivers cashless solutions to the operator to help improve their overall position, including social distancing and other COVID-driven responses.

We will work to continue to enhance the player experience and bridge the gap between physical and digital gaming experiences.

We plan to announce more partnerships and will continue to advance the future of cashless, contactless, touch-less gaming.

Synergy Blue

Synergy Blue Gaming America speaks with Georg Washington, CEO of Synergy Blue, to find out about the gaming supplier’s new games and cabinets. way of at least getting some interaction, then when things open up again we can go meet customers face-to-face or have them visit our showroom so we can present our products.

Some other executives have argued that the virtual format is a leveller because you don’t have the Scientific Games or Novomatics of the world taking up huge amounts of show floor. Would you agree with that? georg washington

Could you sum up what Synergy Blue embodies as a company?

Synergy Blue is best known for its skill-influenced games.

We’ve been in the industry for several years and make arcade and casual style wagering games – we call it fun you can bet on!

What markets is Synergy Blue active in currently?

We’re currently active in North America, Central Europe and Asia, as well as the Caribbean.

Have you attended many G2Es yourself? How important are events like it for Synergy Blue?

I’ve attended myself for at least a decade or so. G2E and events like it are very important. It’s a one-stop show. You get to meet customers one-on-one and show your products. It’s a very valuable show.

What is your opinion on virtual events? How do they serve as a substitute for physical events?

I think that it’s a creative solution in an unprecedented time. I’m a little bit old-school so I prefer face-to-face, but with that being limited, I think it’s a good alternative.

Is there anything else you are hoping to get out of the event?

Will you be attending any conferences?

We are still in the process of evaluating our level of involvement with the virtual event. If I am attending then what normally happens is I am constantly talking to people, so unfortunately I never get a chance to go to the conferences, maybe with it being virtual I will actually have the time.

Do you have to adjust your strategy during a virtual event?

What is the tactic for meeting clients and selling products?

The industry itself is very traditional. I think virtual events are a 28 GAMINGAMERICA

It’s a good point and I would say in some ways, yes, that’s correct.

For us, it’s a little bit of a different pull because we provide different experiences than Novomatic and Sci Games. Also, with those companies, everyone understands what their products are. I think skill-influenced games are in a different place.

Really having that ability to play and experience the games in person is part of the education of where skill-influenced games are right now in the market. As a lot of our products have different input devices, from steering wheels to light guns and joysticks, it’s a different experience to a traditional gambling game. Being able to physically play the game provides a different sales style.

What are the main products Synergy Blue is hoping to showcase at this year’s G2E? Even during shutdown our plan was to keep G2E as our product deadline, so we really pushed through the whole period. The team kept working the whole time, so we were planning on showing several new games.

We have Blizzard Blast, which is a progressive game, Joyride Jackpot, Area Fifty-Fun, which is a light gun game, and then we’ll also announce another license title here soon. We’re really excited about those particular games. They feature new math mechanics. Blizzard Blast is a really interesting style game. It’s like Toon Blast, a Brick-Breaker game, which is fun and fast. On top of that we’re showcasing progressives and converting Blizzard Blast to a class II game so we’ll show our class II platform and game as well, which is a big step for us.

Then we also have our three new cabinets with the 2600 series, which come in Slant Top, Large Format and Bar Top Format. The cabinets were designed in consultation with Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari, and are inspired by the original Atari 2600 console.

They offer sleek and smooth game-play and provide gaming floors with more variety of machines and casino games. The series also meets the needs of new health and safety requirements for casino floors. The cabinets are equipped with Blue Safe Touch technology, which includes antimicrobial touch surfaces and UVC air filtration.

Galaxy Gaming

Galaxy Gaming Todd Cravens, president and CEO of Galaxy Gaming, explains how his company has been supporting its partners during the pandemic and what new products the gaming supplier has on offer.

What sets Galaxy Gaming apart from other gaming suppliers?

The company has been around for about 22 years, and although we began by focusing solely on physical table games, the company has evolved quite a bit over the past few years into iGaming and ETG. One of the things we think a lot about is creating really good content and then having that available in multiple channels for customers. That’s really what Galaxy Gaming is all about.

How has the company changed since you first joined in 2017?

In that time, there have been two really big changes.

Licensing wise, the company continues to open up in new markets and we recently opened up California,

we received licensing in Mississippi and are in the process of receiving licensing in Iowa, Indiana and Massachussetts.

The other thing that has happened over the last few years is the licensing of content into iGaming.

Europe and the UK have been pretty steady; it’s a mature market in iGaming but we’re really starting to see some of that growth happen here now in the States. While there’s really only two or three states that are up and operational on iGaming, we are believers that it will be a fast follower to sports betting. There are more than 20 states now that have legalized sports betting and I think if anything, the COVID lockdown really cut tax revenues for many of the states. I think we will probably see an acceleration of iGaming in the next few years.

I don’t think we’re going to put that genie back in the bottle.

I would say we’ve seen a two- to three-year acceleration as a result of COVID. That’s one of the reasons we made the purchase of PGP, which is an iGaming distributor. We closed that deal in August because we think iGaming will continue to be a growth engine for us as new markets open up in North America.

On the land-based side of the business, how have sales slowed down as a result of the pandemic?

todd cravens

We’re in a monthly lease model with our customers and by the end of March, every single brick-and-mortar casino was closed. Of course, iGaming continued but that side of our business came down to zero. We took a big hit but luckily we were in a good place with our balance sheet. Now we’re starting to see our sales come back.

