Branching out

Weike is hardly a newcomer to the gaming world. It was established in 1998 and has built a solid business supplying gaming machines, progressive jackpot link systems and electronic table games to Malaysia, Cambodia and Vietnam in particular. Since assuming the helm in April this year, Mr Kinsman has recruited key staff to add a dose of international expertise to help move Weike beyond its hitherto regional focus into international markets. “We’re taking an existing company that was pretty successful and all we’re doing is internationalising it without changing its heritage,” he comments. The initial push will be into Macau, heralded by the company’s presence at G2E Asia.”

Although Mr Kinsman only officially came on board in April, he had been giving the company direction for several months prior, and Weike products on show at G2E Asia will have already been modified to give them greater international appeal. For example, the slot games had “previously been designed in a more regional market style.They were less volatile, a little different in the way the feature and the main game ratios were set up. So we’ve changed those things now more towards the international market style.

“Every company in this business guards its game development, and it’s something we’re putting a lot of money and a lot of time into developing. Our brochures do talk about percentages and show people how our games split up in structure, because we believe clients need that information.” Ten games are currently available on Weike’s Triton and Cytron cabinets, including themed titles such as Uniquely Singapore and Discovering Macau, as well as old favourites Sea Orchestra and King of Prosperity.

Also on display will be the company’s impressive multi-player electronic table game (METG) range.

Inside Asian Gaming tried out the tenseat Pal X electronic poker table at Weike’s Singapore showroom, and found the game play was noticeably faster and smoother than on other competing products. Mr Kinsman explains this is a result of “bringing in my former chief poker technologist, who’s a professional poker player, to work with us to get the game absolutely fine tuned.”

Whereas other products only allow players to load credits using cards, “we can deliver the table to customers with a bill acceptor at each station,” says Mr Kinsman, “and that product with bill acceptors sells for a little less than the US products.” The other advantage of the Pal X is that Weike is happy to sell it to operators outright, whereas the US suppliers prefer to enter into joint operation arrangements. Notably, Weike claims to hold the patent on the card peeping technology—which allows players to peep at cards by simply touching the edge of the cards displayed on the screen at their stations— also used by the competing products.

“One thing that we’ve got here is expertise in poker to a greater degree than anybody else,’ says Mr Kinsman. “There’s an enormous market in Europe for this product.” The five-seat Revo is the market leading electronic gaming table in Asia, says Mr Kinsman. “We believe our table is more attractive than the other electronic tables. It looks like a gaming table and plays more like the real game. Everybody else is making a product that’s either theatre style, or an arcade machine.” On baccarat, for instance, the Revo incorporates card peeping technology allowing players to peel back cards in typical baccarat fashion, and follows the protocol of allowing the player at the table with the largest bet to reveal the cards.