From slots to systems, Inside Asian Gaming takes a look at what’s trending on Asia’s gaming floors and the technology driving these latest innovations.
Asia’s casino floors are changing. Once considered a mere afterthought to the traditional gaming powerhouses of the United States and Australia, Asia has emerged as a global powerhouse in its own right – not only home to the world’s biggest gaming market in Macau but also the birthplace of the modern-day integrated resort.
Spurred by this confluence of leisure and luxury, players are evolving too, leaving suppliers with a vast array of fresh challenges in meeting the needs of emerging jurisdictions and the diverging tastes of a more mature customer base.
“Gone are the days where it was all high volatility [slot machine] games in Asia,” says Charles Seo, Senior Director Product Management – APAC for IGT.
“Now there is this real mixture of player types we need to cater for, with some demanding an entertainment focus while others still want that more volatile experience – all while still on the main gaming floor.”
“There are certain unique factors across the Asia market these days,” adds Seo’s compatriot, IGT Sales Director for Asia, Michael Cheers.
Whereas once upon a time suppliers would take well-performing products out of Australia and ship them straight into Asia with little to no tweaks, today there is widespread recognition that Asia is very much an animal of its own – or an entire herd, to be more accurate.
“Jackpots are a good example,” Cheers continues. “If you took Australian jackpot parameters from a successful linked jackpot product and just exported it, as is, to the Philippines now, it would be a very high risk move.
“The Philippines is a leading link market with up to 70% of its floors being linked, and as such it has some very specific requirements such as higher start up values – significantly higher than in Australia – and cost-to-cover options that are attractive enough for the player to feel they can cover all lines without having to bet too high.
“Australian jackpot levels just wouldn’t work in the Philippines today.”
In fact, so far has Asia – home to around 60,000 electronic gaming machines – come as a hub of gaming excellence and innovation that gaming product suppliers now take products they’ve developed and tested in Asia and ship them to the rest of the world, marking a full “180” on how product development once worked.
An example of this is Aristocrat’s new MarsX Slim cabinet.
“MarsX Slim cabinet is the hardware solution we developed to address the challenge of limited floor space experienced by our partners across Asia. We eliminated this pain point by maximizing space on the gaming floor for operators without compromising the game play experience for players,” explains Aristocrat’s General Manager – Asia, Lloyd Robson.
“We have successfully completed our first MarsX Slim installation in Asia, addressing our partner’s issue of a lack of space and a demand for more machines. The MarsX Slim footprint can enable up to 18% more machines to be positioned on gaming floors, satisfying player demand and better utilizing limited floorspace.
“We continue our investment in hardware and software development to resolve different challenges for our business partners across Asia.”
Nevertheless, there are some themes and trends in today’s hyper-competitive slots market that inevitably ring true when it comes to Asia – none more so than the ever-increasing predominance of links.
According to Cheers, IGT has substantially increased its research and development investment year-on-year in this category.
“To move the needle in the Asian gaming market you need a quality link and a good family of games under that link,” he explains. “You can’t just start with two games and hope that works. You need fast follow games for any new link title to help drive the link family brand and provide different player experiences under the same link.”
“Links are still definitely the most popular game category,” agrees Light & Wonder’s Senior Director Product Management for ANZ and APAC, Ben Attwood, although he notes a recent market shift away from the so-called mega-jackpots that were once common on Asia’s floors.
“During that COVID period, jackpot liability was a concern when venues were partially open or reopening, and having those big mega jackpots on the floor was worrying. There was definitely a reduction of those mega jackpots.”
While Attwood expects those mega-jackpots to return as gaming revenues rebound – particularly in the Philippines which traditionally has the largest jackpots in Asia – he observes a distinct preference from players Asia-wide away from the larger Grand Jackpot and towards the second-tier Major Jackpot.
“I think most manufacturers are now focusing on that second jackpot level for jackpot size and frequency,” he explains. “Players look at that as the more achievable jackpot so there are some larger second-level jackpots that are doing well in the market, and that trend will continue.”
All industry suppliers IAG spoke to in regard to latest developments across Asia’s slots market highlighted this renewed interest in the Major as a key area of focus in all linked products moving forward.
“The importance of the Major is that it is much more achievable for a player,” says Cheers. “The Grand is a significant win, but of course the Major is very achievable, so it is important in terms of being attractive to the player on a risk-reward basis. They are prepared to risk a reasonable bet in striving to achieve the Major and are therefore spending time on device in pursuing that Major jackpot. We see that the Major needs to be of a significant enough value to appeal but not too high that its frequency is lowered. You want your Major going off on average at least once a day. Poor Major design often leads to a poor link in our experience.”
Aiding the next progression of links and how they are deployed on gaming floors across the region is the move towards multi-denomination games. Although Asia was somewhat late to the party when it comes to multi-denom, the technology is now commonplace and provides operators with far greater flexibility in appealing to a broader customer base.
An example is mass versus VIP. Whereas suppliers have previously developed different products for each segment – or variations on the same product – multi-denom allows the same game to be placed both on the mass gaming floor and in VIP areas. And, as Aristocrat’s Robson explains, it also presents additional opportunities to unlock linkability between the two segments.
