WAUKEGAN, Ill. & LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Leveraging proven industry insights that inspire high-performing products, WMS Gaming Inc., a subsidiary of WMS Industries Inc. (NYSE:WMS), will debut its strongest ever portfolio of new products and innovations for international markets at the ICE Totally Gaming 2012 (“ICE 2012”) exhibition (Earls Court Exhibition Center: booth #3400), London, January 24-26. The WMS commitment to Engaging Players. Delivering Results.™ will be clearly evident with more than 80 new gaming machines featuring a broad array of unique and dynamic entertainment experiences designed to engage current players and attract new ones, while enhancing loyalty and driving performance for casino operators.
Brian R. Gamache, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of WMS, said, “Casino operators in international markets must address market-specific player preferences when determining which slot games to offer customers. This year, our product-line up reflects a stronger focus to address local-market preferences throughout our game development and commercialization processes. ICE 2012 provides the perfect forum for WMS to launch its most diverse-ever range of new international gaming entertainment experiences designed to engage existing slot players and attract new players to our customers’ facilities. We are confident that our 2012 product line-up will extend our record of delivering great new games that help drive player loyalty and revenue performance for our customers.”
WMS products on display at ICE 2012 will include new, differentiated game play mechanics, more diverse math models, innovative reel arrays that offer players novel ways to win, and Player’s Life™ Web Services, WMS’ award-winning cloud-based application. In addition, new Portal themes, unique value-added, secondary integrated bonus applications that utilize visual and audio enhancements to bring new excitement to base game themes, will be on display. WMS will also introduce new participation and premium games, including innovative updates to performance-proven series and introductions of new games for iconic brands such as THE WIZARD OF OZ Journey to Oz, MONOPOLY Party Train, and BATTLESHIP.
In addition, WMS will debut the first participation games – the Super Team™ and Aladdin & The Magic Quest themes – that leverage the capabilities and functionality made possible by the Company’s proprietary, next-generation CPU-NXT™3 platform. WMS will also demonstrate the business-to-business capabilities of its online casino platform, JackpotParty.com.
ICE 2012 Product Highlights
The product line-up at ICE 2012 begins with innovations and exciting game play mechanics, coupled with industry-favorite game features. WMS will showcase 80 gaming machines for international markets with differentiated slot entertainment experiences, including:
- THE WIZARD OF OZ: The new THE WIZARD OF OZ Journey to Oz: The largest adventure yet for THE WIZARD OF OZ brand, offering for the first time for THE WIZARD OF OZ brand, a spinning wheel -- one of the most player-popular game mechanics in the industry. This exciting game is packed with exciting technologies, including Collaborative Gaming™ technology, surround sound gaming chairs, a wide-area progressive, a base game mini-wheel and a large community video spinning wheel on dual 52” overhead screens for unique Bigger Event™ bonus round action.
- BATTLESHIP: Jumping straight from the classic board game to the slot floor are BATTLESHIP slots. These entertaining 5-Reel Video executions of the iconic brand are available in 20-, 30- and 40-Line configurations, launching with two base themes. WMS has amped up the series with bonus rounds unique to each base theme, awarding free spins or credits and multipliers. Games featuring Transmissive Reels™ technology for this series will also be on display.
- LIFE OF LUXURY™ DELUXE: The new Life of Luxury Deluxe theme is the follow-up to the successful Life of Luxury Progressive series. The game features a Local Area Progressive free spin bonus randomly triggered during standard G+™ Deluxe and G+ Deluxe 5x4 base gameplay. In the progressive, free spin bonus round, a max wager spin guarantees a progressive award when the picking bonus is triggered.
- CPU-NXT3 Games: The first CPU-NXT3 platform games for international markets are the Super Team theme, a Player’s Life Web Services-enabled game with 15 heroes that travel through three different bonus features to unlock additional bonuses and hero customization opportunities; and the Aladdin & The Magic Quest theme, which also marks the launch of the Company’s Sensory Immersion 2.0 technology platform.
