Big DEAL

ATRONIC says its Asian slot offer is showing results

Slot makers including ATRONIC have gained many insights from working in the Asian market. Two are that identifying truly global products or where necessary localising slot game content, are complex processes. There are however considerable rewards to be had from executing these processes well.

ATRONIC is one of the current generation of manufacturers active in Macau and other East Asian markets that are moving to new levels of sophistication when it comes to understanding the ‘sweet spot’ of a game for locals. It’s a long way on from 2004 when some suppliers thought using colours considered lucky in Asia or adding Chinese language characters onto an essentially Western game would do the work for them.

Finding the sweet spot for the Macau and other East Asia markets need not involve overt Asian theming. If a game is good, it is often good across multiple regions and multiple markets. What it may need more than anything is strong marketing support and proactive player education. ATRONIC—100% owned by GTECH Corporation, one of the world’s leading gaming technology and services company—has put a great deal of effort in to ensuring its new releases in Asia get that vital marketing support.

Just link it!

ATRONIC has a long and highly successful history in the development of linked gaming concepts. The company points out that its multi-level progressives CASH FEVER™ and KING KONG CASH are being enjoyed by players all over the world and are continuously outperforming other concepts in the market. From its Community Bonus Series™ to multi-level progressive, bonus links, tournament concepts and mystery jackpots, ATRONIC says is offering the broadest range of linked gaming concepts in the industry.

ATRONIC‘s strategy in Asia has been especially focused on linked gaming. The company has identified that jackpots and group entertainment is highly popular in very culturally diverse markets ranging from Macau to The Philippines. It has a head start thanks to licensing deals with Endemol, the Dutch company that makes some of the world’s most popular television game shows, including DEAL OR NO DEAL. The programme’s television format has been licensed or adopted in 70 countries and autonomous territories, including China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, The Philippines, South Korea, Vietnam and Japan.

With that kind of public awareness, it’s not surprising ATRONIC‘s DEAL OR NO DEAL™ – THE EXPERIENCE was one of the first games to be installed at Melco Crown Entertainment’s City of Dreams resort on Cotai, which opened on 1st June.

Many Mainland Chinese players will already be familiar with the game format from several television shows aired in China, including Lucky Cases (幸运箱) and Ai Chang Cai Hui Ying (爱唱才会赢), which translates as ‘You win if you love to sing’. In Hong Kong, the show is broadcast in Cantonese and English under the original name Deal or No Deal (一擲千金). In Chinese this four-character phrase literally translates as ‘Stake a thousand pieces of gold in one throw’. ATRONIC says DEAL OR NO DEAL – THE EXPERIENCE is already proving to be a hit in Macau.

The game’s Lucky Case Bonus function precisely taps in to the local familiarity with the Lucky Cases television show. Players in ATRONIC‘s game have 20 cases from which to choose. Progressively players select cases to eliminate and, after each round, are presented with offers from the bank. The player can take the offer—’DEAL’, or reject the offer—’NO DEAL’ and continue play.

A new bonus feature allows players to choose between two cases containing ‘Major Win’ and ‘Minor Win’ or to select ‘Banker’s Offer’. When playing max bet, the cases contain the major and minor progressive jackpot levels. DEAL OR NO DEAL – THE EXPERIENCE furthermore includes a new ‘Side Bet’ feature that drastically increases the probability of hitting the DEAL OR NO DEAL bonus.

“I think the reason for the popularity of DEAL OR NO DEAL – THE EXPERIENCE is, as we say in the title of the game, it’s an experience. There’s a high level of player interaction and involvement, just as there is in the television show,” says Ms Levermann.