Public Gaming Magazine January/February 2016

January/February 2016 // PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL //

How can industry leaders in gaming entertainment create

unique o erings for customers and players in all of these

verticals – slots, draw and instant games?

That’s a pivotal question for Scienti c Games after the

company’s 2013 acquisition of WMS Industries and 2014

acquisition of Bally Technologies. Building on combined

strengths and synergies in 2015, Scienti c Games is now

looking closely at leveraging new capabilities to deepen and

enhance the player’s experience.

“We’ve already gone down the path of evaluating areas

where we can leverage products, technologies and concepts

that were used on the gaming side in lottery and vice versa,”

saidWalt Eisele, Chief Technology O cer, Lottery for Scienti c

Games. Eisele cites bonus

o erings as one example that

allows casinos and other gaming

operators to o er their customers

as “a fun way to give out bonus

points, cash, oor-wide events

and links to social media. Clearly,

we’re the leaders in the lottery

sector in terms of creating and

launching

loyalty

and

second-chance programs for a

number of our customers. So leveraging some of our

bonusing concepts and technology from gaming in our

lottery business is something we are exploring.”

Besides the ability to o er customers more targeted and

creative promotions, Eisele points to the company’s

deepened technical resources—and the seamless merger

behind their resulting capabilities.“Our Bally acquisition came

with a great deal of talent on the systems development side,

and now we are leveraging this for lottery where it makes

sense. Both company cultures are very well aligned.”

On the interactive side, direct engagement with players

o ers new player insights that in turn lead to innovative ways

to deliver great promotional, loyalty and eInstant content.

“For example, we’re not just going to simulate an instant

game on a mobile phone when we deliver an eInstant game,”

said Eisele. “We’re going to make it an interactive play

experience, using some of the technologies and, more

importantly, some of the design capabilities from our gaming

business in order to drive a better interactive content

o ering.”

Scienti c Games’ interactive lottery customers are

leading the way when it comes to using mobile and web in

innovative ways—and a key learning from the social media

world is that winning isn’t just about cash. According to

Michael Lightman, Senior Vice President, Lottery Interactive

Products, for Scienti c Games, it’s more about the

opportunities to win and prizes that have meaning for the

consumer.

“We can make playing lottery games more fun by creating

more chances to win, because value motivates the

consumer beyond cash, toward a more meaningful social

game-winning experience,” he said. “The ability to win

points and purchase exciting products from an online store

expands the value of the game and deepens the player’s

connection to the brand.”

Building on insights along the

consumer’s path to purchase

informs continuous content

improvement and a steady

stream of new products, from

interactive promotions that

include mobile apps and an

array

freemium,

second-chance, FunPlay and

Skill-with-Reveal games to loyalty rewards with points and

purchases, and iLottery products like e-instant games.

Lightman cites

MONOPOLY Jackpot

as the lottery

industry’s rst linked progressive jackpot game, where

players across ve U.S. states use mobile and web

applications to unlock the chance to win more prizes,

including a weekly and monthly progressive jackpot. “This

popular casino concept had never before been used with

lottery instant games,” he said.

He also points to the success of the Pennsylvania Lottery’s

Holiday Cheer,

launched in 2014 as Scienti c Games’ rst

Skill-with-Reveal game. The fast-paced, match-three puzzle

game included power-ups to more quickly increase the

player’s total score; after each game, players could compare

scores with fellow players and friends by viewing a

leaderboard.

The Pennsylvania Lottery had similar success with The

Wizard Of Oz,

an instant game with second-chance and

interactive Skill-with-Reveal options.

“We can make playing lottery games

more fun by creating more chances to

win, because value motivates the

consumer beyond cash and toward a

more meaningful social game-winning

experience.”

—Michael Lightman, Senior Vice President,

Lottery Interactive Products for Scienti c Games