Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | July 2009 34 Aristocrat Was the internal review something that you instigated? “Absolutely. I don’t think it’s at all uncommon for a new CEO to come in and say ‘Now’s the time to look at the business’. I stated very clearly that we needed to look at our business going forward. It’s been a challenging time. Anyone who observes our results has seen that and we’re not alone in the industry in that respect. But it’s absolutely the time for us to look at how do we run a sustainable business going forward. One of the issues for our business and for our industry generally is that there hasn’t always been that sustainable success. In our case we’ve had a great run of success but in the last few years have fallen away a little from those peaks. I guess a new guy coming in needs to ask ‘Where are we getting our growth from in the future and how are we going to make it more sustainable?’We don’t just want to be one-hit wonders. System and process “It’s about having a systematic approach—one that’s process-driven, to make sure that you keep on learning all the time and adding all the time, rather than standing still. One of the great things about this industry is it’s driven by new technology. It’s really very exciting. You just have to walk around the floor at G2E Asia to see that. The danger is that you get left behind if you don’t immerse yourself in it. You have to keep moving forward. Other industries that are driven by technology have the same challenge.” Could common standards and interop- erability among gaming manufacturers lead to a homogenisation of product? “I don’t think so at all actually. If anything I think it’s going to become more diverse. It’s interesting if you talk about server-based gaming, which as an industry we’re not yet adopting as a whole—you end up with this imagery of the common terminal with different games coming through. But if you actually look around the floor, hardware is playing a fairly important part in that as well. So what I see happening in a number of markets is a lot of people are playing pure gaming, and a lot of people are getting quite an entertainment feel out of it. The volatility of the games is changing. That’s something I think we need to be increasingly aware of in relation to the responsible gaming agenda in a number of markets. So I honestly think our gaming industry will diversify a little bit to cover core gaming, new technologies and games offering even more pure entertainment. The evidence for that is you only need to walk around the floor and see the multitude of options—the community gaming for example has added a whole different option. So many of those machines aren’t just standalones any more. You will see people playing on them collectively and sharing the features. That’s very different. I don’t think for a moment that that will replace standalones, but I’m saying I think it will diversify [the industry]. People want different experiences.” Because of recession some Macau casinos reportedly now offer live baccarat tables with minimum bets as low as HK$50. Doesn’t this prove that markets, including slot markets, can quickly be changed by external dynamics? “If you go back to the success of Aristocrat when they put so many low denom [ination] machines into the US, that changed the industry over there. People hadn’t previously realised that by using so many lines the games could be so entertaining and so popular. Those kinds of changes will continue to come through. Our industry is exciting and we have to be led by innovation. I admire everybody who is innovating. It’s going to drive the business forward. It’s also going to be vital to our success. We can’t just stand still and do the same things. If we did, ultimately we’d start to decline, so we’ve got to develop new ideas and new games.” A business is about more than one person, but what key points would you want to make to investors and analysts about Aristocrat’s business if they were standing in front of you now? “Wait for August! What I can say is we’re going to be clear about what our strategy is going to be and howwe’re going to achieve it. We’re going to build the capability, and measure and hold ourselves accountable against that. It’s going to be about clarity of purpose, focus, and making sure we build the right capabilities for our people and measure ourselves against it, and just to keep on trying to grow, learn and build a business.” Aristocrat Fa Fa Fa slots at last month’s G2E exhibition in Macau