Improving Performance
Built for the Future
Chief Financial Officer Louise Ward has more than 20 years ’ experience in accounting and financial operations and building best-in-class financial and operations teams
tribal Class III , and then commercial Class III for some of the Class II providers . Then the other offshoots that are coming out — HHR , iGaming , social gaming — all that ’ s in the path of Eclipse .
“ The question is , what do you need to do as an organization to get to the next level ?”
Part of getting to the next level is building an organization that will grow significantly in the Class II market , where Eclipse is poised to enter new jurisdictions . “ There ’ s still so much growth ahead in Class II ,” Minard says . “ What we love about Class II is there are a lot of recurring revenue partnerships with the tribes — deep relationships , sustainable for a long period of time . And then , as we continually grow that area , with approximately 120 tribal Class II casinos in America , you ’ ve got tribal Class III , which is another approximately 280 on top of that . So , there ’ s so much growth potential .”
Improving Performance
That process will be moved along by the company ’ s technology , which vastly improved when Slotwinski refocused the game development process for current and future objectives .
“ We did a great job redesigning the functionality of our platform ,” says Slotwinski . “ We have re-architected our proprietary platform to give Eclipse the ability to create content much more efficiently than we have in the past . Additionally , we have added the ability to easily enter other product lines like Class III , iGaming and HHR with little rework . These are just a few examples of what we have been able to accomplish in a short period of time .”
“ The platform redesign has positioned us well to enter the Class III market ,” says Minard . “ We built it from scratch , and we ’ re ready to hit the gas ; we are ready for that push when the time is right .”
Minard adds that the company ’ s location in Metro Atlanta is a big advantage , providing a wealth of engineering talent to augment the company ’ s veteran developers . “ We are bringing in industry veterans , and we have a rich market here ,” he says . “ There are many slot manufacturers represented here , and I know other manufacturers that are looking to come into Georgia . It is a very populous marketplace with great engineers , great media , entertainment talent , and awesome art talent . It ’ s a good spot to be in .”
That doesn ’ t mean Atlanta will be the only engineering hub . Minard sees a future in which the company will have design studios in several locations . “ We understand other markets also have great talent , and I think you ’ ll see us move into other markets as well .”
While Class III may be in the future for Eclipse , the company has used its technology to develop some of the top games to be found in the Class II space .
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We have re-architected our proprietary platform to give Eclipse the ability to create content much more efficiently than we have in the past . Additionally , we have added the ability to easily enter other product lines like Class III , iGaming and HHR with little rework .
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— Steven Slotwinski , Chief Technology Officer , Eclipse Gaming Systems
“ Many of the top-performing titles in the Class II space are Class III games that have been converted to Class II ,” Slotwinski comments . “ Our focus has been to make unique Class II games with the polish of a Class III game . It ’ s this type of effort that has allowed us to be competitive in the Class II industry .”
Several new product launches this year will focus on use of the company ’ s new hardware in the IMPACT series .
“ We began by creating our IMPACT 27 , a dual 27-inch cabinet , then proceeded to build our IMPACT 43 , our first portrait cabinet ,” says Slotwinski . “ This year we decided to go bigger by adding the IMPACT 49 to our product line . We have elevated that cabinet in multiple pod formations that include wedge artwork and a 360-degree LED sign package that will light up any casino floor .”
Evans adds that the Eclipse product on slot floors is carving its own niche as distinctive and unique . “ Our product is seen by players as a different product ,” he says . “ It ’ s exciting to see the transformation of our products that have been on casino floors for decades to the newest products we are launching today .
“ But more importantly , we ’ re expanding in properties . We have a pretty audacious goal to add about 15 properties this year , and we ’ re more than two thirds of the way there . And for us , that ’ s important to do in our existing markets , like Washington , where , by early next year , we ’ ll be in almost in every property in the state , which is more than double our penetration a year ago .”
Built for the Future
The expansion at Eclipse is bound to continue with the company being set up for success due to strategic moves over the past two years , including consolidating its operations into the new 40,000-square-foot facility in Duluth . This allowed Eclipse to increase its production capacity seven-fold .
Since 2020 , the company has expanded its workforce by 35 percent , has steadily increased its licensed jurisdiction count , and continues to build on a footprint that began in 2020 with 40 tribes in 10 tribal gaming jurisdictions .
According to Visintainer , the company has remained active in its expansion and development efforts despite a global pandemic that shut the industry down for months and is still wreaking havoc on supply chains affecting countless businesses .
“ During the pandemic we doubled down on our investment in technology ,” Visintainer says . “ We invested in our proprietary platform and re-architected it to scale for our upcoming business objectives . We also migrated our front end to Unity just prior to the pandemic . These initiatives enabled us to come out with dozens of different features we can now incorporate into games seamlessly .”
“ The revisions to our platform also allow us to produce games with a heav-
42 Global Gaming Business SEPTEMBER 2022