“It was an amazing year of record-setting innovation and revenue at Bally”

What is the evaluation of this year?
It was an amazing year of record-setting innovation and revenue at Bally Technologies as we combined our expanded game studios and systems engineers to create stunning products across games, systems, and interactive technologies. Following the global roll-out of Michael Jackson King of Pop and GREASE games, we unveiled two more world-class brands: NASCAR and Pawn Stars. Also premiering this year was the next generation of our already wildly popular titles: Cash Wizard Tiki Magic, Hot Shot Dual Wheel, Betty Boop’s Fortune Teller and Prizeball Playboy.

As the first company licensed in the United States as an interactive gaming system manufacturer and service provider, Bally continues to be excited that our iGaming platform’s open architecture enables operators to choose from best-in-class content from a multitude of providers. The iGaming platform is also designed for mobile integration and is ready to accommodate online gaming beyond poker, such as casino table games, video slots, and sports betting.

What were the main challenges that you had to face within your major markets?   
Casino spending is improving and the mood at recent trade shows across the gaming sector indicates a strong enthusiasm for the future. The product approval process in the industry is improving but still remains a challenge to gaming innovation. We are lucky to have some of the best employees in the business who responded to the market-by-market issues with the utmost professionalism. We evaluated each situation and put in place strategic action plans.  Our main focus is always to provide customer-driven innovation, and the best in regional customer support.

In your opinion, what was the most outstanding novelty (positive or negative)?
Game interactivity, especially the interaction offered by the industry’s only iDeck, is amazing technology.  The iDeck, a configurable button deck, enables game-synchronized content, interactive bonus games, multi-touch player interaction, mini-games, and now events that enable players to touch and spin wheels, move objects, and interact with the game in unprecedented new ways. And, as a configurable button deck, iDeck produces good ROI for casinos.

This past year we took iDeck and game screen interaction to a new level with SKEE-BALL and All That Jazz. An arcade favorite, SKEE-BALL includes a bonus feature in which players touch and slide to “bowl” the SKEE-BALL, winning “tickets” that enable them to “Pick a Prize” on the game that reveals credit awards. All That Jazz has a revolutionary iDeck feature called U-Play, where players touch and spin virtual piano keys to play along to favorite songs. Both SKEE-BALL and All That Jazz feature new levels of player interaction that add tremendously to the game-play experience.

What was the most innovative product or service launched this year by your company?
Bally was extremely excited to launch Virtual Racing NASCAR, part of Bally’s Elite Bonusing Suite (EBS). Our Virtual Racing promotional tool has already been a huge hit creating floor-wide excitement on casino floors across America, driving coin-in, carded play, new players’ club signups, and tremendous excitement. Now – for the first time – Virtual Racing features a NASCAR-themed car racing that lets players actually choose their favorite driver and cheer him across the finish line. Players can select one of eight famous NASCAR drivers: Clint Bowyer, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick,  Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Mark Martin, or Martin Truex Jr. from the touch-screen on the iVIEW or iVIEW Display Manager (DM) player-user-interface. Players who selected the winning driver when the race ends win a casino-configurable prize, be it free play, merchandise, or other operator selected rewards.

In your opinion, what is the country with the highest growth potential for next year and why?
We are excited about our ability to grow further internationally however, 2013 will be very exciting for Bally in North America because of our strong position in the new Illinois market, our successful entry into the Canada VLT market, expansion in Ohio, improved replacement cycle, and our growing market share.

We expect excellent revenue growth in Africa, we are entering Australia and our systems and games continue to perform very well in Latin America. In fact, after several years of working with distributors, we’ve opened offices in Peru and expanded our presence in Colombia.  The initial response in Italy has been positive and we’re excited about the possibilities in Greece if they implement a video-lottery program.  Our world-class licensed brands are now arriving in Europe, and indicators show them to be very popular. And we see operators eager to place our player-selectable language games in Asia.

What are your company's plans for 2013?
We are on an excellent path for continued product innovation and revenue growth in 2013. Our iView DM network and content will expand further in 2013 producing great player excitement and strong casino ROI. Bally Technologies will continue to focus on driving further game innovation with trailblazing new play mechanics like U-Shoot, U-Choose, Double Directional Wilds, and U-Play. These features mean greater levels of player interaction and creative arcade-like features. A product like Virtual Racing NASCAR allows casinos to give players an even more exciting floor-wide community-play experience. These all help create a fresh and exciting entertainment experience for customers, while providing the kind of return-on-investment that all properties are looking for. And our Bally Interactive division will continue to grow in the internet, mobile, and social space.

How do you picture the gaming industry in 2013? Will it be similar to this year? Will there be a growth or slowdown?
With the elections behind us, a new calendar year ahead, and seven consecutive quarters of year-over-year revenue growth, we at Bally Technologies are quite optimistic. All indications are, after four challenging years for the gaming industry across the globe, casino operators seem more enthusiastic with their capital spend on quality new games and systems products that give them a competitive advantage, and good technology solutions which help operational efficiencies and make it more entertaining for their players.  We expect the interactive gaming space to move multiple steps forward during 2013. Many North America casino operators will evaluate the use of free-play sites for marketing and promotions while they await the possible legalization of online wagering. Like in 2012, mobile technology will continue to lead the way with sophisticated concierge applications and free-play games, adding great value to casinos’ marketing arsenal, while also providing precious data to help monitor trends and new possibilities.