Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | 72 G2E ASIA 2013 Asia stand this year. Infinity Baccarat features video of a beaming Chinese dealer around which up to 128 terminals can be configured—Weike recommends operators install a minimum of eight to create the requisite atmosphere of camaraderie seen at the live tables. Weike opted to film a real person rather than going the animated route because “we want players to feel more connected,” says Ray Poh, recently appointed the company’s COO. He adds, “Infinity Baccarat is modular, scalable and caters to markets like Macau, where labor cost and supply is a limiting factor.” Infinity Baccarat comes standard in either Mandarin or English, and one of its key differentiating features is “we allow players to squeeze the cards” (using Weike’s patented card-squeezing technology), explains Mr Poh. “This makes it more of a premium product, and allows you to maintain the feel of a live table. We still run more hands than a live table, but obviously with the squeezing part of it we don’t run as many hands as other electronic products.” Expanding Stable The other highlights at G2E Asia for Weike will be a new line-up of slot titles.“This year, besides our stable of 50-line games, we are going to introduce more 30- and 40- line games in order to widen our offerings,” reveals Mr Poh. “There are already a lot of 50-line games out there. But there are some markets, such as Indochina, which prefer fewer lines. For example, in Cambodian casinos, where the denomination is either USD or Thai baht, 50-line games become quite expensive.” And even in markets such as Singapore, where Weike has “the 50-line segment well covered,” believes Mr Poh, “it’s time to expand to cater to other segments with 30- and 40-line games.” Over the company’s 15- year history, “we started off with nine lines, then added 18, then moved to 20 and 25, and now we’re supplying predominantly 50- line games in Singapore.” Weike also will showcase several new game concepts at the show. “There is Shanghai Casino and Oriental Legend, both of which are casino-themed. There’s Dancing Snake, which was released this year to mark the “Year of the Snake.”The Illusionist, about a magician, The Great Genghis, themed after the Mongol warrior legend, and the kung fu- themed The Grand Master.” Although all these titles are highly Asian-themed, Mr Poh points out that Weike has also been releasing “several non-Asian themes as well, but the reason we are focusing on these particular ones at G2E Asia is because they are the newest concepts.” Weike has been working steadily over the past five years to broaden its international appeal by supplementing its “unique and distinctively Asian-themed game library,” as Andrew Masen, Weike’s vice president, Slot Gaming, in charge of game development, puts it. Mr Masen was brought on board in 2008 as a prelude to Weike launching its campaign to penetrate new markets. It had until then been operating for a decade building a solid business supplying slots, electronic table games and progressive jackpot link and gaming management systems to smaller-scale gaming venues in Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and the Philippines. Weike has its sights on building its footprint in Asia’s major casinos, and especially in the continent’s newly established slots mecca, Macau. The local slot market is a particularly tough nut to crack for new entrants because of players’ fierce loyalty to established games, but Weike has gradually been making inroads with machines that have been performing well against the entrenched competition. Its machines have also been standout performers at Singapore’s integrated resorts, building on Weike’s previously established strong presence in the city- state’s slot clubs. In addition to the new games, Weike will be showcasing its market-proven systems at G2E Asia. “Our WeSystems cater to club markets and mid-sized A selection of Weike’s new game concepts on display at G2E Asia.