If you were there, you know. If not, here’s my brief G2E summary:
Perhaps the two biggest news events of this year’s Global Gaming Exposition (G2E) were that on Day 1, Las Vegas finally recorded a temperature high less than 100⁰ after 112 straight days (breaking the record set in 1947). And secondly, the two historic Tropicana towers were imploded following a spectacular fireworks and drone show during the wee hours of Wednesday morning.
That’s not to say that there wasn’t a lot to see and talk about at the show itself. But there were no news bombshells like the past few years. No one was claiming that Millennials would never like gambling, or that skill-based games were going to obsolete RNGs. While there are still some minor supply-side shortages, there were no fears that your order would be shoved into the fourth quarter of the next decade. Blessedly, there were no mass shootings; and finally, there was no wild speculation or rumors that California would soon legalize sports betting or that Texas would allow casinos (well maybe those last two were still floating around).
There was strong optimism about many of the new cabinets and themes on display. All the new boxes seemed bigger, brighter and very appealing. Here’s a listing of a few of the newest enclosures I saw:
- Aristocrat (ATI) – Baron
- Aruze Global Gaming (AG2) – Muso Summit
- Bluberi – Beacon + and Lighthouse
- Light & Wonder (L&W) – Cosmic Upright (new portrait model)
- Novomatic – VIP X Galaxy
- Zitro – Concept
Almost all the newer cabinets are significantly better than they were just a few years ago. There have been tremendous improvements in side-lighting LED effects and improved button panels. While not part of the cabinets themselves, every manufacturer seems to have stepped up with marketing their themes with wedge inserts and linked scrolling on top boxes. If you held a poll, most operators seemed to rank the Baron and the new (and old) Cosmic #1 or #2, with that order rotating.
While not everyone had a new cabinet, it wouldn’t be G2E if every single manufacturer didn’t introduce a flurry of new titles and theme upgrades. There were way too many to list them here. To pick just one, ATI’s “Phoenix Link” generated the most buzz from operators and competitors. It was hard to miss the shared genes from “Dragon” and “Lightning Link”. And it would be rare if any game in the “Link” tradition wasn’t a hit.
Interestingly, “Phoenix” includes a “true persistence” bonus feature. While that is certainly very popular, there has been some pushback from operators who worry that advantage players are winning too much from these types of bonuses at the expense of disappointing important VIP guests.
If you had to list a few of the other titles generating interest you could name, Tiger & Dragon variants from IGT; “Railroad Riches” from Sega Sammy (a real surprise) and ATI’s “Coin Trio” Buffalo variant.
Not everything was golden at Aristocrat. Last year’s star brand (NFL) seems like a failed draft pick. Most say the games did OK, but never lived up to the hype. In the September 2024 Eilers & Krejcik index, not a single NFL game made the Top 25 in any premium category. ATI did show the new “Season II” variant of the football-themed games with a new play mechanic. Hopefully they’ll score.
Just weeks before the show, ATI notched a different kind of touchdown in the courtroom, forcing L&W to recall all their new “Dragon Train” themes. The order was to take effect about the time you read this. In a taped interview to investors, L&W’s CEO Matt Wilson said the company has 33,000 premium products in the field and that the “Dragon Train” removals affect only 2,200 of those.
Despite that setback, L&W still seems to be on a roll, displacing several ATI products in top Core categories this year. Not only did their Big Bad Wolf character from “Huff N’ Puff” lead an entertaining flash mob on the G2E show floor; they unleased a new monster (“Dracula”) to join last year’s “Frankenstein”. Importantly, their families of “Dancing Drums,” “Fire Link,” “Quick Hits,” and, especially the aforementioned “Huff N’ Puff” lines, have all been at the top of the charts for some time. The latter theme is now being offered as a new WAP (“HNP Even More Puff Grand”) which may fill some of the “Dragon Train” holes.
Despite the weakness of some expensive brands like “James Bond,” “NASCAR” and “NFL,” one superstar seemed to pay off. IGT launched “Whitney Houston” last June, and it remains #4 in Premium IP listings. It is also on all Top 25 Premium categories.
Interestingly, very few new games released in the last year or two make the top performing Premium IP list. The exceptions are “Whitney,” L&W’s “Frankenstein,” their new Monopoly variant, and Everi’s “Smokin’ Hot Stuff” title. The top performers in this group are dominated by multiple versions of IGT’s iconic “Wheel of Fortune”. Perhaps that’s why IGT devoted a good portion of their booth to new and impressive wheel-based products.
Speaking of “WOF,” IGT premiered a “Big Six” version of the famous wheel. It featured some video pop ups of Vanna White. This seems like such a natural that you have to wonder why it didn’t happen years ago? The company said the large floor model displayed was the “medium size,” with an even bigger version optional (120” tall). The wheel is an add-on to IGT’s re-worked ETG offerings that could boost their low share in the segment.
Interblock remains the leader in ETGs, so it was a bit surprising that they showed some entertaining new concepts outside the world of traditional table games in a line they called “Amuse”. Marble mazes, whether from wooden kits or welded wires, have been a hot attraction for kids and hobbyist for some time. IB showed at least two marble gaming variants in their booth along with a “Plinko-like” version of roulette. In what I consider a future game-changer, they also have re-engineered the flawed “Roll To Win” crap game they obtained from the Aruze bankruptcy last year. This version could leave all others behind and improve the future of the legendary table game.
Innovation has been a mixed bag for vendors since they either hit it big or strike out with a flop. Kudos to IB for giving it a try and going outside the box.