- MONOPOLY PARTY TRAIN: The MONOPOLY Party Train theme takes player-popular mechanics from previous MONOPOLY slots and enhances them with additional features including a new dual machine marquee for heightened floor merchandising. Available in mechanical and video reel base game versions, the MONOPOLY Party Train theme introduces the random Move Feature that randomly takes players around the MONOPOLY board for mini-bonuses, free spin enhancements, bonus triggers and more.
- G+ DELUXE: A proven performer on the slot floor, the new G+ Deluxe themes feature dual-level level standalone progressives where at the end of any winning base game spin (except progressive wins), the increment increases, and a progressive may award randomly. G+ Deluxe themes also include a Free Spin Bonus where players can receive free spins at the end of the bonus spin, as well as other enhancements. WMS expects to introduce up to 15 new themes for the global market for the G+ Deluxe series in fiscal 2012.
- POWER SPINS™: A new family for the video Bonus Bank player featuring a base game with the look and feel of the popular G+ Deluxe series. Launching with four themes, each game enables players to activate an acquired POWER SPIN event at any time to increase the chance of winning. Players can accumulate POWER SPIN events higher than the maximum bet, which allows for a significantly more volatile experience.
- COLOSSAL REELS™: New to the WMS Innovation Series™ category, the Colossal Reels series utilizes the full widescreen power of the Bluebird™2 and Bluebird xD™ cabinets to feature two sets of reels – traditional and oversized – that transfer wild symbols between reels. The Colossal Reels series will launch with four themes.
In addition, WMS will showcase two participation games – the Pirate Battle™ and Castle King™ themes – featuring the award-winning Metascreen™ technology. Both themes are available on four side-by-side Bluebird xD cabinets with special 32-inch overhead monitors. These monitors form a massive, singular screen where bank-wide bonus rounds play out with assistance complemented by emotive lighting and Experience Design technologies.
Networked Gaming Functionality Offers New Gaming Experiences for Installed Base Games
WMS has game installations in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America that are realizing the benefits of Networking Gaming and Remote Configuration Download operational efficiencies and the seamless delivery of fresh, engaging content on demand. The WMS booth #3400 will also feature the Company’s Networked Gaming Portal functionality with a special “Power of Portal” section highlighting WMS Portal products in a circular bank of Bluebird xD units with overhead LCD units illustrating the flexibility of this product. The featured Portal themes include the Ultra Hit Progressive™ (UHP) series, with the Jackpot Explosion™ and Piggy Bankin™ themes; the Mega Multiplier™ series with the Super Shot™ theme, with bonus action powered by a real-time physics engine; and the Winner’s Share™ series, which enables players to collect credit awards ranging from 1 to 200 percent of the progressive jackpot with the Peng-Wins™ theme.
The commercial version of the WAGE-NET™ networked gaming system featuring the Player’s Life Web Services and Remote Configuration and Download (“RCD”) functionality will also be on display at ICE 2012. WMS WAGE‐NET solutions enabled by a networked slot floor are designed from the ground-up leveraging computer industry and GSA standards‐based architecture to enable cross‐vendor interoperability. These solutions provide customers with the freedom of choice and flexibility to utilize systems and applications best suited to their own needs.
Brian Gamache said, “Many of our international customers are embracing the power of our WAGE‐NET and award-winning solutions, which have the added benefit of significant operational efficiencies gained with the WMS Remote Configuration and Download solution. Recent and planned launches in international and domestic markets are evidence that a WMS networked slot floor can help operators realize a significant return on investment while delivering an unmatched gaming experience for the casino guest.”
Jackpot Party™ Online Casino Demonstrations at ICE 2012
At ICE 2012, WMS will present to casino and lottery operators in regulated gaming markets the Company’s Jackpot Party online casino Business-to-Business capabilities, which include managed services and game server integration solutions. As part of WMS’ end-to-end online gaming solutions, the Jackpot Party platform features a fully interactive online casino that provides players with exclusive access to a diverse array of WMS premium licensed and proprietary slot games, as well as a number of player-favorite card and table games. In addition to its community-building and social features, WMS’ online gaming platform enables players to enter the Jackpot Party Progressive™ – the first accumulating online jackpot in the world that can be hit on any game, with any stake, at any time – completely at random. WMS’ UK-based JackpotParty.com has had a successful first year of operations and was recently designated as being Highly Commended in the “Slots Operator of the Year” category at the eGaming Review Awards.
