Aristocrat Tops Diverse Field in EKG Slot Awards
While Aristocrat again took the top award as best overall slot supplier in the fifth EKG Slot Awards , its former dominance of the individual awards yielded to a more diverse field of winners
Aristocrat Gaming once again led the field in Eilers & Krejcik Gaming ’ s fifth annual EKG Slot Awards event , held February 23 at the Aria in Las Vegas . Aristocrat won a total of six awards , including a repeat win as Top Overall Supplier .
It was not quite as dominant a showing for Aristocrat as in other years — the supplier won nine EKG awards last year , for instance — but its six awards still led all suppliers .
In addition to the top award , the company won for Top Performing New Video Reel Core Game ( Bao Zhu Zhao Fu Red Festival ), Top Performing New Premium Game ( Lightning Dollar Link : Kung Fu Master ), Top Performing New Video Cabinet ( Neptune Single ), Top Performing Proprietary Branded Game ( Dragon Link ), and Most Innovative Game ( Bao Zhu Zhao Fu Red Festival ).
While Aristocrat was on top , the awards this year reflected increased competition in the slot sector , as other suppliers won multiple prominent awards .
IGT , for instance , won four awards , including nods for its DiamondRS cabinet , named Top Performing New Mechanical Reel Cabinet-Core ; Wheel of Fortune High Roller , named Top Performing Third Party IP Branded Game ; Ultimate X Poker as Top Performing Video Poker Game ( for the first time , a nominated video poker supplier was not IGT as Aristocrat ’ s Winner ’ s World bartop scored a nomination ); and Most Improved Supplier-Premium .
Light & Wonder won three awards , scoring Top Performing New Mechanical Reel Game for its new Blazing 7s wheel game , Blazing 777 Triple Double Jackpot Wild , as well as Top Performing New Cabinet for Kascada Dual Screen and Top Social Casino Company for its SciPlay division .
Bluberi scored its first EKG Slot Awards , winning for Top Performing Game from an Emerging Supplier with its Devil ’ s Lock game and as Most Improved Supplier-Core .
LAND-BASED AWARDS
Top Performing NEW Video Reel Core Game Bao Zhu Zhao Fu Red Festival – Aristocrat
Top Performing NEW Mechanical Reel Core Game Blazing 777 Triple Double Jackpot Wild - Light & Wonder
Top Performing NEW Premium Game Lightning Dollar Link - Kung Fu Master – Aristocrat
Top Performing NEW Video Cabinet – Core Neptune Single - Aristocrat
Top Performing NEW Mechanical Reel Cabinet – Core DiamondRS – IGT
Top Performing NEW Cabinet – Premium Kascada Dual Screen - Light & Wonder
Top Performing Proprietary Branded Game Dragon Link – Aristocrat
Top Performing 3rd Party IP Branded Game Wheel of Fortune - High Roller – IGT
Top Electronic Table Game ( ETG ) Supplier Interblock
Top Performing Video Poker Game Ultimate X Poker - IGT
Top Performing Game from an Emerging Supplier Devil ’ s Lock – Bluberi
Most Innovative Game Bao Zhu Zhao Fu Red Festival – Aristocrat
Most Improved Supplier – Core Bluberi
Most Improved Supplier – Premium IGT
Best Overall Supplier of Slot Content Aristocrat
There was a special award created this year for Murka , the Cyprus-based social casino game development company that continued its operations in Kyiv and Dnipro , Ukraine , despite the Russian invasion and war over the past year . Murka was given a Special Award for Overcoming Adversity .
Meanwhile , the EKG Slot Awards Hall of Fame got three new members at the event . Inducted in the Game Development category were Dennis Mead and Charles Fey . In the Slot Operations category , Buddy Frank was also inducted into the Hall .
Mead distinguished himself at IGT , where he was art director for products including Wheel of Fortune , Megabucks and Quartermania , as well as designing custom slot machines for major Las Vegas Strip properties .
Fey ( 1862-1944 ), the first posthumous induction into the Hall of Fame , is credited with designing and building the first three-reel slot machine , the Liberty Bell , in the late 1890s , establishing the basic slot format that would be followed by all others for more than a century . Fey ’ s grandson , Marshall Fey , appeared on video to induct the legendary inventor .
Frank is a legend in slot operations , having started his career at three Reno casinos and capping it off as vice president of slot operations at California ’ s Pechanga Resort Casino .
The land-based category winners were determined by the official voting from over 100 qualified slot directors representing over 300 casinos across the U . S . and Canadian markets and representing roughly 300,000 total slot machines . For the iGaming and Social Casino segments , winners were determined by voting from a distinguished panel of industry experts .
A complete listing of the winners for the fifth annual EKG Slot Awards is provided below .
SOCIAL CASINO AWARDS
Best Social Slots Game Lightning Link Casino - Pixel United
Best NEW Social Casino Game MGM Slots Live – PlayStudios
iGAMING AWARDS ( Real Money )
Top Performing NEW Online Slot Almighty Buffalo Megaways - White Hat Studios
Top Performing NEW Online Table Game 21 + 3 Progressive Blackjack - Bragg Gaming Group
Top Performing Online Live Casino Game Live Dealer Blackjack - Evolution
Most Innovative Online Game Break the Bounty LuckyTap - Design Works Gaming
Best Overall Supplier of Online Content Evolution
Top Social Casino Company SciPlay
Top Performing Omni-Channel Slot ( Retail & Online ) Triple Jackpot Gems - Everi
50 Global Gaming Business APRIL 2023