Konami is ready to make its move across Asia in 2024 with an exciting new range of cabinets and game themes in store.
Japanese gaming conglomerate Konami says it has built up an arsenal of products it believes can help it start gaining market share across key Asian markets, specifically Macau.
While the company’s presence across Asia has traditionally been somewhat subdued, recent progress in Australia thanks to its popular slot machine title “All Aboard” – combined with the approval of new products by Macau’s GICJ – has given Konami confidence that it now has the weapons to challenge the big guns.
“The operators we’ve spoken to are enthused that there’s a different offering in the market,” explains David Punter, Konami Australia’s Operations Manager Sales, Marketing and Service – ANZ and APAC. “Konami has been quite small in the marketplace, but now I think, with the technology, a cabinet that is state of the art and having games, jackpots and maths that resonate with the players – it’s been really positive for us.
“We’ve had a lot of product approved through that COVID period, so to come to Asia with product approved ready to sell post-COVID, and with what’s happening in Macau – I think the timing’s perfect for us at the moment.”
With an aggressive mindset heading into 2024, Konami’s emerging product range is extensive. On the cabinet side of the equation, the company is pushing its new Dimension 49 – boasting a 4K Ultra High-Definition 49-inch display – and its Dimension 27 cabinets. In the games space, Punter says the company has six games under the [All Aboard] series approved in Macau, plus two games under “Bull Blitz” – described as similar to [All Aboard] but with enhanced features and graphics – and another new title called “Fortune Mint”.
“So that’s three major themes we’ve got approved with other themes coming behind it,” Punter says.
“With the expansion of other regions across Asia, it really gives us that opportunity to place product in there. Once that product works and people see that they’ve got product from other manufacturers working, specifically Konami, there’s a confidence that they can rely on us to support them and vice versa.”
While Macau will be a major focus in 2024, Punter believes Konami has the right formula to achieve positive results across much of Asia.
“I think you’ve got to fine tune your products a little bit for each of the regions, but if the core maths, the core artwork, your core jackpots and bet structures are fine, then that allows you to take that product into a lot wider space,” he offers. “And players do travel, they’re not always specific to one region, plus we’ve got operators that operate in multiple jurisdictions. If they know it’s working in Malaysia or in Singapore it might also be good in the Philippines, and it might be good in Macau.”
In the meantime, key to Konami’s success will be ensuring it becomes more visible to the market, meaning “more flying up [to Asia from Australia] and back,” according to Punter.
“We’ve got to spend a bit more time in the market,” he says. “We’ve got our distributors in Macau with APE (Asia Pioneer Entertainment), and we’re going to work closely with them and help them with our product roadmap.
“We’ve got a pretty robust product roadmap for 2024 and 2025, starting in our financial year in April, where we can get some runs on the board and hopefully then deliver some great product for the next 12 months as well.”
