Excellence In Gaming

The exciting and busy Aristocrat Booth at G2E 2022

Interview with Jon Hanlin, SVP of Commercial Strategy and Analytics, Aristocrat Gaming by: Victor H Royer

asino Life Magazine and Outsource

CDigital Media recently had the opportunity to interview Jon Hanlin, senior vice president of commercial strategy and analytics for Aristocrat Gaming.

Jon joined Aristocrat in 2015 as senior director of commercial strategy for gaming operations, bringing extensive experience in global marketing strategies to Aristocrat as the company expanded international initiatives and implemented growth strategies across its entire business. In 2019 he was named senior vice president of commercial strategy.

Jon, first I want to thank you for taking the time to speak with me. Please tell our readers about yourself and your role at Aristocrat.

Thanks, Victor, it’s my pleasure. It was great to see you again at G2E 2022! I grew up in New Jersey and had spent just under nine years with Caesars Entertainment when I relocated to Las Vegas to take an opportunity with Aristocrat. In my transition from an operator to a manufacturer, I brought insight of what customers experience on their floors, and helped focus the commercial teams on creating commercial models and strategies that keep that front of mind. In my almost seven years at Aristocrat, I’ve been fortunate to work with some of the greatest talent in the industry – from our studios, to the sales, operations, and execution groups, and my commercial team – that bring the strategy to life. Being the steward of great products, like Dragon Link, Game of Thrones, Buffalo Grand and Crazy Rich Asians, is a privilege that I’m grateful to do everyday.

How has the direction and vision statement for Aristocrat changed since G2E 2021? Or has it? We continue to live by our mantra of our people, our customers, our business and that has proven to be a successful model. What we mean by that is when we do the right thing for our people, they

brand new, for-sale product offerings and about 70 percent brand-new, lease product. This speaks to our commitment to continually change the game by creating a diverse and powerful portfolio of entertaining products that resonate with a broad spectrum of customers.

Which are the video games and related technologies which Aristocrat is presenting, and what is new and innovative about them? Which of them have new, or re-imagined cabinets? Which of these titles are lease, sales or participation?

Headlining our Class III lease options are all-new games including Tarzan Link™, Lightning Buffalo Link™, and Cash Express Mega Line™, each of which made its world premiere at G2E.

Tarzan Link is a premium, two-game Tarzan® experience on our Neptune Single™ and combines our Hold & Spin mechanic with the legendary Tarzan wheel for exciting game play. Lightning Buffalo Link combines two of the industry’s biggest-ever titles to create an entirely new game with a rapid-hitting $50,000 MSP Super Grand Jackpot and an all-new twist on the player-favorite Super Grand Jackpot mechanic. In Cash Express Mega Line, players can play four Cash Express Luxury Line™ games at the same time. Players can choose which four games they want to play as they vie for the MEGA LINE train. Our for-sale area is filled with 100 percent all-new content, with industry-leading portfolio depth and breadth. Titles include Buffalo Strike™, Wonder 4™ Collection for Neptune Single, Cashman Double Bingo™, and Lucky’s Wild Inferno™. Appearing on the advanced MarsX Flex™ cabinet is Buffalo Strike. The MarsX Flex is the next generation of our large, top-box cabinet with gorgeous graphics and an eye-catching cabinet profile. Buffalo Strike was created specifically for the MarsX Flex and marks the first use of the community-timed frenzy feature, combined with the classic Buffalo™ game play to create player excitement and anticipation with credit prizes, jackpot prizes, and enhanced

Jon Hanlin, SVP of Commercial Strategy and Analytics, Aristocrat Technologies

will take care of our customers and that will make our business successful. We have incredible talent making outstanding games that are performing well, and we continue to invest in development so that we can continue to make great products for our customers and their players.

This is the first fully postpandemic gaming convention in Las Vegas, and we’d like to know how you see Aristocrat positioned in the current and future gaming market.

When Covid struck, we didn’t slow down. In fact, we doubled down and continued to invest in innovation, particularly within our D&D, so that we could ensure we were in the best position possible to continue providing player-appealing games for our customers. That ongoing investment has led us to this G2E, where we are showcasing 100 percent

features. The Neptune Single cabinet offers exciting game play, and now a new collection of our Wonder 4 titles has been reimagined exclusively for the cabinet, including Buffalo Gold Collection™, Fire Light™, Pompeii™ and Wild Panther™. A new Super Free Games Feature offers players a chance to win more than 250 times their original bet.

Cashman Double Bingo on the MarsX Upright™ has two bingo cards that double players’ cash-on-reels chase. Plus, a win on one bingo card does not reset the other, giving players something additional to look forward to, even after a big win. Lucky Wild Inferno is the premiere of a fun, new, devil character to the Aristocrat cast of lovable characters portfolio. He keeps game play exciting by randomly triggering feature wins. For Class II operators, we are excited to offer two new games on a $100,000 MSP Super Hits Frenzy™ link: an all-new Hunt for Neptune’s Gold™ game specifically created for the RELM XL™ five-reel cabinet and Silver Dollar Shoot Out Diamond™ on the Arc Double™ cabinet. We also showed Cash Express Luxury Line Class 2, with proven Class III math reworked for Class II. Our Class II for-sale games combine on-trend mechanics with core VGT math in all-new games including Hunt For Aztec Riches™, Red Spin Run™, Lucky Bunch™ and Gold Gold & More Gold™.

For these video games, what do you think is the future: sales, lease or participation? Which do you think will be the dominant methodology in this marketing?

We’ll leave forecasting to analysts. What I will say is we are committed to providing customers a deep and broad offering of for-sale, lease, and participation products that appeal to a wide variety of player types, and preferences, so that everyone can have an entertaining experience on our games.

Are any of these titles available in cashless configuration? Cashless gaming hasn’t had the kind of wide acceptance among casino operators or casino players. How does Aristocrat consider the future of cashless gaming? Is this something that Aristocrat will continue to pursue as a priority?

Cashless is an interesting payment option for operators and players, and Aristocrat’s CXS division is developing cashless solutions for our customers. Our games will be adaptable to whatever cash or cashless solutions the operator chooses to use.

Online casinos continue to gain acceptance and legalization – how is Aristocrat positioned to provide content and technologies to online gaming?

Our new, real-money-gaming division had its debut at G2E 2022. The group was created to be the go-to destination for RMG for casino operators and for players, and offers play with tailored entertainment that is smart, fun, and playful. The company will Wonder 4™ Collection for Neptune Single launch its offering with eight playerand Cashman Double Bingo™ favorite Aristocrat titles including the Wild Wild™ series, Miss Kitty™, Sun & Moon™, and Timber Wolf™. Using the platform, Aristocrat customers will be able to offer their players the opportunity to play Aristocrat slots on their mobile devices via customers’ online-casino apps. Mitchell Bowen leads that division and he will be best positioned to give more answers about these exciting opportunities.

In general, how would you sum-up the postpandemic future for Aristocrat in Las Vegas? And elsewhere in the world?

It’s not about our future, it’s about our customers’ future. We are investing in D&D to ensure we have incredible products for our customers that will help to position them for success today and into the future.

On behalf of Casino Life Magazine and Outsource Digital Media, I would like to thank you, Jon, for your time and for sharing this with us and our readers worldwide.