“ Veteran talent is critical . We have a great diversity of people from all different backgrounds and vendors , but also different geographies — in Quebec , Reno , Las Vegas and Austin . That diversity of thought is super powerful .”
SMALL AND
STRONG
How the smaller slot suppliers are competing with the big boys to crack the top of the slot market
BY FRANK LEGATO
The history of the slot sector is one of expansion , followed by contraction , and expansion again . When slots first took over table games as the highest-earning casino offering in the 1980s , one could count the number of slot suppliers on one hand .
Since then , many companies have come and gone , but a few have survived to lead the industry . Aristocrat , originally founded in the 1950s , entered the U . S . market in the 1990s and survives today at the top of the market as Aristocrat Gaming . Legacy companies Bally and WMS are today ’ s Light & Wonder , and IGT has survived through many iterations to remain a force in the industry .
Those three companies occupy what many call the “ podium ,” a reference to the top three Olympic medals , translated into the three market leaders in slots . Large companies like Konami , Ainsworth and Everi have targeted the top of the market for years , but if there is one development that characterizes today ’ s slot market , it is the emergence of a segment of small companies vying for a share of the market .
Many of these companies have generated significant ripples in the slot sea , scoring hits that have risen to the top of industry surveys such as the Eilers-Fantini Slot Performance Report . All have achieved market share that has put them on the industry radar , and all are facing the same challenge — how to move toward that podium range in terms of revenue and market share .
When it comes to small , upstart companies competing against entrenched industry leaders , there are many common elements that surface among the more successful of the small suppliers . Among the top factors is a focus on creating winners — to use a baseball analogy , scoring hits while minimizing strikeouts .
“ We have fewer resources , so we have to be more efficient ,” comments Mike Brennan , chief product officer for Bluberi , a company that only recently entered the U . S . market but already has scored big hits , most prominent among them the award-winning Devil ’ s Lock . “ We don ’ t have as much bandwidth ( as the large suppliers ), so we have to be more thoughtful , and take our time with what we ’ re doing — we can ’ t afford as many mulligans as the big guys .”
Slots like Devil ’ s Lock , which scored Bluberi ’ s first Eilers-Fantini award , demonstrate another of Brennan ’ s favorite analogies . “ The Big Three have big advantages , but we liken the process to a restaurant ,” he says . “ We ’ re not going to have the highest revenue-earning restaurant , but if we focus on a dish , we can have the best .”
Creating those hit “ dishes ” means keeping a close eye on player preferences , says Dan Whelan , vice president of gaming product development for Incredible Technologies ( IT ), another smaller company with rapidly growing share in the slot market .
“ The most important thing is to provide what the players want ,” Whelan says . “ Not only does the design team consist of developers , but we are also slot players . We look through the lens of players when we develop our games .
“ Veteran talent is critical . We have a great diversity of people from all different backgrounds and vendors , but also different geographies — in Quebec , Reno , Las Vegas and Austin . That diversity of thought is super powerful .”
— Mike Brennan , Chief Product Officer , Bluberi
14 Global Gaming Business FEBRUARY 2025