Having joined Aristocrat Gaming in 2017 as Asia–Pacific finance director in Sydney, Craig Toner ascended to Chief Executive Officer in January this year. He did so at a time of immense change for the overall business and points out that his main challenge now is to bring the team together under a “one Aristocrat” culture.
“Change disrupts everyone,” he tells me, reflecting on taking the helm earlier this year. “So, it’s about getting the team absolutely focused and engaged.”
We first spoke at a bustling stand at ICE Barcelona 2025. Toner has the demeanor of a man who can bring a team together. He’s approachable with a disarming antipodean lilt that belies the strategic prowess that has seen him elevated through the ranks of an Australian Stock Exchange-listed gaming businesses.
While Toner has been getting his feet under the table as Chief Executive Officer of the land-based business, Aristocrat Interactive – the online gaming arm of parent company Aristocrat Leisure – is busy consolidating its recent acquisitions of Anaxi and NeoGames. Toner says he has a role here too, in working on bridging the collaborative divide between the land-based and digital sides of the business.
Aristocrat Interactive recently launched the previously only land-based slot game Mo’ Mummy Mighty Pyramid online in New Jersey, with UK and Ontario launches also in the pipeline.
“For us, it’s about that collaboration and that mindset of One Aristocrat and how we can leverage it,” Toner tells me from the lively and brightly lit land-based gaming hall at ICE. “We have a big focus on how we leverage that breadth and depth of the portfolio across the whole customer base, so that means working through the product, how do we innovate and align, how do we leverage the products across channels?” he says.
One Aristocrat
Toner is clear that the next major driver of the overall business is online, and for that reason, there is a keen focus on integrating the talent and expertise on both the land-based and digital sides of the business.
“The gaming business still has a lot of growth left, but the accelerator is now that online team,” he says. “We’re working at getting the land-based content, that we know works, online to drive profitability there. Then we will be exploring how we continue to innovate and drive customer experiences.”
“It’s about bringing the pride of the teams and the sales teams together. We are bringing the teams together and driving more of an enterprise approach. Getting that meld of different perspectives is where the real value lies.”
On the land-based side, the overriding strategy is to keep doing what Aristocrat does best, “more of our great content” he says. “We’ve just launched The Baron cabinet, so we’re still scaling production on that. By month three it was already flying out the door, so we are working well on that.
“The new Phoenix Link game that we just launched is doing well too. So, it’s about keeping that great content coming and thinking about ‘What’s the next generation?’, ‘What’s the next one in the family?’ And then, when can we get this content online.”
Looking at the suppliers’ active jurisdictions, Toner says this year will see expansion in the areas where Aristocrat is already active, such as the Americas, Australia and Asia.
“In America, we still see runaway share growth, even in the core markets. We have entered a lot of adjacencies recently in the US as well. When we enter a market, we aim to be number one. We look at how to drive those adjacencies and maintain the core market.”
Regarding Asia, the firm has seen success with its Dragon Link game launch about a year ago, which Toner says is doing particularly well in the Philippines and Macau but is also a success in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Korea.
Having seen Asian markets build back and recover from Covid, Toner says some of the firm’s focus is now shifting to the EMEA market and what can be done there to accelerate and extend Aristocrat’s presence.
London calling
The UK is also high on the agenda of opportunities after the number of B1 casino games permitted in casinos was increased from 20 to 80. The change came as part of the UK government’s review of gambling regulation and is intended to level the playing field for land-based versus online operators.
In response to the increased addressable market in the UK, which Toner identifies as “a next key market” for the supplier, Aristocrat has been conducting trials with its partners to better understand which games, and mechanics, resonate with players.
“We’re looking at how we enter at scale in that market so we can enter with speed and confidence.”
Toner regularly refers to Aristocrat’s strong relationships, pointing to the growing number of themed rooms it has been setting up with casinos. “We’ve really innovated a lot of player marketing and looked at how we attract players to our customers’ casinos, and once they’re in there, how we make it a great experience,” he says.
“We are really driving that experiential play, so you’ll see Dragon rooms and Buffalo rooms. While, in some casinos, we’ve created whole Aristocrat zones that have all our top content; Mummy, Buffalo, Lightning, to create a point of difference.”
When Toner’s appointment was announced in December 2024, Aristocrat Leisure Chief Executive and Managing Director Trevor Croker described Toner as having “delivered strong growth and transformational change over recent years.” Toner clearly believes that remains his task going forward.
