Eduardo Aching: “Konami received very positive feedback from its customers at G2E 2021”
Eduardo Aching, vice president for international gaming operations at Konami Gaming, spoke with Focus Gaming News spoke about the company’s attendance at G2E Las Vegas 2021 and shared his views regarding the market trends.
Exclusive interview.- Konami Gaming, inc. was one of the main protagonists of G2E Las Vegas, one of the world’s largest gaming events, that was held between October 4 to 7.
Focus Gaming News talked with Eduardo Aching, vice president for international gaming operations at Konami Gaming, about the event, future perspectives and how it was to meet again most of the gaming segment in Las Vegas.
What were your main goals before G2E and which was the outcome of exhibiting again in Las Vegas?
As with any other show, our goal for G2E 2021 was to present Konami’s latest advancements, allow operators to try them first-hand, and meet one-on-one with customers to discuss their goals, needs, and ideas for the term ahead.
We saw many of our long-time customers, colleagues, and friends during the show, including the team from Focus Gaming News. We always value shared time and conversation with our customers, and G2E 2021 was no exception.
What products and solutions did Konami introduce?
During G2E 2021, Konami’s DIMENSION 49J received the First Place Gold Medal for “Best Slot Product” in the 20th Annual Gaming & Technology Awards.
“This is a highly competitive award, and clearly signals the strength, popularity, and success of Konami’s latest DIMENSION line of cabinets.”
Eduardo Aching, vice president for international gaming operations at Konami Gaming.
This success is even more valuable to casinos because Konami has expanded the same key features of the award-winning DIMENSION 49J to its newest core cabinets: DIMENSION 49 and DIMENSION 27.
These machines have the same sleek design, sheen silver finish, generous button dash, and base hardware components as the proven original DIMENSION 49J, just with different screen formats and software content.
DIMENSION 49 is a portrait flat-screen machine with a lower 49-inch Ultra-High-Definition (UHD) display and an upper 27-inch topper. At G2E 2021, DIMENSION 49 featured Konami’s player-favourite Fortune Mint series; a link called Cai Lai 8 Fang, inspired by Cai Lai Si Ji; and a Treasure Ball brand extension called Treasure Ball Duo Luck.
DIMENSION 27 is a stacked screen cabinet with three UHD screens. During G2E 2021 it showed a linked progressive called Panda Power, with different bonus events across all three screens.
And of course, DIMENSION 27 showed SeleXion multi-game with a mix of fresh titles on one machine, like Boomtown Gold Mine, 5 Lion Festival, Wild Lava, and more.
Both DIMENSION 49 and DIMENSION 27 arrived at G2E for the first time this month, but each are currently live at casinos and available now for many international markets.
What were the main inquiries and concerns you received from clients and prospects?
Nearly everyone was curious about the expanded DIMENSION line, with four added cabinet types exhibiting for the first time. Konami received very positive feedback on its content variety, future product investment, and overall company direction.
Our customers also showed excitement for the enhanced flexibility of Konami’s progressive configuration options, across varied bet amounts, reset values, and more. And many were impressed by the overall look and package of the new DIMENSION series.
What needs do you perceive within the industry and among the operators?
We have seen a growing interest in cashless technology, among players and operators. Konami’s SYNKROS casino management system has offered this technology for many years, and it’s important that we look to give our players options in order to be competitive with other entertainment that customers enjoy.
“We’ve seen a lot of new inquiries for Konami’s iGaming offering as well.”
Eduardo Aching, vice president for international gaming operations at Konami Gaming.
Our games are incredibly popular on social and real money online casinos. To help achieve robust digital distribution, Konami uses a remote gaming server (RGS) to deliver online slot content, which integrates with the most popular back-end systems used by today’s gaming operators for a complete interactive gaming solution.
And all the games on Konami’s RGS are developed using HTML5, for compatibility across smartphone, tablet, and desktop devices.
What are your projections for growth and market trends?
In recent months, we’ve seen steady improvement for all countries we serve. And working in anticipation of demand growth, Konami has transitioned into direct sales across Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay, in order to be a more competitive supplier partner in those markets.
Following years of positive momentum in these markets, our previous distributor Atlantic Venture allowed Konami to absorb its personnel in the region and we are currently moving ahead with an exceptionally strong team.