We actually issued a press release early on and said that if you’re closed, we’re not charging you. That was received pretty well. We were really thinking about ways to support our customers through this so we initated our ‘Step Up’ plan for the remainder of 2020. For July GAMINGAMERICA 29

Galaxy Gaming

and August, as people started to reopen, we only charged 25%. Over the next two months we charged 50% and for November and December we’ll charge 75%, with the hope of getting back to full billing in January. The customers appreciate the fact that we understand what they’re going through and we tried to mimic our billing with what we anticipated revenues to be like.

The good news is that at the same time the pandemic hit, some of these new jurisdictions, which I mentioned earlier, started to open for us. Just this week we’re starting to install our products in three new facilities in Mississippi. We’re now opening up our base of sales to casinos we didn’t have before.

Of course, the pandemic has created a new need for social distancing among other limitations. Has this changed the way you have had to think about game design at all?

We were starting to go down that route anyway. We were looking at content that potentially may never see green felt on a physical table but was instead built for iGaming or the ETG market. With the pandemic we’ve doubled down on creating that content because there’s going to be a bigger demand for that than there was previously.

We have a game called Roulette Up, which is great for iGaming and EGTs but might be a little difficult for a dealer to track in a physical wheel environment. We also started to think about things like how slot machines can pay out now, such as partial pay outs. You might bet $2 but you’ll get back $1.73. You can’t do that with physical chips, but if you have the right electronics in a table or you have the right electronic monitoring within iGaming, you can do all of that.

Now as we look toward this year’s G2E, what products were you hoping to showcase?

We have a couple of new games, in addition to working on a brand new electronic system. We have two new poker derivatives called Ricochet Poker and Daredevil Poker. They both have two completely different mechanics that we haven’t seen. Then we have a new baccarat game that we licensed from Tiange Xu of the UNLV Center for Gaming Innovation. We have a different riff on that and I think it’s going to be a really fun game. We’ve been working with other manufacturers to be able to use existing displays that are already in the field so customers don’t have to go out and buy a winning number display.

We were also going to show a more finished version of Roulette Up. We have also completely revamped our current progressive system with a new system that will come 30 GAMINGAMERICA

“For July and August as people started to reopen, we only charged 25%. Over the next two months we charged 50% and for November and December we’ll charge 75%, with the hope of getting back to full billing in January.

The customers appreciate the fact that we understand what they’re going through and we tried to mimic our billing with what we anticipated revenues to be like.”

-Todd Cravens out toward the end of this year called Triton. It allows us to use dealer and player pads at a table and to transmit for remote and in-house gaming away from the table. It also allows for those partial pay-outs. You and I could be sitting at the same table but choose different pay tables. We’re very excited about this and really wanted to show it off, but we’ll find other ways to get it out there. What’s also very exciting is we’re starting to introduce inter-casino links. Over the next few months we’ll link together a variety of casinos in and around London on the same jackpots for three-card poker and 21+3. It’s going to be the first time that we’ve done that.

playport gaming

Playport Gaming Playport Gaming’s Larry Pelzer, gaming director of business development, casino markets, and Brian Ferilla, chief product officer, discuss the gaming supplier’s plans for G2E and their view on virtual events.

What challenges has the COVID-19 pandemic posed for Playport? Have you still been seeing the same level of interest in your product?

LARRY PELZER: Across the board, the effects of the pandemic

the possibility for customers to take that experience home with them. There are certain innocuous elements that are starting to become apparent to operators not only because of COVID-19 concerns, but also as the industry moves forward.

have generated a lot more immediate interest than there would have been otherwise. Everyone wants to move to mobile gaming. Everyone knows that it’s where the space is ultimately going to end up.

So would you say the COVID-19 pandemic has sped up the already inevitable shift toward digitalization?

BF: Absolutely. It really has driven that forward because it’s

BRIAN FERRILLA: Traditionally, real-money mobile gaming has been on-property, with some providers supplying tablets on tables in different areas of casinos so patrons can use them to extend their gaming experience to a comfortable location.

Even to provide those capabilities, operators are still paying for the hardware infrastructure to drive that. Our approach is purely a ‘bring your own device’ approach, so that cost is eliminated from the business model.

As we are class II currently, it allows us to not only provide that same experience while they’re at the property, but it provides

obvious that properties can’t sit completely dormant forever.

They have to have a mechanism in place to generate revenue from their very valuable patron database in some way, shape or form. That’s what we’re seeing properties take an interest in.

How important is it for events like G2E to go ahead despite the challenging circumstances?

LP: I’m not 100% sold on the virtual conferences yet, although I’ve only attended one so far. As a vendor, our whole premise is to show as many people as possible our product and develop relationships. I don’t think that’s very well served in a virtual environment, but that’s just my own take on it.

BF: That is very true. We attend these events to build relationships, and being able to present your product is definitely a part of that.

On the flipside, those conferences are intended to be educational. They’re intended to promote innovation and show everyone where the industry is at and where it’s heading.

I think when you start to look at the educational side, there are always opportunities to learn something whether you’re a vendor or an attendee.

Do you have to adapt your strategy in any way from a sales perspective in the absence of a physical show?

LP: I think in the virtual environment, it does level the playing

larry pelzer

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field a bit in comparison to a traditional trade show floor. You don’t have the Scientific Games and IGTs taking up 40,000 square feet of space with all the models and their games.

These things obviously generate a lot of attention.

