25 PEOPLE TO WATCH 2024
Aruze Reborn
Kelcey Allison , Global Chief Operating Officer , Aruze Gaming Global
Kelcey Allison has been here before .
Maybe not in the physical office that is the headquarters of the company now known as Aruze Gaming Global , but at the head of the Aruze slot brand that originated in Japan and distinguished itself in the U . S . as Aruze Gaming America .
Allison was formerly with Aruze Gaming America for seven years , ultimately as its chief executive officer , during a period of great innovation for Aruze . Aruze enjoyed successes ranging from the communitystyle Paradise Fishing and its successors to the Muso cabinet series , to Shoot to Win Craps , one of the most successful electronic table games on the market .
Allison left Aruze in 2016 and founded the consultancy firm GSL Gaming Group . It was at GSL that Allison first met Frank Feng , the owner and president of Empire Technological Group . In 2021 , Empire acquired Synergy Blue , which specialized in skill-based casino games such as a virtual auto race and arcade-style shooter games . Empire rebranded as Play Synergy . The following year , Allison joined Play Synergy as senior vice president of sales and marketing .
In early 2023 , it was announced that Aruze Gaming America was closing . Aruze ’ s assets were sold at a bankruptcy auction . Interblock bought the company ’ s ETG business , and the slot business was bought by Empire / Play Synergy .
The reborn supplier was rebranded as Aruze Gaming Global , and Allison was named global COO .
Allison marvels how circumstances led him back to the company he previously led . “ I cannot think of another unique situation like this in gaming — ever . I almost feel like Steve Jobs , because he left Apple and came back as the CEO and revolutionized the world . Hopefully , we do the same in the gaming industry . That ’ s of our mantra — we want to be different .”
The company ’ s rebirth as Aruze Gaming Global — complete with a new and appropriate acronym , AG2 — is well under way , as Allison has seen some familiar faces among his new colleagues . When Play Synergy bought Aruze ’ s assets , it hired the majority of the talent from Aruze Gaming America ’ s slot division .
That includes R & D centers in the Philippines , with 190 employees across two facilities , as well as a new facility in Tokyo , including around 40 former Aruze Gaming America staff , plus studios in Reno , Las Vegas and Sydney , Australia .
At the Global Gaming Expo in October , Aruze displayed the first products of the newly combined R & D staff . Top products include the Firestorm game series , the unique Monster series , and two new cabinets , the triple-27 Speed and the 43-inch portrait Hyperspeed . “ Our strategy at Empire was to have a value-added cabinet , which nobody ’ s ever really done in the Class III environment ,” says Allison . “ People are selling boxes for $ 35,000 — it ’ s gone haywire . So we decided to value-engineer two boxes and do what we call a true partnership with our operators .”
“ Our strategy at Empire was to have a value-added cabinet , which nobody ’ s ever really done in the Class III environment . People are selling boxes for $ 35,000 — it ’ s gone haywire . So we decided to valueengineer two boxes and do what we call a true partnership with our operators .”
In the coming year , Aruze will offer more products from the combined team , as well as further developments on the legacy Muso series and choice IP from the legacy Synergy Blue skill games . Allison says Aruze will build upon concepts like the virtual car race and first-person shooter games .
Synergy Blue also had a Class II platform Aruze will now develop , says Allison . The platform will be combined with Aruze hardware and content , and offered in Class II markets where Aruze is licensed but Synergy Blue was not .
Meanwhile , the company will continue to service legacy Aruze products , and Allison will continue to build the culture of AG2 , which includes not only the U . S . slot division , but operating entities in South Africa , Australia , and the Asia Pacific region , which includes the Philippines and Macau .
Further out , Allison says in five years , he hopes to build Aruze into the highest tiers of the slot supply sector .
“ We are in what we call the tier-two market , and our product outperforms almost all of the competitors in that market ,” Allison says . “ We ’ re going to continue to strengthen that , and our goal is to eventually be in the tier-one market . It ’ s a long way away , but that ’ s our ultimate goal .” — Frank Legato
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Global Gaming Business JANUARY 2024