GGRAsia – Alfastreet’s new Verso cabinet heading to Asian markets

Alfastreet’s new Verso cabinet heading to Asian markets

Jun 01, 2023 Newsdesk G2E Asia 2023: Singapore, Latest News, Top of the deck

Alfastreet, a manufacturer of electronic gaming machines, says it is in the initial stages of introducing its latest “Verso” single terminal to various gaming jurisdictions in Asia. “Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines” will likely be the first markets for the firm’s new cabinet, said Deric Goh (pictured), Alfastreet’s sales director for Asia, in an interview with GGRAsia.

The privately-owned Slovenian firm specialises in designing, developing, and manufacturing electronic table games (ETGs). It has been showing its product portfolio at this week’s Global Gaming Expo (G2E) Asia 2023 Special Edition: Singapore.

According to Mr Goh, Verso is a sophisticated and robust single terminal, with powerful tools and hardware, as well as upgraded software.

The company says the new cabinet offers “flexible personalisation options” for casino operators. The product was designed to “encourage longer play sessions” and “to enhance gaming experience”, including features such as an adjustable monitor angle and improved connectivity, it added.

Mr Goh said the Philippines will likely be the “main growing market” in Asia for Alfastreet. “There’s a growing gaming market there, with new properties and customers,” he stated.

Nevertheless, the growth in Asia will only be gradual in the coming years, he cautioned.

“For now, we don’t have high expectations for this year … because the majority of our customers is still cautious with spending, particularly in buying new products,” following the years marked by the pandemic, said the sales executive.

“What we expect is for casino operators in the region to carry out a replacement programme in the next two years, to change some of the previous cabinets for new products,” added Mr Goh.

The Alfastreet executive also said the market for ETGs “is stronger” in places like Malaysia and Singapore, but is still developing in the Philippines.

“For ETGs, the stadium-style set up is not there yet in the Philippines, in terms of performance. So, it’s more about smaller-scale products,” he added. “In Malaysia, for instance, the performance is better than slots, so it gives us a lot of room to install new products.”

Alfastreet has also been displaying its “Lucky 8” roulette cabinet and a new Bingo game, the latter aimed at the Philippine market. The firm’s “remote play” system is also one of the highlights at the G2E Asia event in Singapore, said Mr Goh.

“The remote play system was introduced in the Philippines during Covid-19, mainly because of social-distancing rules,” noted the sales executive. “We are deploying it gradually, and it’s being well received by players.”

Alfastreet’s remote play offers what the company describes as a “very innovative” system for patrons to play the games “outside the borders of a casino property”.

Its “in-house remote play” feature is a variation of the original software, allowing players to have access to the casino games from any place within the property, using the venue’s Wi-Fi network.

“The possibility of using any handheld device and the flexibility this feature offers, provides additional revenue to operators,” stated Alfastreet. The firm added that a “variety of games” was already available via its remote play system, “with more [titles] being developed”.