Eilers & Krejcik Gaming (EKG) held its sixth annual EKG Slot Awards ceremony last week at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, and despite increasing competition in all categories, Aristocrat Gaming won its sixth consecutive nod as Best Overall Supplier of Slot Content.
Aristocrat has owned the overall supplier nod, but did not dominate this year’s awards as much as in the past. For instance, Light & Wonder won two more individual awards this year than Aristocrat, scoring seven top nods to Aristocrat’s’ five.
Aristocrat, though, continues to dominate the overall slot market with another Best Overall Supplier nod. “We are honored to have been recognized at this year’s awards and it is something we do not take for granted,” said Hector Fernandez, CEO of Aristocrat Gaming, in a press release the morning after the awards.
“Around the world, our people are leading the charge to differentiate the gaming industry and these accolades are a testament to our talented staff members who are committed to delivering for our customers.”
In addition to the top award, Aristocrat won Top Performing New Core Video for its Fortune Trails game, Top Performing Game-EMEA for Mo’ Mummy Valley of the Riches, Most Innovative Land-Based Game for NFL Super Bowl Jackpots, and Top Performing Omnichannel Slot for Buffalo, from its Anaxi subsidiary.
Light & Wonder won in the Top Performing new Mechanical Reel Core Game for Blazing 777 Triple Double Jackpot Wild Nudge, Social Slots Game of the Year for SciPlay’s Jackpot Party Casino, Top Performing New Video Cabinet for Cosmic, Top Performing New Cabinet-Premium, also for Cosmic, Top Performing Third Party IP Branded Game for Monsters: Frankenstein, Top Social Casino Operator for SciPlay, and Most Improved Supplier-Premium.
IGT scored three awards, with Mystery of the Lamp Enchanted Palace named Top Performing New Premium Game, Super Hot Roller Poker getting the nod for Top Performing New Video Poker/Keno Game, and Multihand Blackjack Poker and Pairs winning Top Performing New Online Table Game.
Elsewhere, AGS was named Most Improved Supplier-Core. Zitro won Top Performing Game-Latin America for Epic Kingdom. Interblock continued its dominance of the electronic table game category with its nod as Top Performing ETG Supplier. Bluberi won its second EKG Slot Award for Rocket Rumble, named Top Performing Game from an Emerging Supplier.
Evolution won two awards, as Best Overall Supplier of Online Content and Top Performing Online Live Casino Game for Live Dealer Lightning Roulette.
Finally, two new members were inducted into the EKG Slot Awards Hall of Fame. In the Game Development category, William (Si) Redd, founder of IGT and developer of the first successful video poker product, became the second posthumous inductee, following last year’s induction of Charles Fey. In the Slot Operations category, Thomas Mikulich, the legendary slot operations executive who currently heads the slot operations for Station Casinos, was inducted.