Brian Gamache concluded, “Our talented game designers and engineers bring in-depth industry insights and an unparalleled focus on the player experience to consistently re-define and enhance gaming excitement on the casino floor. With several industry-unique game play mechanics and products including our Networked Gaming Portal capabilities and the first games for our newest operating system, WMS continues to introduce products that address the specific, near-term needs of international customers, while ushering in new paradigms of gaming entertainment to support their future gaming floor plans and WMS’ long-term growth.”
About WMS
WMS is engaged in serving the gaming industry worldwide by designing, manufacturing, and marketing games, video and mechanical reel-spinning gaming machines, video lottery terminals and in gaming operations, which consists of the placement of leased participation gaming machines in legal gaming venues. WMS is proactively addressing the next stage of casino gaming floor evolution with its WAGE-NET networked gaming solution, a suite of systems technologies and applications designed to increase customers’ revenue generating capabilities and operational efficiency. More information on WMS can be found at www.wms.com or visit the Company on Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube.
Product names mentioned in this release are trademarks of WMS Gaming Inc., except for the following:
BATTLESHIP is a trademark of Hasbro. Used with permission. ©2012 Hasbro. All rights reserved.
MONOPOLY is a trademark of Hasbro. Used with permission. ©2012 Hasbro. All rights reserved.
POWER SPIN and POWER SPINS are trademarks used under license from their owner, Multi-State Lottery Association.
THE WIZARD OF OZ and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and © Turner Entertainment Co. (s12) Judy Garland as Dorothy from THE WIZARD OF OZ. (s12)
©2012 WMS Gaming Inc. All rights reserved.
This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning our future business performance, strategy, outlook, plans, products and liquidity. Forward-looking statements may be typically identified by such words as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “likely,” “believe,” “estimate,” “project,” and “intend,” among others. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from the expectations expressed in the forward-looking statements. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in our forward-looking statements are reasonable, any or all of our forward-looking statements may prove to be incorrect. Consequently, no forward-looking statements may be guaranteed.
Factors which could cause our actual results to differ from expectations include (1) delay or refusal by regulators to approve our new gaming platforms, cabinet designs, game themes and related hardware and software; (2) an inability to introduce in a timely manner new games and gaming machines that achieve and maintain market acceptance; (3) a decrease in the desire of casino customers to upgrade gaming machines or allot floor space to leased or participation games, resulting in reduced demand for our products; (4) a reduction in capital spending or interruption in payments by casino customers associated with business weakness or economic uncertainty that adversely affects our customers' ability to make purchases or pay; (5) a greater–than-expected demand for operating leases by customers over outright product sales or sales financing leases that shift revenue recognition from a single period to the term of such operating leases; (6) future costs relating to our planned restructuring and other charges that may be higher than currently estimated; 7) a reduction in play levels of our participation games by casino patrons, whether due to economic conditions or increased placements of competitive product; (8) inability of suppliers of key components to timely meet our requirements to fulfill customer orders; (9) a failure to obtain and maintain our gaming licenses and regulatory approvals; (10) failure of customers or players to adapt to the new technologies that we introduce in new product concepts; (11) a software anomaly or fraudulent manipulation of our gaming machines and software; (12) a failure to obtain the right to use or an inability to adapt to rapid development of new technologies; (13) an infringement claim seeking to restrict our use of material technologies; and (14) the unfavorable outcome of any legal proceedings in which we may be involved from time to time. These factors and other factors that could cause actual results to differ from expectations are more fully described under “Item 1. Business-Risk Factors” and “Legal Proceedings” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 2011 and our more recent reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.