Global gaming supplier International Game Technology (IGT) says it is growing increasingly confident that games with a proven track record in the North American market will perform internationally.
Roger Pettersen, IGT’s VP Premium and Core Products, told CDC Gaming at the recent ICE Barcelona trade show that the company is seeing significant crossover of its slots titles between global markets, giving it greater certainty when launching new games in places like Europe and Asia.
IGT’s new game launches for Europe at ICE Barcelona included Magic Treasures Gold on the Rise55 cabinet, Wolf Run Wild Moon, and Coyote Moon Desert Nights – all of which are proven hits across the U.S. – and the company is particularly bullish about the prospects of Magic Treasures Gold, which last year reached the top spot on Eilers & Krejcik’s U.S.& Canada Game Performance Report in the “Top Indexing NEW Games – Premium Leased” category.
“We have a lot of momentum in the North American market with many of our most recent products, both in core and premium, so it’s obviously very exciting to bring proven performers into ICE and the international markets,” Pettersen said.
“We’re actually seeing [crossover] more and more. I’ve been in gaming for over 30 years now and it used to be that there were pockets of differences in product preference, whether it was Eastern Europe or Western Europe versus Australia, Asia, and other markets. But I would say in the last five years, we’re really seeing all the markets kind of converging in game preferences.
“That means when we have a big hit in North America, it’s a very good sign that it’s going to work in almost every other market.
“North America is probably the most competitive slots market in the world currently, with many manufacturers providing content and cabinets, so if you rise to the top of the charts in North America, it tends to be a very good sign that your content will probably resonate in almost every other market around the globe. That’s great for us as a global company.”
According to Pettersen, this convergence of game preferences can be seen in the game mechanics performing across Europe today. Much like North Americans, European players are gravitating toward multi-level progressives, multi-denom, and of course the irrepressible Hold n’ Spin model that continues to dominate gaming floors worldwide.
“Obviously, some market attunement is still needed, but it’s less than it used to be and more related to regulatory requirements, language, speed and gamble settings,” Pettersen explained. “From a math perspective, a game perspective, it’s really becoming less and less market attunement.
“But there’s still opportunity to reinvent or reimagine some of the more traditional free-games features. We’ve had great success with Wolf Run Wild Moon and Coyote Moon Desert Nights in North America and they’re some of our focus titles at ICE. There are no Moneyballs, no Hold n’ Spin, just straight-up free games, but it’s a nice, new, fresh combination of expanded reels with nudging wilds and multipliers and jackpot collects.
“As for Hold n’ Spin, it’s been around for 10 years now and players can’t get enough of it, but I believe there is still much room to innovate within that space, so that’s really the focus for us. How can we reinvent and improve that Hold n’ Spin experience to create deeper games for the players?”
For IGT, this year’s ICE Barcelona took on even greater significance, given it represented the first major European show since the acquisition of its gaming and digital businesses and subsequent merger with fintech firm Everi by Apollo last year.
The strategic move means that the new-look IGT is no longer burdened by a parallel lotteries segment and can focus instead on expanding its traditional gaming offering – a win for all, according to Pettersen.
“We were a big company before, but with the two entities coming together, now we have strength across the board,” he said.
“Adding the market leadership of the legacy Everi, the stepper market, and then fintech – which is huge. Just add the Everi talent pool to IGT’s already huge talent pool within the legacy IGT studios, we’re very excited about that.
“With the amount of additional games we’re now able to provide to our customers, I couldn’t be more excited about what the future holds.”