Virtually, if done right, companies can stand out or at least get on equal footing with some of the major players. All we’re

PlAyPort GAminG

trying to do is stand out. From a sales perspective, setting the meetings and talking one-on-one is the only way you get things done.

what is Playport hoping to showcase at this year’s G2e? lP: We’re going to showcase our platform and the new features and functionalities. This is the second G2E I've attended with the company. While fundamentally our platform hasn’t changed as a real-money mobile gaming platform, in terms of features and functionality, it’s changed immensely from year to year. Really we want to highlight those changes from last year, while also showcasing where we’re going in 2021, whether that has to do with third-party integrations, new game styles, new payment methods or geofencing. We also want to demonstrate the ease of actually implementing our product within a given property.

bf: Over the 12 months since the last G2E, we have focused on a significant number of user experience enhancements that really try to simplify the idea of purchasing mobile games and playing them: increasing speed, minimizing friction and continuing that cycle we call churn. In the last years several things come to mind that we want to make sure potential partners are aware of.

Larry mentioned integration with third parties such as Aristocrat, IGT, Sci Games, etc. One of our newest capabilities is providing players with an opportunity to purchase our games

“As wE ARE ClAss II CuRREnTly, IT AllOws us TO nOT Only pROVIDE ThAT sAME ExpERIEnCE whIlE ThEy ARE AT ThE pROpERTy buT IT pROVIDEs ThE pOssIbIlITy fOR CusTOMERs TO TAkE ThAT ExpERIEnCE hOME wITh ThEM. ThERE ARE CERTAIn InnOCuOus ElEMEnTs ThAT ARE sTARTInG TO bECOME AppAREnT TO OpERATORs nOT Only bECAusE Of COVID-19 COnCERns, buT AlsO As ThE InDusTRy MOVEs fORwARD.” 34 GAMINGAMERICA

briAn ferrillA

with their loyalty points balance. Properties are always looking for ways to reduce that liability they have on their balance sheet. Now, players don’t have to only play with cash; they can play with loyalty points.

We’ve also created a mechanism, much like sitting at a slot machine, where you can play games and when you win, you can immediately reinvest those winnings into more games. Then we also have the possibility of taking advantage of another currency source, which could be an e-wallet or a check-cashing card.

We also have recently completed dvelopment of our next generation V2.0 games. These include more traditional types of digital game playe features such as value bundles, bonuses, multipliers, and such. Most recently we’ve started to move into some unique animated video clip sporting bonus scenarios.

For example, if you hit the bonus on one of our football games, it will pop up a clip of a live football play, to present the bonus outcome in an entertaining manner. Whether it be football, basketball, a horse race, or any of of a number of engaging sports experiences, we believe that this feature significantly adds to the game play experience for our users.

That’s all on the user-experience side. If you look at the back-side, which is where the marketing and revenue folks at the property live, we’ve created some unique tools that give them significant control over what their user base sees.

For example, in our administrative portal, we give control to the marketing team over what games are available for a certain period of time on their universe of users' mobile devices as well as targeted promotional billboards that those users see on their device within our app.

bluberi

Fruitful ambitions Bluberi's director of mathematics and strategies Steve Houle details the products that will be on offer at G2E and how to navigate the path of reinvention.

What products would have been displayed?

At G2E this year we would have presented a lot of new game content, particularly on our latest cabinet, the Novus b49. We made some updates with our game development team and we came up with quite a few new offerings in both game mechanics and math models.

Our banking strategy and our game content for b49 would have been central to our display.

One of the highlights for us this year is our progressive controller. We have developed and are now offering a progressive controller that meets the Nevada standards, opening a lot of new jurisdictions to us. This represents a major technology advancement for us.We have also reworked the button deck on the Novus b49 cabinet, so it has physical “Play” buttons on it in addition to the LCD button panel. We also have some new titles available on our b.POD cabinet, including our successful low line

count games, building up the game library to support the existing footprint.

How has the pandemic affected your business from a broad perspective?

We all share the same challenges in that casino business was severely reduced for a large part of the year. Here at Bluberi, we have worked very quickly to get everyone working remotely. We did not waste any time, but rather, it pushed us to get smarter, and to keep game development moving along so we will be ready for 2021 and beyond. It challenged our technology and our capability to work remotely, but from a content perspective and from production, we really came up strong. We were up to speed in less than a month and lost no time at all.

What are some possible advantages that have arisen from this unique year?

Like everyone, this year we were forced to reinvent ourselves, and, in some ways, our tactical approach to our customers. It has been a great benefit to focus on one-on-one interactions with our customers, and to customize our approach to give great customer service and bemore hands on.

Our sales team has been very present in the field during this time. Whenever that’s not possible, we utilize technology to hold Zoom or Teams calls and present our products that way. We have not lost touch. We have worked hard to make our interactions more personal and customized to each customer, and we have seen great success from that approach.

Will you incorporate more virtual meetings even after the pandemic ends?

novus b49

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Yes, for sure. While in-person meetings are still preferable, virtual is the new trend. We are working on building content and creating more virtual or digital tools for our sales team.

From a product standpoint, we will provide them with more tools and materials so they will be effective either in person or virtually. This year it has really become the focus: how do we get better from a digital standpoint? It’s all about getting the product in front of the customers so they can learn about it, what’s available now and what’s coming around the corner soon after.

novomatic

Novomatic Americas Kathleen McLaughlin, VP marketing and product management, North America, tells Gaming America about Novomatic America’s new products, as well as the company’s plans for the months ahead.