“Our goal is to help operators increase turnover while reducing jackpot liabilities of link products,” he says.
As for the games themselves, there is one mechanic and one mechanic only dominating Asia’s gaming landscape right now: Hold & Spin. First emerging back in 2014 under Aristocrat’s Lightning Link series – which remains popular to this day – Hold & Spin has well and truly spread its wings and is now the preeminent mechanic used by all suppliers around the region. According to some estimates, as much as 50% of all new games being developed for Asia feature this mechanic, and there are no signs of it slowing down anytime soon.
“The Hold & Spin games continue to grow in popularity,” Attwood offers.
“That cash on reels element, which has been a revolutionary change away from just traditional symbols, is a very powerful way to display a symbol, so they will continue to grow.”
Adds Cheers, “I still think that’s the core design. I would say the Hold & Spin mechanic has become part of the gaming experience for players. The big question we’re asking now is how we can tweak it to provide something different? It might be bonus free games where we give them additional chances to get another spin to add more balls or more symbols while in that feature. And adding the ability to win jackpots within that as well, rather than just accumulating prizes, is definitely something we are doing.”
“We continue to enhance the player experience with the Hold & Spin mechanic,” says Robson. “For example, one of our game families, Tian Ci Jin Lu, offers a very rewarding experience across five different levels of Hold & Spin and Repeat Win.
“With Choy’s Kingdom and Bao Zhu Zhao Fu, we’ve taken players on a multiple reel matrices journey with Hold & Spin and Repeat Win mechanics. This is an evolution of Hold & Spin.”
According to Attwood, players are also demanding more bang for their buck – particularly when it comes to features.
“I think feature frequency is one of the most important things now, so more and more games will give a feature every 60 or 70 spins,” he explains. “Traditionally it would be double that, every 120 or 130 spins. That’s a key trend in games coming through now, although ultimately simplicity is the key to the best games. Players want games that are easy to understand, where they immediately know what are the key symbols and what are the key features of the game.
“The games still need to have some type of high volatility but there are now multiple ways to do that. Whereas a game might have previously had a single feature, now they are multi-feature – whether that be Hold & Spin plus free games or something else – so it’s just balancing out the game more. There is more variety of game in the market now, so players are going to try more, which in turn means you’ve got a smaller window to appeal to a player when they first sit down at a machine. That feature frequency when you play a game while maintaining some volatility is very popular at the moment.”
PLAYING THE SYSTEM
So what’s next? With links continuing to dominate the Asian market, and the Hold & Spin mechanic only growing stronger by the day, it’s the interplay between slots and systems that Seo sees driving the next step forward when it comes to technological innovation on the gaming floor.
“Systems will really set the technology, and it will be how we interact the systems piece with the slots piece to bring them closer together,” he says.
“In the past they’ve been separate, so how do we merge those two worlds together and create a new experience through carded play? That’s an important thing we’re looking at right now.”
Of course, the buzz word when it comes to systems is “cashless”. In the March 2023 issue of IAG, we took a deep dive into the world of cashless gaming and how regulators around the region are taking steps to implement cashless technology. While this has been most prominent in Australia, where regulators see cashless gaming floors as the solution to recent anti-money laundering failures within the country’s casinos, it seems inevitable that other major jurisdictions will follow suit. Contacted by IAG to ask this very question, Singapore’s Gambling Regulatory Authority replied that its casino regulatory framework “does not prohibit cashless gaming technology” and that implementation of such technology was up to the operators – Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa.
Likewise, Philippines gaming regulator PAGCOR said it does not oppose the use of cashless gaming technologies for land-based casinos, noting that “Cashless technology, which applies to cashless slot machines, offers utmost convenience to casino players, as amounts are just deducted from the player’s slot account (via a card-based membership system) as a result of electronic gaming machine play.”
Macau’s DICJ did not respond to IAG’s questions but sources suggest it too could be having a change of heart after previously showing little interest.
Meanwhile, back in Australia, both Crown Resorts and Star Entertainment Group have made a commitment to go fully cashless in the coming years, while Aristocrat and IGT recently launched separate trials in New South Wales to determine the efficiency of their cashless solutions and how customers respond.
“There is no doubt that the biggest thing in systems right now is cashless, and some of that is being driven by regulatory requirements – certainly in Australia it is – but in other jurisdictions we’re finding that the growth of cashless is considered to be a value-add for players and venues alike, to deliver a frictionless experience across the casino floor,” explains Cheers. “Additionally, cashless gaming can introduce a range of responsible gaming tools. Not only does it provide players with the ability to have an account and wager directly from that account, it also offers the opportunity to establish limits, remove anonymity and take control of spending.
“From our perspective, we’re looking for the mobile phone to replace the player’s card or cashless card. Players will often forget to bring their cashless card but not many forget their phone when they walk into a casino. If you’ve got your phone you can tap in, check your loyalty points, access responsible gaming tools, get updates on offers, move freely to another machine and then automatically log out once you are out of the range.
“Those are two areas that we see the most demand for at the moment, so it’s going to be a real game-changer for the region as this technology starts to enter the market.”
