WMS receives GLI’s approval for the commercial release of its WAGE-NET

The UHP series is the first of five Portal families expected to interoperate with multiple gaming machines on a casino floor utilizing the networking capabilities of the WAGE-NET system.

With these approvals, WMS will begin the commercial launch of its WAGE-NET system and the Jackpot ExplosionUHP game theme into casinos in gaming jurisdictions served by GLI, which includes substantially all Native American tribal casinos, certain riverboat jurisdictions and other commercial casino jurisdictions.

WMS anticipates its initial installations of the WAGE-NET system and the Jackpot Explosion theme will be in Native American casinos in California that are currently running beta-tests of the products, followed by other tribal and commercial casinos among the 12 casinos presently acting as beta-test sites.

WMS expects to expand into additional casinos in GLI-served jurisdictions following secondary approvals by individual gaming jurisdictions. WMS also continues to make progress towards regulatory approval for WAGE-NET and the Jackpot Explosion application in other gaming jurisdictions and recently began a field trial in Nevada at a popular Las Vegas casino.

"GLI approval for the commercial version of the core WAGE-NET system, the UHP Portal application family and the first theme in the UHP family, Jackpot Explosion, represents a major milestone in our plan to further our Casino Evolved vision, which offers a premium value proposition to the marketplace," said Orrin J. Edidin, President of WMS. "Our initial beta placements have clearly demonstrated the incremental value of a Portal application interoperating with a base game, with coin-in premiums averaging 35%-to-40% across more than 270 Bluebird 2, Bluebird xD(and upgraded Bluebird gaming machines at 12 casinos."

Edidin continued, "WMS is firmly committed to leading the industry's adoption of networked gaming solutions and the approval of our commercial version of the WAGE-NET system allows us to further support our customers' deployment of networked services throughout their enterprise and to help them generate higher value from their gaming technology investments.

WMS' Casino Evolved vision for Networked Gaming - including UHP and the other upcoming Portal families, combined with Player's Life Web Services, Freedomport Player User Interface windowing platform, GamEdge Patron Services, and Remote Configuration and Download applications - provides a robust product set to casinos and we are excited to begin to bring the benefits of that future to customers today."

The UHP application adds a secondary mystery progressive bonus experience to the base game, displays imminent jackpots across the slot floor - on the base game screen, the gaming cabinet's top screen and on strategically located signage - and helps to celebrate the big win using stronger visuals and increased ambient sound. The Jackpot Explosion game's volcanic theme shows rising lava levels as coin-in increases and the trigger to the progressive jackpot is approached. With its random rewards and innovative ability to broadcast how close the progressive is to being won, UHP enables unprecedented levels of player excitement.

UHP is the first in a series of five unique Portal families that WMS plans to introduce over the next several years. These Portal application families, each of which will feature multiple themes, reflect WMS' commitment to the creation of innovative new technologies aimed at enhancing the gaming experience for players and driving increased revenues for operators.

To enhance players' entertainment experiences, the Portal applications will combine WMS' industry-leading video and mechanical-reel base game content with the additional gaming entertainment offered by the Portal applications. Casino operators will be able to determine which Portal application they want to operate on each gaming machine connected to the WAGE-NET system, which will enable them to uniquely tailor their casino floor to best suit their casino patrons.