Kathleen McLAUGHLIN

just scratches the surface. Our customers will see a variety of premium content, core content and exciting new progressive product lines.

The new Thunder Cash link theme, Golden Seas, will enhance the popular multi-level progressive jackpot offering and give operators a new product to add to the already successful link. With more progressive games like the Asian Aviary series, including the standalone products like Eternal Mandarin Ducks, Royal Crane and Noble Peacock, the visuals are stunning and based on a very player-friendly math model.

Plus, our Dancing series of games, Dancing Tiger and Dancing Lantern, are again some of our best player frequency math models with highly entertaining, happiness-inducing feature characters that will keep players engaged and playing. Two more progressive products are the Lucky Twist family, with Dynamite Dragon and Money Kineko, which have so many uniquely entertaining rewards features that players are guaranteed to love the action, excitement and bonuses on these wheel games.

In the VGT market, the Novostar VIP 3.65 is a new cabinet for the Illinois market and it is doing extraordinarily well; we have new game mixes for the Illinois players to keep it exciting and fresh.

Finally, we have a leading sports betting kiosk, our Novomatic ActionBook and our myACP casino management system for route operators, which is an easily implemented tool for performance management, maintenance and the Novo Rewards player loyalty module for Illinois.

How will Novomatic Americas be approaching the virtual edition of G2E? What products would you have displayed at G2E? We continue to bring dynamic gaming products to our North American customers in 2020. We will feature our most impressive and sleek cabinets like the PantheraCurve 1.43, VIP Lounge Curve 1.43, the Novostar VIP Royal 2.65, the Executive SL 1.24 ETG, Novomatic ActionBook sports betting kiosks, and the Novo Rewards player loyalty kiosks, and this

We are doing a combination of things and putting together product demonstrations, sizzle reels and detail about our products for G2E 2020. We have already begun doing virtual pre-G2E demonstrations for customers and we’re planning regional showcases in our key markets. The virtual component is a whole new twist for everyone and we’re getting creative about providing access to our G2E product.

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transact

Supply the demand Tracey Chernay, senior vice president of casino and gaming for TransAct Technologies, has her say on the shift to virtual events and the role of social media in increasing the supplier’s reach.

Can you give us a bit of background on yourself?

When did you first get started with TransAct?

How many times has TransAct attended G2E before, and how has the company developed since its first G2E?

I started with TransAct back in 2005 to lead marketing. I had been with a large corporate conglomerate for 20 years prior to that so it was refreshing to come to a small company with a lot of entrepreneurial spirit and an exciting product line. I have been with TransAct ever since in a number of roles but mainly leading sales for the casino and gaming market from our Las Vegas gaming headquarters. It’s been a pleasure to be at TransAct over those years. We’ve seen a lot of success and exciting times and I am looking forward to finishing up the year strong in 2020.

This would have been my 16th G2E with TransAct and we were active at G2E prior to my joining, so I am going to estimate the company has participated for at least 18 years. There’s been a lot of growth in that time and a lot of change in the company. We've gone from being a hardware company to now a software-based company with hardware and other solutions. It’s been exciting to see that change in TransAct and to share that transition with our customers at G2E.

How have you found the shift to virtual events? Have you attended any over the pandemic period?

I’ll be honest and say that I found it a little bit difficult. It’s something that you have to get used to. I did attend ICE North America and I would say that the virtual event format accomplishes many goals. It educates, informs and updates people. I find that the networking portion of it is a little bit more difficult. In person it’s always better to see long-time colleagues and customers, and meet new people in person. That personal aspect of the virtual is more difficult, during this time.

Without that networking aspect, what is your plan to generate interest in your offering at G2E? We definitely had to adjust our strategy. We have to be able to be interesting and compelling enough for people to want to visit our portion of the virtual event. We will accomplish this in a variety of ways. We’re working on an outreach program of our own through our social media, which has been successful for us. We’ve been very active in both Linkedin as well as Facebook. I think we’re gaining a number of followers and reaching a number of people through those methods as well as through direct email communications with our database.

Tracey Chernay

38 GAMINGAMERICA

Do you think that this increased social media focus will be maintained by TransAct, even post-COVID? Yes we will certainly continue with our social media strategy.

It’s where people spend a lot of time these days and we

trAnsACt

have developed a good list of people that we can reach and communicate with. So yes I think it will be a permanent addition to our long-term strategy for sure.

what are the main products you are looking to showcase at G2e this year?

This year we’re going to showcase three main products.

The first is our Epic Edge. That is our new TITO printer. It’s the newest technology on the market; the highest resolution; easiest for our customers to update with firmware; and it offers a lot of advanced features over anything else out there.

Then we have a software product called Epicentral, which is a software system that allows casinos to make offers to players while they play by using the ticket printer as their communications medium. The software allows you to make smart offers to players based on any number of triggers, including time on device, coin in or any number of ways.

It’s especially useful for uncarded play. There’s lots of ways to reach carded players, but for uncarded play, Epicentral really shines. It makes uncarded members feel comfortable that they are qualifying for offers even though they’re not a carded member of the casino.

Finally, our last product is the Epic 880. This has become increasingly more important to TransAct and our customers.

It’s a roll printer that prints sports betting tickets as well as any type of kiosk application. Of course, sports betting is becoming increasingly important and the Epic 880 is the right product for that application for many of our customers. It can produce a variable length ticket slip, which is beneficial as sports bettors could have one bet or 20.

ePiC edGe

How has the pandemic affected transAct technologies?

