Baccarat – arguably the most popular casino live table game in Asia – has been brought as a theme into the slot machine segment by Australia-based casino equipment supplier Aristocrat Leisure Ltd.
The firm unveiled at Global Gaming Expo (G2E) Asia 2016 its new ‘Multiline Baccarat’ (pictured) and ‘Baccarat 88’ games, which have baccarat as their main theme. Both games are available on Aristocrat’s new Arc cabinet.
G2E Asia 2016 is a trade show and conference focused on the Asian gaming industry. The three-day annual event ends this Thursday (May 19) at the Venetian Macao casino resort.
“In this part of the world, baccarat is a very big part of our customers’ business,” Aristocrat’s managing director Asia-Pacific, Vincent Kelly (also pictured), told GGRAsia.
He added: “It is a form of game that people very much enjoy playing. We have a lot of expertise in slot machines; what we were looking to do was to bridge the gap between the table game and the slot machine.”
Live table baccarat – including both the mass and VIP segments – accounted for almost 88 percent of market wide gross gaming revenue in Macau in the first three months of 2016, according to data from the city’s gaming regulator.
Mr Kelly said that ‘Multiline Baccarat’ and ‘Baccarat 88’ aimed “to bring some of the ‘theatre’ of baccarat to slots, and some of the excitement of slots to baccarat.”
He emphasized that the products were pure slot games using baccarat as a theme, not electronic table game versions of the casino favourite.
“This is more about expanding slot share of the overall casino business,” capitalising on baccarat’s market popularity, Mr Kelly said. “With the [higher] margins operators are able to enjoy on slots compared to some table games, that should benefit the operators,” he added.
Theoretical win rate for the house on live baccarat in Macau is 2.85 percent; slots in casino gaming venues in the city must be set to a mandatory minimum return to player (RTP) – i.e., the percentage of all the wagered money a slot machine will pay back to players over time – of 80 percent, and a maximum RTP of 98 percent.
Also, operational costs are usually lower for slot machines than for live table games, as the latter require a human to deal the cards.
‘Multiline Baccarat’ and ‘Baccarat 88’ are fresh releases from Aristocrat’s development laboratories and had their international debut – as finalised products – at G2E Asia. The games are now undergoing regulatory approval in Asia. The firm expects they can become available in the market later this year.
“The feedback that we have had [during G2E Asia] has been a lot of interest from our customers” on these products, Mr Kelly said. “It is a new space,” he added, noting that the games had been developed based on feedback from casino operators, players and other gaming industry stakeholders.
Another novel product available at Aristocrat’s G2E Asia 2016 exhibit was the firm’s ‘Lightning Link’. It is designed for players who enjoy frequent jackpots: it is configurable for four standalone jackpots as well as an option to link to a grand jackpot.
“Lightning Link has been a very successful product for our company in Australia, and also is doing very well in America and Europe,” Mr Kelly said. “We are showing it for the first time in Asia,” he added.
Mr Kelly stated that Aristocrat had had a positive response to its G2E Asia 2016 booth. “We have had a lot of interest [from show visitors]. That has been fantastic,” he said.
Aristocrat stated last week it expected to report net profit after tax before amortisation of acquired intangibles – referred to by the company as NPATA – amounting to around AUD183 million (US$133.9 million) for the six months ended March 31.
