PRODUCT TEST DRIVE: IGT “MULTISTAR ALL STARS”

With the focus on multi-denomination games across the market, many clubs have neglected, and reduced significantly, the size of the high denom area on the gaming floor. The manufacturers have limited their game development in this area as a result of the evolving market. When a strongly performing new mid and high denomination game does get released it is a good opportunity to update and freshen up this important part of the floor.

IGTs Multistar-All Stars ticks the boxes of meeting the expectation of the high and mid denomination players, with extra denomination options available for many of the favourite games. It provides a fantastic way to replace the tired old machines with dated game graphics and clunky buttons, with an up-to-date machine, without losing the strong games these very superstitious players enjoy.

IGT: “MS All Stars”

Product line: Crystal Dual-i

Denomination: A multidenom, multigame pack including strong performing old favourites with extended denomination options: Oriental Treasures (10c, 20c $1), Clovers and Gold (5c, 10c), Pot of Gold (5c, 10c), and Shogun Returns (20c, 50c, $1).  An additional benefit for these higher betting players is the mix of games offering either multiwin symbol win or line win options.

Game Features: As a multigame pack the features vary according to the game. The most popular game in the pack, Oriental Treasures has a simple 3, 4 or 5 scatter trigger that awards 10, 15 or 20 free games but with double pays in the feature, and most of these players betting up, their opportunity to get a solid win adds interest for them. The extension to include a $1 version of Oriental Treasures in this game pack may interest a slightly different player profile.  Pot of Gold is similar except wins are improved with triple pays in the feature and lots and lots of retriggers. For regular Shogun Returns players, the 3 scatter trigger for a 25 free game feature is the drawcard as this is a high number of free games for a $1 game.

SAP Profile: The grad jackpot has a $5000 startup, but the important jackpots for the bigger players to chase will be the $1500 Maxi, and $400 Mini as they are seen as more achievable in a single play session. If the club is big enough, banking 2-3 of this game up will give the players an opportunity to play the one with the highest Maxi jackpot and let them move around when they win.

Volatility:  This game is for the bigger players and the game volatility structure is appropriate for these higher betting gamers. All these games have strong mid-range pays and much of the game percentage is still in the base game and feature play.  The regular players know when they get into the feature, and when they are willing to bet up, a solid win will allow them extra time to chase the jackpots.

Floor Position:  This game is a specific mid and high denomination mix of games and will be most appropriately positioned in the high denom area. It will appeal to the female 50+ players who traditionally like the IGT 10 cent games: Pot of Gold, Clovers and Gold, and their favourite “cat game “, Oriental Treasures. With longer play periods and high betting players, attaching this game to the in-house $1 link will allow them to play for longer and reinvest their winnings.

Performance: There are two streams of performance indicators that can be used for Multistar All Stars: the new game itself, and the performance of the original old games that make up this pack.  MS All Stars was just released during May.  The machines are in 11 clubs so far and operating at 1.13 above the site average (Maxdata May 18) which is a strong start for mid/high denomination games. These players tend to be the most superstitious and will not move from their favourite machines quickly.

Despite their age in the market, and the very old machines they are housed in, the games included in MS All Stars are still achieving very strong turnover and net performance results. They are in good numbers in the market, and are generally still above the floor average, even though the graphics and game play looks old compared to the newer games they compete against. Oriental Treasures is the most recognizable and popular game in the pack but the favourite 20c and 10c denominations have now been extended to a $1 option.

The chart shows the current (May 2018) performance comparison of the original Bluechip and Neon games included in the new Multistar – All Stars game pack. These strong performances are still achieved by games that have been in clubs in significant numbers for 9 years or more, and the new MS All Stars provides a machine upgrade path.