At the recent trade show of the Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association, International Game Technology announced a new commitment to the system side of its business, launching what it calls an “Innovative Systems Ecosystem” including products such as Cardless Connect, Intelligent Offers and Resort Wallet.
The new Systems Ecosystem within the IGT Advantage casino management system has the potential to change the way people play and pay for slot machines. Cardless Connect allows players to simply tap their smartphone to activate their loyalty cards, eliminating the need for plastic cards. Resort Wallet allows players to use that same smartphone to tap into a deposit account to fund their slot play.
Intelligent Offers allows operators to customize bonusing for players according to their preferences, using data already collected and stored by IGT Advantage. Operators can enter their own customized language in the IGT Service Window, thanks to M5, which permits content to be entered in the HTML5 format.
While the new ecosystem was launched at the OIGA show, according to Nick Khin, IGT’s chief commercial officer, it also will be a major focus at this week’s Australasian Game Expo, and will remain so in the company’s display at fall’s Global Gaming Expo. IGT has produced a video explaining the system to customers that can be viewed here: https://player.vimeo.com/video/337890688?color=ff9933
Khin spoke with GGB News Editor Frank Legato last week at IGT’s Las Vegas headquarters.
GGB News: For OIGA, you announced a new commitment to systems, and operator use of the IGT Advantage system to offer players new rewards and conveniences. Can you explain the strategy behind this new commitment?
Khin: It was a reinforcement of our commitment to systems in Oklahoma. First, Oklahoma is a strategic market for us. It’s a key market for us. We have a lot of systems customers in that market, and we wanted to make sure those customers realized we are very committed to them and to systems.
When IGT and GTECH merged, one of the outcomes was that we ended up creating the world’s largest gaming systems company. GTECH provides systems to almost all of the North American lotteries. IGT, obviously, provides casino management systems to a lot of the big names in our business. We also have a video lottery system that’s used in most of Canada, where all of the VLTs are connected to the same system. We have a sports betting system. The message we are trying to give to our customers not only in Oklahoma but across the region is that we are a very big systems company, and systems is very much a part of our DNA.
How did operators respond to the new capabilities of IGT Advantage at the OIGA show?
The response was very positive. There’s a lot of excitement in the market about the new features and functionality we are bringing to the market, but there’s also recognition by a lot of our customers that they do need to invest in their systems products in order to take advantage of those new features and functionalities.
Some of our customers are not on the more recent versions of our systems, and to take advantage of these new feature and apps we’ve developed, you do need to be on a relatively new version of our system. We are currently scheduling and planning to upgrade many of our customers to the new versions.
How much of a factor were the system capabilities in bonuses, player rewards, tournaments, etc., in securing some of the major new contracts you’ve achieved for Advantage at Encore Boston, Ocean Casino, MGM Cotai, etc.?
It’s a huge factor. A lot of our customers recognize the fact that we are probably the only ones that have really continued to invest significantly in casino management systems, really thinking about the future. We have the largest suite of mobile apps in the market. We’re really trying to put the power of the system, physically, in the hands of our customers, in the form of mobile devices and iPads, so they do not need to be sitting in a back room looking at a PC. They can actually be out on the floor, doing what they were doing in the back room, but doing it on the casino gaming floor. Processing jackpots, right there, next to the player. Signing a player up for a loyalty program actually at the machine, as opposed to them having to line up at the player’s club desk to sign up for the program.
I think our customers are recognizing the fact that we are thinking about the future, investing in the future, and have got these forward-looking products we’ve brought to market. That’s one of the main reasons they’ve chosen Advantage.
You also made several important product launches at OIGA, including new cabinet hardware and new electronic table game products. What are the essential advantages of these, and how are operators responding?
Very positive. We’re very excited about our ETG product. That’s one of our newest lines of business. We’ve spent a lot of time and resources in developing what we believe is a very competitive solution, not only in the live format but also in the RNG format, with some really innovative games like triple-zero roulette, and some really interesting side bet concepts as well. We’re getting a lot of traction with our ETGs.
We’re really excited about core video, and the strong performance we’re seeing out of our games. That’s really helped to drive the strong performance we’re seeing out of our games, and that’s really helped drive the results we’ve been able to deliver the first six months of this year.
How quickly do you feel technology will once again change the way people play slot machines?
It’s changing all the time. I think you’re seeing it evolve. I don’t think there’s going to be a huge shift overnight, but each year, you’re seeing incremental change. Much of what we’ve been doing in systems is making sure the casinos are going to be able to remain relevant to players. When a player walks into a casino, they want to be able to use their mobile phone to card in, or to transfer funds from their mobile wallet to the machine. That technology exists, and they’re able to do that. But we’re also catering to those players who are more comfortable with plastic cards, or putting money into the machine and getting tickets out.
We know more and more players are going to adopt this technology, but it’s going to take time to do it. In the meantime, we are giving players the choice, and making sure our customers are keeping their floors fresh and are keeping up with technology.