Have you still found high-levels of interest in your products?

Yes there is a lot of ongoing interest in our products.

The impact of the pandemic has focused on casinos being closed. Obviously if they’re not open for business they’re not ordering machines or planning promotions. We’re very happy to see casinos reopen and get back to more normal levels of business.

TransAct has gone to working both virtually from home as well as in the office sometimes. We have found that a pretty convenient way to work. Not everyone comes into the office at the same time and when we do, we remain masked. Then we follow all the necessary health and safety protocols, such as hand washing and temperature taking.

what’s next for transAct? We’re firmly into our planning season so we’re planning for 2021 now. For the rest of 2020, we aim to deliver several key projects. We’ve got a new casino opening in Las Vegas in October, which is very exciting. Circa's casino will open at 40 GAMINGAMERICA

the end of October and they are using the Epic Edge and Epic 950 printers. We have a number of other Epicentral projects in the works as well. Then it’s really just building the printer business back to a more normalised level with budgets returning.

Casinos are more focused than ever on making sure their floor is updated. The investment is going into gaming rather than other venues in their facilities, so we’re seeing a return to focusing on that gaming component. That works for TransAct. It’s what we do best.

viz explorer

Exploring every option David Patent, CEO for operational intelligence solutions provider VizExplorer, speaks about the their approach to the virtual G2E and the long-term impact of the pandemic.

We offer a full suite of solutions across the entirety of property operations – the slot floor, marketing, and CRM. Our systemagnostic tools harmonize property data and allow operators to make the optimal decisions as well as take immediate action for their slot product, marketing reinvestment and guest interactions. So we’re super excited to showcase our new Slot Recommendation Engine, which is a push-button, fully customizable tool available either on-Prem or in the Cloud (SaaS).

We started installing the product in late 2019 to enthusiastic and extremely positive reviews. The Slot Recommendation Engine allows operators – virtually instantly – to identify opportunities by recommending moves, additions, reconfigurations and removals using both machine and customer data from their floors. The tool uses industry standards but allows for operators to create their own custom rules to further optimize their recommendations. It’s the first of many new products that will redefine and extend our longstanding leadership position in the industry. These tools will be easy to use, single purpose products that can be delivered to casinos with as few as 100 slots in under a week at an extremely reasonable price point.

This year’s G2E will be very different for everyone and we’ve built some innovative ways attendees can interact with VizExplorer’s virtual booth. We have a series of small engaging videos for our products, industry specialists standing by to answer questions or showcase specific functionality pertaining to an attendee’s specific needs. Our managed services team will also be available to discuss how we’ve helped our casino customers leverage data and our toolset during COVID to find opportunities in the data they would not have found with standard CMS tools or reporting packages.

Like everyone, our first concern as the pandemic took hold was our team members’ safety. In early March we switched to remote work and focused on supporting our current customers.

We published a number of “Viz Learning Series” blogs to help our customers navigate their re-openings – how to think about slot product when 50% of your floor might be shut down, as well as how to think about direct marketing in a capacityconstrained environment.

The pandemic also forced us to focus on supporting our current customers and ensuring that our team members were safe. As properties and the broader economy have re-opened, we’ve been able to bring back a good number of people, restore salaries and re-open our Las Vegas office for those who want to

david patent

come to work in person. We’ve also maintained the option for everyone of working remotely.

It’s difficult to predict what the outcomes will be years down the road, but we believe that operators are going to be more cost-conscious in the near-term and understand the critical importance of knowing your customers and making sure that your gaming product, marketing offers and interactions are personalized and on-point. Data and analytics are critical to success and already we’ve had many current and prospective customers engage with us on how they can tackle these challenges. Crises like these are always catalysts for innovation, so we will likely see more products that deliver value to casino customers without requiring personal interaction. We may see a lot more automation and perhaps mobile products that allow casino customers to take control of their journey without the need of another human, unless they want one.

So our plan is to continue to support our current customers, and work to aggressively market and deploy our new Slot Recommendation engine and our current solutions, both in the US and internationally. We never stop innovating and we have a rich roster of products that we’re developing. We’ll also be busy demonstrating the value of our managed services and consulting team. These are people who combine the knowledge of our solutions with strong operational backgrounds to ensure that our customers get the most from our tools.

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casinomoney SBTech

CASINOMONEY Larry Dunnwald, president and CEO of CASINOMONEY, tells Gambling Insider about the cash management provider’s products. the rigor of the compliance and regulation requirements for casino operations.

We also have a third company called EVENTMONEY which is now able to offer cashless solutions for larger events and venues.

We are talking with other partners such as TableTrac to bring a cashless solution to the gaming floor for technology focused casinos and events.

How will you approach the virtual event this year? larry dunnwald

Tell us a bit about CASINOMONEY for those who might not know a lot about the company.

MOBILEMONEY is the parent company that began over 24 years ago, providing ATM services to many of the largest special events throughout the country. CASINOMONEY expanded on these services, providing ATMs, cash advance, check cashing, and ticket redemption services. EVENTMONEY was created to provide RFID and POS merchant processing services. Together, the companies have morphed into a full-service technology company providing hardware, software and full-service payments solutions to casinos, special events and retail establishments.

What products are you planning on showcasing at G2E this year?

CASINOMONEY has been developing a modern ticket redemption kiosk for casinos, sports betting, and video gaming terminals.

