“Konami is making steady progress on the project to expand its headquarters in Las Vegas”

How did European operators respond to Podium Goliath, the new game themes, the multigame SeleXion and your new SYNKROS systems technology?
The feedback from our customers was very positive, and in fact it exceeded our expectations.
SeleXion, Konami’s multigame solution, for sure, was the one that received the most comments, but Podium Goliath and Dragon’s Victory also made a very good impression. Regarding to the new SYNKROS functionalities, they were impressed with the ability and simplicity of deploying tournaments (True Time Tournament), and how Super Series can reward their carded customers.
As an overall result it was very positive, and shows that we are aligned with our customers’ expectations.  

What are European operators' main demands? What does Konami do to meet their requirements?
The European operators have a lot of experience and they clearly know what they are looking for from the manufactures. I would say that some of the key factors that they take into consideration are:  personalized support (sales and customer service), reliability of the products offered, quality of the games and not quantity, good product performance, and long term partnerships. Konami and its Distributors are working to be the leaders in those areas.

On another subject, you have recently changed your address from 585 Trade Center Drive to 585 Konami Circle. What if any were the repercussions of this within the industry?
Konami is making steady progress on the project to expand its headquarters in Las Vegas. The expansion, which nearly doubles the size of the current facilities, includes additional office space as well as expanded manufacturing and warehouse operations. Upon final completion of the project during summer 2015, the total size of Konami’s campus will be 316,000-square feet. The facility is being built to be LEED Silver certified and will include a subterranean warehouse and assembly facility, enlarged research and development facilities and an automated manufacturing floor. In conjunction with the new expansion, Konami has recently changed its mailing address to 585 Konami Circle to signify the new building. This is very positive for everyone in the industry. This recognizes Konami’s commitment in giving back to the community in Las Vegas.

How is the improvement of the facilities coming on?
The construction is according to the plan, the foundations are finalized, and the construction company is working already in finalizing the basement. Soon they will start the ground and first floor. We are very excited with the progress, and this shows again the commitment from Konami to keep investing in new products and technologies.

 What are your plans for the coming months?
Our distributors have already started to work on all deals discussed during ICE with our customers in Europe, so we aim to keep the momentum, and start to deploy the new products very shortly. In parallel, Konami is working on its preparations for G2E Macau.