In gaming as in life, timing is everything, and for leading slot machine supplier Aristocrat Gaming the mantra rings loud and clear as the company readies itself for the Year of the Dragon.
Buoyed by the long-awaited reopening of Macau’s borders on 8 January and the strong recovery trajectory experienced in other key markets such as the Philippines and Singapore, Aristocrat has positioned itself to take advantage of the rebounding market and the Chinese zodiac by looking inwards to its long-time association with the dragon itself.
Speaking with Inside Asian Gaming at G2E Asia this week – where the company’s eye-catching booth welcomed guests with a gigantic golden dragon’s head – Aristocrat’s General Manager – Asia, Lloyd Robson, said this unique aligning of the stars was simply too good an opportunity to ignore.
“We’ve got the most committed Asian-focused line-up of products we’ve ever had, but we’ve taken it one step further this year and developed a concept designed to maximize a huge opportunity in 2024, which is the Year of the Dragon,” Robson explained.
“If you look at our portfolio of games, they’re extremely dragon orientated. We own that space in the market, so we really want to partner with the properties on bringing the Year of the Dragon to life.
“A Lunar New Year is already a big opportunity in casino land, but the Year of the Dragon obviously makes it a whole new ballgame. It’s a once in 12-year event and when you marry it with our strong dragon portfolio, well we think it’s a marriage made in heaven.
“What you’ll see from Aristocrat as we head into 2024 will be very bespoke, very targeted and of course it’s not just an opportunity in Macau – Chinese New Year is an opportunity that spans the continent. Our goal is to really get that message on the map [at G2E Asia] this week and then go through and work through the program with every property across Asia to really make next year something special.”
Supporting Aristocrat’s latest push are an array of dragon-themed products, from proven performers such as Tian Ci Jin Lu and 5 Dragons to new additions such as Jin Cai Hao Yun (Good Fortune 2), Big Fu Cash Dragon and Cai Fu Zhong Sheng. However, it is the arrival of Dragon Link into the Asian market that has Robson most excited.
“Dragon Link has the greatest reach around the world of any game at the moment and we’ve brought it to Asia in a very Asia-attuned way,” he explains. “It’s quite a different game mechanically to the Dragon Link for the US and for Australia, and it’s performing exceptionally well right across Asia. That’s en route to Macau as we speak.”
While the concept of capitalizing on the Year of the Dragon first began circulating in the midst of the pandemic, Robson notes a confluence of factors now working in Aristocrat’s favor. The Macau reopening itself couldn’t have come at a better time, allowing markets and especially Macau time to recover before the company launched its latest concepts.
Macau is also in the early stages of converting its slot machine offerings to comply with the government’s Technical Standards 2.0, with both operators and suppliers having until 31 December 2026 to ensure the city’s gaming floors are fully compliant.
“Ultimately that means 12,000 games or machines need to be compliant over a four-year period, which is lot of work for us as suppliers, but also an opportunity to transform all the electronic gaming products in Macau,” Robson says.
“Again, we have led the way in our investment, and we’ve been in dialogue with the properties around a broader portfolio to support their needs as they evolve and become compliant. What’s encouraging is the rebound also means the cash position of the operators is starting to look a lot more positive.”
The key, according to Robson, is the work Aristocrat has put into preparing its product portfolio in recent years with one eye always looking ahead to what 2024 has to offer.
“It’s clearly been a difficult three years here in Asia for slots suppliers and for our business, but one thing the pandemic allowed us to do was rebase and reset our business and come up with a strategy that we really felt could move Aristocrat forward in Asia,” he said.
“Ultimately that says a lot about our global business because we asked for more resources in a period where business conditions were poor.
“But life is all about timing and the stars are aligning quite nicely for us in terms of the games we’ve got out there, the performance we’re getting across the region and obviously the opportunity all of that presents. We’re looking forward to what we think will be a huge 2024.”
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