Sega Sammy Creation growing land-based, eyes online

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

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Casino equipment maker Sega Sammy Creation Inc is tweaking its market approach in the land-based segment, in terms of manufacturing and sales, says Naoki Kameda (pictured, left), the firm’s president and chief executive. The company is also eyeing the online segment to expand its reach, he said in an interview with GGRAsia.

Sega Sammy Creation is a unit of Japanese entertainment conglomerate Sega Sammy Holdings Inc.

Sega Sammy Creation has recently announced new appointments with the aim of expandng sales in Asian and North American markets, as well as to integrate better the manufacturing divisions of Sega Sammy Creation USA Inc in Nevada, and of Sega Sammy Creation in Japan.

“In essence, we want to have a more unified approach to manufacturing,” rather than two entities running independently, Mr Kameda told GGRAsia. On the sales side of the business, following a “successful expansion” in the U.S. market, the company wants to give a further push in Asian markets.

“We’ve decided to put more resources into research and development of our products, combining the experience we’ve gathered in both the U.S. and Asian markets,” stated the CEO.

“We hope to see further [customer] feedback in the next one or two years” regarding “our new products and other improvements,” said the executive.

Over the years, the company has tweaked its product line, moving from the original mega-size arcade-style cabinets to more sleek and smaller dimension products.

“We need to take into consideration the market needs, both customers and players,” said Mr Kameda, adding that the company may still surprise the market with some “crazy, innovative products”.

Sega Sammy Creation is also trying to provide its content “outside the land-based” segment, expanding its presence online. “We have good and attractive content, and we have agreements with a couple of operators to provide some of our assets and themes,” said the CEO. “In the future, we might develop our own digital offering,” he added.

Expanding markets

The casino gaming market supplier has been showing its product portfolio at this week’s Global Gaming Expo (G2E) Asia 2023 Special Edition: Singapore. That included its latest standalone electronic table game (ETG), “Maximum Fortune Collection”.

The new product integrates three of the group’s existing ETGs in the Genesis Crest cabinet: “Baccarat Maximum Fortunes”, “Roulette Maximum Fortunes”, and “SicBo Maximum Fortunes”.

These games “have been highly popular” in some markets, said Takashi Maekawa (pictured, right), senior vice president of global sales and business development for Sega Sammy Creation.

“We want to continue to attract the existing baccarat players, but also appeal to new players by incorporating sic bo and roulette into a single cabinet,” Mr Maekawa told GGRAsia.

The new product allows players to “choose their favourite game or switch back and forth between the three games”. Sega Sammy Creation is also showcasing its ETGs and slot game library at the casino trade show.

“All of these games have been successful in the North American market. This year our target is to find additional success for our slot products in Asia,” said the sales executive.

Macau and the Philippines “continue to be the focus” for Sega Sammy Creation.

“The kind of feedback we receive in those two markets will determine which markets we go into next,” remarked Mr Maekawa. “But obviously, as many other manufacturers, we are interested in places like Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia, and South Korea.

Most of the firm’s games are “fully approved and ready to go” in the Philippines. “We have now about 40 percent of our entire title [portfolio] approved for Macau,” he said.

Mr Maekawa added: “New games are being developed and there are a lot of other titles to be approved. Hopefully by the end of the year, most of our titles will become available in Asia.”

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