“ The Raptor cabinet and the successes that we ’ re seeing early on are really giving us that new identity . It ’ s not a rebranding . It ’ s a repositioning , and building upon the strong foundation that was already here .”
— Keith Kruczynski , Vice President of Studios , North America , Ainsworth
Tell Me How You Really Feel
Aside from the minutiae of various locales , the company has also had an overall renewed emphasis in hearing directly from players . As Evans says , “ It ’ s amazing how much players know ,” and their input has taken on a bigger influence in recent years .
“ We partnered up with Cache Creek Casino in northern California ,” Evans says . “ We invited some of the best players in their database to a focus group . We hold a customer advisory board in our HHR space , where we ’ re basically showing them our next 12-18 months of product , and we ask them to rank it .”
Krucyznski also lauds the focus group as an “ absolutely tremendous ” way to “ watch players play and listen to them give feedback on all our new games .” Moving forward , the company is planning on holding another focus group soon in the Midwest , which is a hotbed for Class II and HHR markets .
In addition to players , there has also been an effort to facilitate better communication with customers , and in some cases help mend relationships and build more trust that will ultimately lead to more placements . That trust , however , is built primarily on the success of the products .
“ For us to earn back the confidence of our customers , we have to develop games that perform and have sustained performance across all jurisdictions ,” Hunsberger says . “ That ’ s going to take time , and we need to be able to build a pipeline of sustainable , performing games . We ’ re fortunate in that Ainsworth has been around for a while . We ’ re licensed in every market in North America . The distribution channels are open ; a lot of it now is having the product to fill those distribution channels .”
With regard to product emphasis , Hunsberger maintains that it begins and ends with Class III . HHR and digital represent recurring revenue streams and new growth opportunities , respectively , but the company “ looks at Class III as being the primary market where we can develop games that resonate , and then utilize that content ” elsewhere in the business .
For Krucyznski and the development team , the 80-20 rule — or the idea of allocating 80 percent of resources to core offerings and saving 20 percent for “ swings for the fences ,” as he says — reigns supreme . December 4 will be Ainsworth ’ s annual game developer summit , which has spawned a number of the company ’ s best-performing titles in recent years .
“ The ideas that we see in December are going to be the things that we show at G2E in 2026 ,” he predicts .
Onward and Upward
2025 will be another critical step in Ainsworth ’ s journey in reintroducing itself as a powerhouse among suppliers . But aside from the bottom line , each stakeholder has their own wish list of items they ’ d like to see in the course of those efforts .
In Evans ’ mind , next year is another step toward a desire “ to be top five in three years .”
“ The first goal is to re-establish ourselves in multiple areas , so I consider that a tick ,” he says . “ Now for next year , we need to look at increasing our install base in our venues . Then the third year is figuring out what ship share we need to get into the top five . And it ’ s always nice to get some industry recognition along the way . So , if we could pick up a couple more nominations and maybe an award , I ’ d be very , very happy .”
Conversely , maintaining a positive internal culture and camaraderie is key for Krucyznski . He contends that “ without great people , you won ’ t see great products ,” and adds that “ having people here who are happy to be here and have that pride , ultimately that ’ s what it ’ s all about .”
He also naturally hopes for one of the socalled “ 20 percent games ” to take off — the one he highlights for next year is Rocket Frenzy , which debuted at G2E with great feedback . “ I really wouldn ’ t mind making Rocket Frenzy games for the next three years ,” he admits .
Up top , Hunsberger hopes for a combination of both internal and external progress .
“ When we look at milestones , we want to make sure that we ’ re operating efficiently internally to ensure that we can provide the product for our sales team to execute in the field ,” he says .
“ That ’ s the No . 1 thing . Then when we look at external goals as it relates to ship share or sales volume , that ’ s No . 2 . We certainly want to get back to the ship share we enjoyed four or five years ago , and we have the library to do that . I think it ’ s important for the market to give us an opportunity to continue to show the strength of Ainsworth as a place that you can go to win .”
16 Global Gaming Business DECEMBER 2024