Best Ice on record for Aristocrat
The recent Ice exhibition was Aristocrat Europe’s most successful to date. Having increased its stand presence by 50 per cent and shown its most comprehensive range of gaming solutions ever, Aristocrat Europe reported outstanding customer feedback and broke all its previous sales order levels at the London show.
“Going into this year’s Ice, we knew that the breadth and depth of our games portfolio was extremely strong,” said Donal Maguire, Sales & Marketing Director – Europe. “Off the back of some highly positive floor performance figures from games released over the last three months, we were anticipating very strong demand for a number of marquee products and titles.”
Written by Redazione GiocoNews
The star of the show, taking pride of place at the front of the Aristocrat stand, was Superman™ The Movie, a licensed Hybrid Stepper game featuring three standalone progressive jackpots and a wealth of nostalgic video footage. “Customers were excited to see one of the world’s strongest and most recognised brand characters, and were assured of the longevity of the franchise, with the follow-up game Superman II™ also previewed at the show,” said Maguire.
This continuity of theming also spurred strong sales of another game backed by a big screen name. “ZORRO™ The Legend Returns is another licensed Hybrid Stepper showing tremendous popularity with players over the last quarter. Orders continue to flow in, and judging by the response at Ice we can expect a similar pattern from the sequel title ZORRO™ The Mask and The Rose, unveiled at ExCeL,” Maguire added.
A third licensed theme also contributed to Aristocrat’s successful Ice in VIRIDIAN WS™ Feature Top Box guise. The Mummy™ is virtually an identikit performer to ZORRO, explained Maguire, with animations that set a new benchmark in videogaming entertainment. “Customers couldn’t help but marvel at this spectacular game and those lucky enough to already have it installed on their gaming floors were equally impressed by the new content of the sequel, The Mummy Returns™.”
Whilst the licensed route is striking a chord with European operators and players, Aristocrat remains in a strong position with core gaming concepts showing extraordinary prowess within key gaming segments. Wonder 4™ is one such example, with performance remaining extremely robust on gaming floors world-wide up to a year after its initial release. This ‘Multi-Play’ segment, where players can select up to four games and play concurrent sets of reels, is maintaining steady sales orders, which continued at Ice.
“The success of Wonder 4 shows no sign of slowing down,” said Maguire. “More and more operators are discovering its magic and are now eagerly awaiting the release of an expanded library of games through the follow-up ‘Special Edition’ and Deluxe formats.”
2013 marks Aristocrat’s 60th anniversary, with the company’s ICE presence kicking off 12 months of celebrations across the world’s major trade shows. While proud of its heritage, the company is using the milestone as an opportunity to focus on the future, as Maguire explained.
“Not only did we have a strong and innovative line-up of new casino games at ICE, we also demonstrated core competencies in parallel sectors including the street market, VLT route operations and Online. We’re excited about the potential to deliver Aristocrat’s leading gaming content through new channels, including internet, mobile and social gaming platforms, and working with our customers to broaden our offer as the industry evolves.”
“Our theme at this year’s ICE was ‘Let’s Go!’. It’s a simple call to action that reflects our excitement at the outstanding new games and products we’re bringing to market and how energised we are to partner customers and be part of their success. Our end-game is creating the world’s greatest gaming experience, every day, and from the response we received at ICE we believe we’re on track to do just that,” Maguire concluded.