The new CM-2020 Kiosk is a complete solution with services that includes ticket-in-ticket-out, ATM, credit card cash advance, merchant POS debit, check cashing, and jackpot payouts. The new kiosk includes a large curved touch screen and top-mounted media topper which is controlled by an independent portal for managing your advertising and marketing content. We previewed the CM-2020 last year at G2E and over 20 units will be deployed in the first quarter of 2021. CASINOMONEY has also developed a lower end Agile-1010 Kiosk which is a lower cost solution providing ticket redemption kiosks for the grey game market.

We also have a great partnership for Title 31 compliance software to make sure casinos are able to save time and money through compliance automation which has been very popular.

PayLynx has a strong history with banking regulation and we worked with them to develop gaming specific solutions to meet 42 GAMINGAMERICA

We have utilized on-line meetings and webinars via Zoom to show live demos of our Cage services which includes our proprietary Plug-n-Play Cage Solution. We will continue this in lieu of not being able to meet with our prospects and customers in person this year. For our Cage service, our all-in-one unit combines all the required hardware for providing financial services into a single consolidated instrument without all the cords and space required by our competitors. We are constantly pushing the technology boundaries by introducing new equipment and software updates to improve the cashier and customer experience.

How has the pandemic affected CASINOMONEY's activities?

When most casino business was shut down in March, it was difficult managing a very diverse client base in over 14 states.

As restrictions were being lifted, some casinos came back more quickly than others and required a great deal of effort and coordination of resources. Some states have come back slowly but we have utilized this downtime to accelerate our product development and service offering. We have about 90% of our clients operating today and their numbers are slightly better than we forecasted. Looking at the bright side of the pandemic, the closures have demonstrated our high level of service in difficult times. Overall, we have built stronger relationships with our clients in order to exceed the new demands of our changing world.

What’s next for CASINOMONEY? We continue to enhance our self-service kiosk solutions and the integration of cashless applications into our portfolio of services. Our online portal continues to expand in function and form, providing an online command center for reporting, terminal set-up, marketing, diagnostics and remote repair. We continue to invest in modern technology to improve the casino guest experience and cash access to the gaming floor. That is how CASINOMONEY helps players "Stay in the Game!"

jani-king

It's good to be the King Jeff Freeman, vice president at Jani-King talks about how their disinfecting solutions have been, and will continue to be, in high demand.

During this period of COVID, we really have had quite a demand for our electrostatic disinfecting of gaming machines in areas throughout many casinos across the country. It’s been an exciting opportunity for us serving the employees and casino operators. Now the general public is extremely concerned about safety entering these different facilities so there has been a substantial burden put on companies like Jani-King to provide environments that are safe for patrons to enter and enjoy their gaming experiences related to casinos.

We have delivered that through our partner companies who provide us with top-of-the-line equipment to provide a safe environment for gaming experiences. We have tweaked our uniform apparel to allow the public to know that our people are cleaning and disinfecting. That has really put people’s mind at ease when they see our staff wearing uniforms that say cleaning and disinfecting and then that really allows the patrons to know that the casino staff is going a step further than just cleaning. They are actually disinfecting all of these machines multiple times per day. If somebody gets up from a machine our teams go over and electrostatically spray it, creating a positive charge and kills the virus in less than a minute with the products that we use. The casinos are very safe now to operate in as long as they use a company such as Jani-King that is providing that level of service.

What we do is provide supplemental EVS services to casino operators for their cleaning and disinfecting needs but we also provide full 24/7 service across the country in hundreds of builds, entertainment venues, stadiums, hotels, casinos and to the general commerce. Jani-King is a 50-year-old global company and we service coast-to-coast, border-toborder throughout the United States cleaning thousands of buildings every day. Our product really is our service. There are thousands of franchise owners as well and we’ve been servicing venues such as the Dallas Cowboys stadium to auto-dealerships, and we find that there is always a demand for our service to provide.

For G2E this year, we are gathering our partners and doing a lot of video marketing as well as online training. It’s a whole different world. Of course, who would have ever thought a year ago that people would be wearing masks and having their temperatures taken and thermal imaging being done to go inside a casino.

There’s a significant education process that we had to go through with our teams with policies and procedures, and

“Sometimes when you go through the fire you come out a little bit sharper and there’s new ways of business that evolve and we want to be part of that at all times. The future will dictate what our next moves would be but we certainly plan to not miss an opportunity to participate and put our brand out in front so that customers and users of our type of services know where to reach us.” then matching them and incorporating those policies and procedures into the existing ones of the casinos as well. All of that is carrying over hopefully into our ability to participate in virtual upcoming events that will assure the users of our services, the people that have the needs, that the EVS teams provided give the services to their patrons and customers that keeps their hotels, resorts and casinos safe and keeps people comfortable from coming back in. So we are excited to prepare for the upcoming event and have access to our data, partner companies and casinos so that those operators can speak to those people about their experiences with Jani-King.

I have an inclination that whatever platform there may be, in person or virtual, we will part of it. Sometimes when you go through the fire you come out a little bit sharper and there’s new ways of business that evolve and we want to be part of that at all times. The future will dictate what our next moves would be but we certainly plan to not miss an opportunity to participate and put our brand out in front so that customers and users of our type of services know where to reach us.

