Inside Asian Gaming

May 2016 inside asian gaming 53 Wheel of Fortune Double Diamond 3D Tech Talk progressives,” adds Victor Duarte, Global Chief Product Officer, Gaming for IGT. “Our new 99 Riches standalone mystery progressive offers four different progressive levels that help drive gameplay and features more ways for the player to win. This title spotlights another progressive trend; enabling players to win a progressive jackpot at any bet level.” Meanwhile Ainsworth is drawing operator attention with games that offer what they consider to be obtainable progressives. “Something that players see incrementing at a steady pace, they know on the ceiling, they know when it is going to hit, they know what to look for and how that progressive operates,” says Cody Herrick, Product Marketing Manager at Ainsworth. Few would argue that the greatest advantage of progressive slots are the jackpots; not just for the players, but for casino operators seeking the marketing draw created by these large jackpots as well. “Different progressives reach different player demographics,” says Steve Walther, Director, Product Management, Games at Konami Gaming. “There are some progressives with large or life-changing, high dollar jackpots that cater more to entertainment-style players who will throw some money towards that jackpot hoping they win it big. Or there are lower progressive top awards with greater hit frequency that appeal more to the regular gambler who wants that extra pay-out potential or is looking to make their money go a little further on the floor.” Manufacturers are continuing to evolve progressive awards, experimenting with new play mechanics, interactive components and skill-based concepts. Walther sums up why progressive slots are so enticing to players, “There’s something that gamblers inherently enjoy about watching their wager go towards an incrementing award meter that they can potentially win on every spin,” he says. “When a player puts money into a progressive machine, they can actually see the jackpot steadily grow higher and higher with each bet, so they know the money they’ve invested in the game has the potential to be won back. Players bet that investment into the jackpot, hoping they can win a greater return.” So what are manufactures doing in such a mature market to hold interest? Below you will find a list of slot manufacturers and their latest progressive slot developments: IGT IGT operates in more than 100
countries worldwide
andprovides the industry’s
largest end-to-end product portfolio. Their industry- leading R&D investment enables them to foster innovation and deliver compelling games to various progressive players within each market. IGT continues to offer customers a wide selection of progressive- themed configurations including wide area progressive, linked, standalone, mystery progressives and others. “IGT has the largest amount of progressive jackpot titles in the market,” Duartesays.“Weareintroducingacompelling selection of progressive
links, combined with market-attuned content, to build our progressive business. We’re also leveraging our cross-platform content development and distribution with progressive game themes such as Megajackpots Cleopatra and Siberian Storm, elevating IGT’s interactive portfolio for desktop and mobile content offerings.” Wheel of Fortune has been established as the most successful slot theme of
all time for IGT, revolutionizing the progressive slot experience with more than 200 game themes enjoyed by players in more than 20 countries worldwide. Wheel of Fortune has created more than 1,000 millionaires and awarded more than $3 billion in jackpots, setting it apart from any other game theme in the industry. IGT has enhanced its progressive content portfolio with its award-winning TRUE
3D technology. “Our TRUE 3D library has transformed slot play with a unique glasses- free 3D gaming environment, and has integrated compelling progressive bonuses to ignite the player experience,” Duarte says. “We originally introduced SPHINX 3D slots, which offer five progressive jackpot levels while IGT’sCashFever 3Dgameoffers various bonus progressive levels. IGT’s Wheel of Fortune Double Diamond 3D melds the most successful slot theme of all time with one of the most celebrated video slot technologies of recent years. Leveraging three unique multi-level progressives, Wheel of Fortune Double Diamond 3D is the industry’s first wide area progressive to feature TRUE 3D technology.” Progressive fan-favorites such as Megajackpots Cleopatra and Siberian Storm have successfully launched in Europe and are enabling players to qualify for progressive jackpots at any bet; offering more opportunities to win at all levels while boosting operator revenues. Moving forward, IGT is building on the evolution of progressive slot play by delivering game content across channels, to desktop and mobile devices. INCREDIBLE TECHNOLOGIES Incredible Technologies (IT) is a Class III slot manufacturer currently licensed in 23 states in the U.S., multiple international jurisdictions and on iGaming platforms. IT introduced the Infinity Lin premium product segment in 2015, with a nationwide rollout set for 2016. Infinity Link is
a bank-wide local
area progressive
that utilizes
a modified
version of the
company’s Simple Sign Display Kit with a smart
controller to advertise progressive meters, bonus wins and other merchandising effects. IT also