Aristocrat Managing Director, Asia-Pacific, Chris Rowe, says the company has little interest in the concept of millennials with the design of its slot machines based on specific player segments rather than generations.
Rowe was speaking during a panel at MGS Summit on Thursday discussing game development in Asia. Also on the panel were Chairman of Macau Gaming Equipment Manufacturers Association Jay Chun, IGT International CEO Walter Bugno, Aruze Gaming Group CEO Takahiro Usui, Asia Pioneer Entertainment CEO Herman Ng and Head of Strategic Marketing of Interblock, Aljosa Krupenko.
“We don’t design games for generations, we design for preferences,” said Rowe, adding that the concept of millennials “was a buzzword for a while” but that the diversity of the customer base does not allow those born after 2000 to be looked at as a homogenous group.
Instead, Rowe said Aristocrat has chosen an approach to the design of products based on preference segmentation.
“There are very distinct differences between different Asian jurisdictions,” he said, but “what is universal is that player segments transcend [these borders].”
Rowe said that localizing games was also an effective method of differentiation but that products localized for Macau could become a global success. As Chinese gamblers comprise a large percentage of casino players all over the world, achieving success in Macau implies similar success globally, he explained.
