“Concerto was our showcase hit at ICE”

What was the reaction to Konami's Concerto at the 2016 ICE?

Guests at this year’s ICE show were impressed by the edge-to-edge video screen size that Concerto achieves without exceeding the footprint size of a standard video upright machine. They can’t wait to bring the new KP3+ platform games to their customers, but at the same time they appreciate the machine’s flexibility to hold KP3 platform’s proven performers like Dragon’s Law and China Shores.

From all products Konami exhibited during the tradeshow, what was your showcase hit?

By and large, Concerto really was our showcase hit. Casino operators were surprised with the new features and innovations from Concerto, and now they’re moving quickly to bring it to their properties. However, our all-new Frogger slots definitely provided ample competition for the attention Concerto received. The classic road and river crossing course that appears in Frogger’s mystery-trigger progressive bonus brings the element of delight and excitement that people expect from a Frogger themed video slot.

Konami’s D&D video slots were another big hit at ICE 2016. These games are based upon the iconic fantasy-themed role-playing game and display very well with custom bezel, sign, and other merchandising options unique to the popular D&D brand.

iGaming had a significant number of exhibitors during ICE. What are Konami’s plans on this area for 2016, especially with the partnership with Spin Games?

iGaming is playing an expanding role for our company, as it does for our customers. Konami’s mission—no matter the platform—is to empower casinos with the gaming technology and content they need to reach their customers. So, we’ve partnered with Spin Games to launch our own remote gaming server (RGS) with an expanding library of proven Konami slot games for deployment across online social and for-wager environments. With this technology, land-based and online casino gambling entities currently have the ability to provide popular Konami games to all relevant mobile devices, desktop platforms, and internet browsers, through use of industry-leading HTML5 technology.

What are the main challenges for the industry on how to attract the millennials?

The challenge of attracting millennials is not about the millennials themselves, but about understanding what motivates them. Millennials have different needs than the core gaming demographic. Our team has been working diligently to deeper understand those driving motives and pioneer new products/ technology to meet those interests in new ways. Emerging legislation surrounding skill-based gaming will help open the door to further explore new possibilities for reaching this high-profile demographic. Konami is uniquely positioned to succeed in developing products designed for millennials given our history of success developing some of the world’s most popular video games and arcade products.

How’s Konami doing in Europe? What are the key markets in the region for 2016?

Konami saw excellent momentum across Europe in 2015, due to the continuing success of our SeleXion multi-game product as well as premium releases such as Dungeons & Dragons and our Rapid Revolver cabinet. Our current mission in this market is to support the launch of Concerto by making sure our European customers have competitive access to all the newest themes. The immersive gaming experience that Concerto creates is incredibly promising for international markets looking to optimize their casino properties with games that look fantastic and perform dependably.