GAMINGAMERICA 43

AGs

sTrengTh in numbers Three AGs executives speak to Tim poole about their G2E aims and the products the provider would have had on show, across table games, interactive and slots. tAble GAmes – GAbe bAron, AGs senior direCtor of tAble ProduCts bonus sPin xtreme The bastion of the table games division for AGS is based off progressives, felts and shufflers. Thus far, progressives mark the majority of our revenue and placements. We continue to build on that, so this year, we’re launching a progressive side bet system called Bonus Spin Xtreme. It’s a proprietary math method that allows you to link games of dissimilar math, like roulette, craps, baccarat or blackjack, to a common meter. So rather than having a prize occur because somebody achieved a hand, like a typical progressive, there’s a trigger event in each of those games. When that trigger occurs, you’re going to have a wheel spin – the inner wheel spins and awards a community prize for every player at that table who’s made the wager (maybe it’s $50 or $150, for example).

The second inner ring of the wheel then spins and identifies a seat at that table. If that seat is actively wagering on the progressive, it then triggers the spinning of the outermost ring of the wheel that offers a larger prize to just that person. This could include a progressive jackpot or a larger prize like a vehicle if the casino is offering it. It balances out the prizes in the background, so you’re not getting any advantage over a player playing a different type of game.

Bonus Spin Xtreme is really exciting for us; it’s at GLI right

now and our first installations are planned for the end of the year and early next year. It also features the Must Hit: in the background, whether or not the trigger event has occurred on any of these games, the RNG involved with the system can still go and grab a particular seat at a particular table as each game is ended, and award them money just for being there. This is usually typical to a slot machine, but we use it with our STAX Progressive and we’re also bringing it to Bonus Spin Xtreme.

PAx s sHuffler Our other new launch this year is a product called Pax S, our second shuffler. It delivers single packets of cards, so if you’re dealing a game like Jackpot Hold’em or Criss Cross Poker, you’re typically dealing community cards and then specific amounts for each player. Pax S has hand recall and all the protections you’d expect of a shuffler. It removes the process of hand shuffling in games that have high-odds payouts. We’re quite excited to launch Pax S soon and propel our shuffler business forward.

For us in tables, we’re hosting some virtual events at G2E for our customers. For those who are in Las Vegas, we’re going to bring people into our showroom in a very safe and controlled manner. It’s not a one-size-fits-all for us; it’s really going to depend on where somebody resides, how much time they have, and we’ll tailor our presentations to their needs. Whether it’s a video, in-person meeting,or a salesperson meeting them in their territory, we’re going to do whatever it takes.

interACtive – mAtt rebACk, AGs exeCutive viCe President Our interactive business has been growing steadily. The roots of our interactive business are that it was built to allow us to generate and distribute great game content, and to get that content into every possible channel. While our land-based team does an amazing job making sure all our games get onto the casino floor, our interactive team takes that same content and makes sure it’s online in every possible way we can. Interactive’s broken up into our social business and our real-money business. Social is playing for 44 GAMINGAMERICA

virtual currency, which continues to attract new customers and thrive.

In our real-money business, our games are distributed in regulated markets around the world. Our biggest markets right now are the UK, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and our content is distributed among the top operators around the globe. So what we would have talked about at G2E this year is our plan for 2021 – to expand to new markets. Michigan is the next US state to come on board and that should happen in the next

AGs

jAde wins three months – a lot of people are targeting Q4 and we plan to be live in Michigan as soon as the market opens up. The idea would be to get AGS games like Rakin’ Bacon!, Golden Wins and Jade Wins into that Michigan market on day one if possible.

Every week and month, we’re working with new operators and the demand for our product is very strong. In 2021, we’re also working on continuing to expand our product offering; we’re

going to be adding table games this year, more than likely starting with blackjack. This is consistent with our strategy since we’re great at creating content and getting that content into another channel where users can play our games. We look at features we can add to our games too, such as free spins and progressives.

It’ll be fairly easy to demonstrate our HTML5 games to our customers virtually at G2E. For example, in Pennsylvania, if I’m talking to one of our customers, they’re usually familiar with our games on the land-based side. For the interactive side, we’re able to have playable game demos and videos of games playing – it’s much easier. There’s no ergonomics and no sitting at a cabinet. So we do our best to ensure our sales people and account managers have access to playable game demos and mobile games. We’re firm believers that we put a lot of effort into the design of our game; we’re obsessed with the details.

We’ve been pleasantly surprised with how well our games have performed online. There’s a theory that successful land-based games do even better online and we’re really starting to see that. Turnover is huge with Rakin’ Bacon! for instance, and our other games continue to perform really well online.

CAbinets And slots – steve wAltHer, senior direCtor of slot ProduCts Much like with what Gabe has said, we’ll be hosting a number of virtual events as well as having a limited number of people into our showroom in Las Vegas. Obviously, social distancing and safety measures are important and we want people to have a good experience with our products. Our overarching theme for AGS is significantly expanding the breadth of our portfolio. Around a year ago, when you were likely looking at articles about AGS, you would have seen we had a portrait product and two dual-screen upright-style products. Since that time, we’ve injected a significant number of products into our portfolio. We’ve introduced the Orion Rise, which is a tall 55-inch screen with the lower monitor being where the gameplay takes place. There’s also the Starwall, which we released at G2E last year, as well as the Orion Curve, which has served to be a core game style product.

