Inside Asian Gaming

IAG MAY 2023年5月 亞博匯 38 “The games still need to have some type of high volatility but there are now multiple ways to do that. Whereas a game might have previously had a single feature, now they are multi-feature – whether that be Hold & Spin plus free games or something else – so it’s just balancing out the game more. There is more variety of game in the market now, so players are going to try more, which in turn means you’ve got a smaller window to appeal to a player when they first sit down at a machine. That feature frequency when you play a game while maintaining some volatility is very popular at the moment.” PLAYING THE SYSTEM So what’s next? With links continuing to dominate the Asian market, and the Hold & Spin mechanic only growing stronger by the day, it’s the interplay between slots and systems that Seo sees driving the next step forward when it comes to technological innovation on the gaming floor. “Systems will really set the technology, and it will be how we interact the systems piece with the slots piece to bring them closer together,” he says. “In the past they’ve been separate, so how do we merge those two worlds together and create a new experience through carded play? That’s an important thing we’re looking at right now.” Of course, the buzz word when it comes to systems is “cashless”. In the March 2023 issue of IAG , we took a deep dive into theworldof cashlessgaming and how regulators around the region are taking steps to implement cashless technology. While this has been most prominent in Australia, where regulators see cashless gaming floors as the solution to recent anti-money laundering failures within the country’s casinos, it seems inevitable that other major jurisdictions will follow suit. Contacted by IAG to ask this very question, Singapore’s Gambling Regulatory Authority replied that its casino regulatory framework “does not prohibit cashless gaming technology” and that implementation of such technology was up to the operators – Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa. Likewise, Philippines gaming regulator PAGCOR said COVER STORY