Proven games, new markets

Jay, Konami brought more than 50 new game themes across five hardware formats to G2E. What do you see as the biggest story in the portfolio this year – is it the volume of new content, or the breadth of ways in which you’re now delivering it?

Speaking to customers globally, the biggest story is the volume of new Konami content seeing popular success in the field with games like Money in the Bank, Bull Blitz Rampage, and BOMBERMAN slots, to name a few.

However, for North American casinos with Class II product, the direct launch of Konami games in Class II is the biggest story in years. There are casinos with Class II products that have never worked directly with Konami, and now their players can experience games like Dragon’s Law Fortune, China Shores Great Stacks, and All Aboard, on an actual Konami machine for the first time.

Solstice 49C has had a strong start, including recognition as the top-indexing portrait upright cabinet. What have you learned from its first year in the market, and how is that influencing the next wave of Solstice content?

Advancements like the sound bar and integrated lighting effects proved very popular with players through the launch of Solstice 49C. As a result, Konami made sure the expanded Solstice hardware line received the same benefits. With the G2E debut of our new Solstice 27 stacked-screen and Solstice SuperNova oversized machines, both are equipped with proven sound and lighting technology from Solstice 49C. And the debut launch games Bull Blitz Rampage and Dragon’s Law Super Fortune are specially programmed to maximize the total player experience by leveraging these hardware features to the greatest advantage.

You debuted an 11-foot cabinet at G2E. At a time when casino floors are already visually intense environments, how do you make bigger hardware genuinely improve the player experience rather than simply make a bigger visual statement?

Oversized machines are genuinely more appealing to players, and they tend to outperform standard-size machines across the industry. That said, game content also has the potential to create unique experiences for the big-screen.

An oversized machine provides even more visual space for game developers to get creative. Dragon’s Law Super Fortune is the debut game series for Konami’s new oversized Solstice SuperNova machine, and it has fresh creative elements that maximize the 75-inch curved display.

Players can spin 3 reel sets at once, rather than 1, just by betting up the button panel beyond the minimum bet. Those 3 reel sets can become up to 6, towering reel sets stretching high across the screen, through the double games feature. And we have an especially eye-catching feature when the machines are side-by-side in bank, with multi-coloured dragons animated in a soaring motion seamlessly across all connected machines. In terms of game play and animation, it is a richly visual game that works very well on the oversized screen.

Bull Blitz Rampage is taking a concept that has already performed in Australia into other markets. How transferable are successful game mechanics between regions, and how much do you adapt a proven product before taking it to a different player base?

Based on early data, we have every indication that the popularity of Bull Blitz Rampage transcends geographic borders. To date, Bull Blitz Rampage has performed strongly in the jurisdictions where it has launched.

Speaking more broadly, play mechanics, art, branding, and mathematics can be highly transferable. It just depends on the game. Differing regulatory requirements are responsible for the majority of necessary adaptations. And it’s not uncommon for games to carry different names in different markets, due to legal trademark considerations.

Konami Online Interactive has become a much more visible part of the business this year. How important is it now for a successful land-based game to have an online life as well – and are you beginning to develop games with both channels in mind from the outset?

I want to make every successful land-based game available for online operators to deploy to their users. Our vision has always been to support casinos with Konami entertainment, in whatever regulated market they choose to operate. Currently, it takes a good amount of time and effort from our team to adapt games for expanding markets, like iGaming, Class II, and Historical Horse Racing. But we are well on our way to introducing new technology into our development cycles, making it easier to adapt new games to the requirements of different specialty markets.

SYNKROS has passed 150,000 connections. As that installed base grows, where are operators asking you to innovate next – player engagement, mobile operations, bonusing, cashless, personalisation or somewhere else entirely?

Every new innovation we bring to SYNKROS is rooted in operator feedback. We regularly host online forums to get input from SYNKROS properties on what new technology is important, the features they need, and what it means for their business. We also have a process for enhancement requests, which helps inform where we should focus our efforts.

The latest SYNKROS products like Konetic, SYNKROS Drink System, and SYNKROS Progressive Management, wouldn’t be what they are today without these types of feedback.

AI is the next area of innovation that casinos want. That will potentially impact all the areas you mentioned, but especially player engagement and personalization, as well as total operational efficiency and effectiveness.

SYNK Vision 2.0 introduces uncarded player bonusing using biometrics. What problem are you trying to solve there, and how do you balance frictionless recognition and personalisation with the privacy and security expectations surrounding biometric technology?

In the entire history of casino player tracking, uncarded play has gone largely unseen. Initiatives spanning responsible gaming, anti-money laundering, and customer engagement don’t operate as accurately as they could, because we can’t see that data like with carded play data.

Biometric technology is already very commonly used in casinos for security. With Konami’s SYNK Vision biometric player tracking, biometric data is encrypted, and identity is completely separated from personal information. SYNK Vision has a privacy-first design, in alignment with the total SYNKROS ecosystem. This was further evidenced this summer as Konami Gaming was awarded ISO 27001 Certification, independently affirming SYNKROS data is protected by a rigorous system of processes and controls in compliance with globally recognized standards.

Konami’s G2E message this year was centred heavily on trust and reliability. In an industry that tends to market itself around innovation and what’s new, why have you chosen to put those fundamentals at the centre of the story?

Casino operators want good quality products for the value and partners they can trust. That’s the market sentiment today, and it’s where we see Konami excelling. Konami continues to innovate, but we keep it focused on areas that have the highest potential for both immediate and long-term casino success.