Now what we’re introducing as part of this G2E is updating that Curve into what we call the Orion Curve Premium. We’re building a merchandised package around this premium-level cabinet and we’re starting off with a brand extension, what we’re calling Rakin’ Bacon! Deluxe. As Matt mentioned, the Rakin’ Bacon! theme is phenomenal for us. We’ve leveraged that beautiful pig art and elements because everybody can identify with the Rakin’ Bacon! pig – it’s a great symbol. We also have an Asian theme and a pirate theme as part of the Rakin’ Bacon! Deluxe family. We’re moving forward with four-and-five pods for the current configurations we have in the industry today, recognizing spacing and social distancing requirements. With the Starwall, we’re also bringing out a number of additional themes, such as Phoenix Magic, Lucky Panda and Golden Dragon beginning in 2021. Again, the idea 46 GAMINGAMERICA

behind what we’re showing at G2E virtually or at the showroom is the depth of the portfolio to support these cabinets. Those three sets of cabinets, the Orion Rise, the Orion Curve and the Starwall, didn’t exist a year ago. So we’ve really broadened our portfolio and we’ll be showing a number of additional themes at G2E. We’ve turned a mid-sized land-based provider with a couple of cabinets into a serious contender that crosses all the various video market segments that land-based can offer, still with that same passion and obsession with building great game products. That resonates with our customers and the performance is showing that.

rAkin' bACon deluxe

PACe-o-mAtiC

Picking uP The Pace Michael Barley, director of communications at skill games developer pace-O-Matic, explains the steps being taken to get a firmer foothold in the us market.

Obviously being out among the public – our locations are ubiquitously bars, restaurants, convenient stores, clubs – it’s been a difficult time. During the pandemic, a lot of our locations were closed. However we’ve worked since then as things have opened up with our customers to get back to full strength, our goal is really to make sure that we protect our consumers and then operate within the guidance and regulation provided federal, state and local governments. We have cleaning supplies, hand sanitizer, social distancing, all things that many others are doing we are implementing within our games as well.

So for us it’s to continue to develop and enhance the products that we have and also continue to work for us on the regulation of our games in markets where we operate. We are at a very crucial time for our company right now and we feel very confident in the position we’re in. The key markets right now are Virginia and Wyoming, and we’re being regulated because there’s an additional tax being added to the play of our games.

We’re working right now to solidify that. Those were both one-year grace periods and we are working to find a solid path for our games in those markets. In Virginia, they passed a ban of skill games but gave us a one-year reprieve for a COVID-19 relief fund and our goal is to see if we can’t continue to operate in the state. Our best estimates are that skill games will provide an additional $150m in tax revenue for the Commonwealth of Virginia this coming year. In Pennsylvania, we’re working to provide a bill that would further tax our games.

I think some of some of the challenges we face as a skill games developer is just education and how to explain the differences in our opinion between games of skill and slot machines. You always have folks that are concerned about market share, whether that is the lottery or casinos. We have seen data that shows over and over again that the lottery is just not impacted by our games. We’re not looking at a gigantic parlor of game. We want to have a business that is generating their own revenue and hopefully we come and subsidize some of that revenue.

As recent times have shown, we’ve had to do a lot more virtually. There is certainly plusses and minuses. Sometimes you can’t replace a personal meeting no matter what you do. However, there are things you can do with virtual and presentation that are helpful. We are going to participate no matter how the gaming convention is held. In some ways you can get their attention and hold longer if it’s virtual. If you sign 48 GAMINGAMERICA

up and you see something, you get that direct connection and you have that little window there to directly communicate with someone outside of just running by. Our goal is to make sure we take advantage of that time as best we can.

It’s also important that we are communicating best practices and we work together to help the locations that we serve. There is no doubt that the hospitality industry has been hurt probably as much as any industry during this pandemic, so for us it’s really helping them weather this storm and get back up and running. We certainly feel that our games help them do that.

We had a lot of businesses and customers that we serve close, but the folks that have opened, we’ve seen good numbers. We have certainly seen a willingness from consumer to go back out into the marketplace and want to play and participate. They’re obviously at a distance and in a new way but they still want to be out and experience things on their own in person.

For G2E, our ideal audience is diverse. It’s a place to showcase products and part of that is educating how we operate and how we are a little different. Usually folks in what are termed grey game fields we want to make sure people understand what we’re doing is different and how we approach things is different.

We don’t go into a market unless we have a legal path of entry.

That’s a big difference between us and our competitors. We also want to let people know that we are serious and work actively in markets around the States to grow and expand.

“fOR G2E, OuR IDEAl AuDIEnCE Is DIVERsE. IT’s A plACE TO shOwCAsE pRODuCTs AnD pART Of ThAT Is EDuCATInG hOw wE OpERATE AnD hOw wE ARE A lITTlE DIffEREnT. usuAlly fOlks In whAT ARE TERMED GREy GAME fIElDs wE wAnT TO MAkE suRE pEOplE unDERsTAnD whAT wE’RE DOInG Is DIffEREnT AnD hOw wE AppROACh ThInGs Is DIffEREnT.”

We would like to thank all the contributors who helped us produce this G2E Preview magazine and bring to life what would have ordinarily been a bustling Las Vegas show floor. All the contributors who spoke to us about their products and companies have played their part in bringing the industry together, and showing that the sector is still standing strong through the pandemic. There is also no better way to celebrate the ongoing efforts of the gaming industry than at the Global Gaming Awards Las Vegas 2020, which will take place virtually as part of G2E this year. You can watch live on the G2E platform, YouTube and LinkedIn as we reward those who have truly excelled during such an unprecedented time of difficulty within US gaming, with many of the nominees being companies that featured in this magazine. If you want to find out the winners in all 12 categories, be sure to watch the virtual ceremony accessed from anywhere in the world. For results afterward, visit GlobalGamingAwards. com/Vegas/ to see who reigned supreme.

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