Konami’s ‘Fortune Cup’ not for every casino, but game finds player interest

Friday, October 25, 2019 10:30 AM
  • Howard Stutz, CDC Gaming

Konami Gaming doesn’t produce its Fortune Cup mechanical horse racing machine for a wide casino distribution.

Most properties don’t have the space for the massive game that includes 10 betting stations, a large video monitor and the classic mechanical horses that glide around the track. The sheer size of the product can displace between eight-to-12 typical slot machines on the casino floor.

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“It needs to be in a high traffic-type property with the space for the game,” Konami Vice President of Games Product Management Greg Colella said last week at the company’s booth inside the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas.

Fortune Cup, which made its debut in 2016, is based on the popular Sigma Derby, a 34-year-old game that has been out of production for several decades. The downtown D Las Vegas, on Fremont Street, operates the last Sigma Derby, which runs on quarters; it’s one of a selection of vintage slot machines that the D offers on its second floor.

Konami, which is headquartered in Japan, had already manufactured the large mechanical horse racing component for the company’s amusement game division.

“We saw there was interest, so we looked at how we could turn an amusement game into a gaming game,” Colella said.

The result was a game whose 27-inch high-definition touch screen monitors allow players to manage their bet placements, watch the outcome, and view data on recent races and individual horses. The various wagers are not restricted to choosing which horse will win or place (finish second).

The mechanical action on the track is synchronized with real-time digital animation from the race on the large video monitor.

Colella said the game should not be confused with historical horse racing slot machines, which are patterned after actual races.

“This game is based on random selection,” with a unique outcome for each race, he said.

For 2019, Konami upgraded and streamlined the player interface to give players side bet options and introduced two-times multipliers to keep players engaged. Also, the number of horses was reduced from eight to six, which speeds up play.

“We’re getting about 50 percent more races each day out of the game,” Colella said.

For now, MGM Resorts International has Fortune Cup in most of its Las Vegas resorts. Several casinos in Canada, including Casino Niagara in Ontario near Niagara Falls, and one casino in Oklahoma, offer the game.

“This was never meant to be something you would find in every casino, but in places where foot-traffic is heavy,” Colella said.

Because it’s not a wide distribution product, the game doesn’t attract much analyst attention.

SunTrust Bank gaming analyst Barry Jonas said Konami’s content displayed at G2E was an improvement over 2018’s “somewhat uninspiring” games, which he believed was a “retooling year” for the company.

“We could see Konami regaining some ship share,” Jonas wrote in a post-G2E investors note. “Many of the slot managers we spoke with noted they came away from the conference positive on their latest offerings.”

Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgamingreports.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.