During one industry briefing, observers noted that the Big Three (ATI, L&W and IGT) were significantly outspending all their rivals in R&D. Maybe that’s why they are now the Big Three compared to the Big Five of a few years ago.
Spending big dollars is one sure way to success, but sometimes surprises come from the “little” guys. The breakthrough of Quebec’s Bluberi opened a lot of eyes a few years ago, and that group is still on an upward trajectory with more new innovative games. Operators seemed to like more than one new game, especially their “Pirate’s Lock” following the success of “Devil’s Lock”. While that latter game has been a massive hit, it was never licensed in the huge Nevada market. That could bring a big bump for Bluberi if they get their Silver State approval as anticipated at the end of Q1-25.
Likewise, three smaller vendors seem headed in the right direction. Aruze Global Gaming (A2G), Ainsworth and AGS all have scored some strong numbers in the New Games category going into the current Q4. And it is very notable that, despite small numbers, Sega Sammy and Incredible Technologies scored themes in the Top 10 of the low denom Core category of the Eilers report. It’s hard not to notice the recent strong performance of Zitro in the Latin American polls, so maybe their new cabinet (Concept) and great-looking G2E booth will finally translate to some success a bit further north.
If you limit the products to just Core Video Reels, Konami has remained ahead of IGT in performance for nearly a decade and recently began matching them in “Share,” taking away the No. 3 spot in the nationwide indexes done by ReelMetrics.
European slot supplier Merkur is now collaborating with Las Vegas-based Gaming Arts, which allowed GA to show an interesting “Big Catch” theme for the U.S. market. One of the largest new cabinets/chairs on display was from European leader Novomatic (their VIP X Galaxy). They also appeared to have the largest G2E booth this year. They said it was the same-sized space as 2023, but since Ainsworth moved out to a separate area, the all-Novomatic display felt massive.
The show itself also seemed huge this year. If you were outside the doors of the Sands Expo Center waiting to get in on Day Two, you could easily have thought it was the most-attended event in history. There wasn’t a single square foot of lobby space that wasn’t occupied by a casino executive, investor, manufacturer, engineer, analyst, technician, developer, influencer or journalist. The line stretched from the front door back to the Starbucks 500 yards away. At least it felt that way.
Apparently 2019 is still the benchmark with 27,000 attendees. Organizers haven’t released exact numbers yet, but said this show was stronger than 2023’s mark of 25,000. Vendors also seemed very positive about the attendees, both the quantity and quality.
For the most part, the educational sessions that began on Monday were superb. An unofficial tally of speakers was about 300. The standard topics of cashless payments, sports betting, on-line casinos, problem gambling, artificial intelligence and cyber threats again dominated the panels.
There were only a few negatives this year, and none of them major:
- Most of the large vendor booths had walls and limited entrances with their staff carefully checking badges (even on Thursday). Photography was also closely monitored. Rather than a reaction to the ATI vs L&W lawsuit, most said it was due to unscrupulous online content vendors who (with virtually no regulatory oversight) can copy and release a new game in weeks by feeding off stolen images.
- Parking at the Sands Expo Center is no longer free (now $18/day) and getting out of their garage at the end of the day still takes 30 to 45 minutes.
- Everyone was sending prayers to our friends in Florida and other southeast gaming markets as the aftermath of Helene and the landfall of Milton coincided with the show.
- Holding an event in October during a presidential election year means that trying to watch TV or the news after the show yields a never-ending stream of negative political ads. It almost seemed a relief to see a personal injury attorney commercial. (Along this line, I have an opinion developed and validated over the last few decades that “consumer gaming confidence” [and the related casino CapEx budgets] are always slightly depressed before U.S. presidential elections. Likewise, I think you’ll see an uptick in business levels and budgets, no matter who wins at the polls. Just sayin’.)
- While road construction in Las Vegas is better than last year’s inaugural Formula One racetrack disruptions, it still seemed like every street in Sin City was vying for the title of “the most orange cones per block”.
The refreshingly positive aspect of the 2024 G2E was that it felt so “normal”. IGT and Everi didn’t seem phased by a future buy out/merger with Apollo (there was speculation about the fate of the Venetian/Palazzo, because many past deals that involved vendors owning casinos never ended well).
Executive job swapping that seemed to peak from 2020 to 2022 seems to have slowed significantly (HOF’s Gavin Isaacs named as CEO of Entain PLC was one exception).
Even during challenging years, there has never been a better place than this show to network and renew professional and personal relationships. Combined with a great lineup of keynote speakers, educational sessions, and a wealth of interesting vendors from slip-on shoes to mobile (and even old-school leather) wallets, G2E is a must for every gaming professional or wanna-be. Mark your calendars, the event dates for 2025 are October 6th-9th.
On a personal note, congratulations to my friend and software developer Andrew Cardno who earned a “Lifetime Achievement Award” at the show from Gaming and Leisure magazine.
Steve Sutherland, one of the industry’s longest serving CEOs from Konami Gaming, was given the “Memorial Award for Excellence in Commercial Gaming Professionalism” by the AGEM at the show.
Congratulations also to G2E’s Korbi Carrison who was named one of “Ten Women Rising in Gaming”. That recognition came from CDC Gaming and Global Gaming Women during a pre-show event on Sunday evening (see all 10 honorees here). Carrison heads the Reed Exposition team that puts on the annual event for the American Gaming Association.
Each of them have contributed in many ways to my success and that of so many others in casino gaming. Congratulations again and well deserved to Korbi, Steve and Andrew.
