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Developing slots with player safety in mind

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Light & Wonder’s VP Game Development Rob Procter describes how the slot development process is influenced by progress in safer gambling policy and best practice

Keeping players safe is of paramount importance for every stakeholder in the gaming business.

It is a factor that is at the forefront of regulatory and advertising codes in markets around the world, with European  Safer Gambling Week serving to bring the issues at play under an especially sharp focus. At Light & Wonder, it is our firm belief that the creation of safe, sustainable playing environments is a necessity if our industry is to continue to flourish worldwide.

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We see online gaming as a firm part of the overall entertainment ecosystem. Within this environment, players must be made to feel comfortable enough to play responsibly, having enjoyed an experience that they feel has given them value for their money.

Player safety is about far more than simply being compliant and doing the bare minimum to stick to a set of regulations. It is our belief at Light & Wonder that player safety should be hard-wired into our overall entire content strategy. Within our creative teams, we are always cognisant of the new features and mechanics that we are putting into games and the ways in which they will interact with the player to enhance entertainment levels while also keeping them safe from potential harms.

Landscape

In recent years, the landscape has changed markedly in terms of widespread awareness of the need to protect players. If you look at the example of the UK, buying directly into a bonus feature was prohibited by the Gambling Commission of Great Britain a few years ago, which necessitated a change in approach for game suppliers. We have been focusing strongly on providing compelling experiences within slots to all levels of players across all regulated markets, without them having to stake to high levels, or play for longer in order to access certain features. We don’t want players to feel that a certain level of investment in a slot is a necessity and that numerous spins must be undertaken before a certain level of potential is reached within a game. It is about approaching game design with an ethical, fair mindset, and this comes to the fore when deciding on the distribution of RTP and the way a slot’s mechanics interact with the base game.

Our desire is that we provide players at all stake levels with a positive experience and to show that any top-ranking bonus is attainable by any type of player. Attractive features can no longer only be on offer to the player who is prepared to spend more time and money on their stake – on any given game.

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Across all channels

Restrictions in land-based gaming are different in nature compared to the online world, while also varying across different markets. Throughout the process of designing an omni-channel game, we ensure that our content behaves in the same way as our native digital titles with regard to enhancing the game experience, without putting the player in harm’s way.

At Light & Wonder, my colleagues in the land-based creative teams have the same perception of safer gambling as we do in iGaming. We are able to take mutually beneficial learnings as business units, looking at how the land-based teams have incorporated RTP splits and features and mechanics changes, and utilizing those within the online sphere.

Pitfalls

Naturally, operators have a strong imperative to uphold their social responsibility commitments, and to remain as compliant as possible to the regulators. As we see it, though, suppliers certainly have their own part to play in providing operators with content that has player safety already built-in, through entertaining features that can be accessed at all staking levels. Furthermore, we make sure we’re always present in industry working groups, pushing forward the development of best practice in responsible game design – this work is incredibly important to us, and something we’d encourage broader engagement with from others.

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In most mature markets, regulation appears to have one direction of travel, towards greater restrictions. Yet in creating new solutions that can cater for evolving guidelines, there lies an opportunity for clever content creators to produce games with original and compelling math models and mechanics. Players can play safely and be entertained but it is up to all stakeholders in our industry to ensure to play their part to ensure that this is the case.

 

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Blake Sartini

Golden Entertainment Announces Leadership Changes

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Golden Entertainment Inc. announced that effective March 20, 2024, Blake Sartini II, Golden’s Executive Vice President of Operations, became the Company’s Chief Operating Officer.

“Blake has worked in every capacity throughout our organization since he started at Golden almost 17 years ago. His unique knowledge of our Company’s culture, commitment to operational excellence, and strong leadership skills make him the ideal individual to be given responsibility for all our Nevada casino resorts, locals properties, tavern operations and related corporate functions,” Blake Sartini, Chairman and CEO of Golden, said.

Blake Sartini II initially joined Golden in June 2007, working with Golden’s tavern operations and building what is now the largest branded tavern portfolio in Nevada with 69 locations. Currently, as Executive Vice President of Operations, in addition to oversight of Golden’s taverns, he has direct responsibility for the Company’s five local casinos in Las Vegas and Pahrump.

Steve Arcana, Golden’s current Chief Operating Officer, became the Company’s Chief Development Officer also effective March 20, 2024. In this newly created role, Mr. Arcana will be responsible for all new tavern development, finding new third-party food and beverage concepts for the Company’s casino resorts, and exploring opportunities to unlock value in the Company’s excess real estate in Las Vegas, Laughlin and Pahrump. Mr. Arcana initially joined Golden in 2003 and has overseen the Company’s operations as it has grown from a privately held, 900-slot machine route operation to a publicly traded gaming company with casinos in Las Vegas, Laughlin and Pahrump in addition to its significant tavern portfolio.

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“Steve has been with Golden for over 20 years and has been an integral part of growing our business and guiding us through many challenges. Steve has established a strong operating team and has been a consistent leader throughout his decades at Golden. His long history and extensive experience in the industry will continue to benefit the Company in his new role focused on creating value from new tavern development and unused assets in our casino portfolio,” Mr. Sartini said.

“These management changes will allow Golden to focus on maximizing performance in our core operations while exploring opportunities to drive future improvement by bringing potential new concepts to our existing portfolio. I am confident the changes to Blake and Steve’s roles with the Company will position us well to create additional shareholder value,” Mr. Sartini added.

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Barclays Capital Inc

MGM Resorts International Announces Proposed Senior Notes Offering

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MGM Resorts International announced that it proposes to offer $750,000,000 in aggregate principal amount of senior notes due 2032.

The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the offering of the notes to repay existing indebtedness, including its outstanding 6.750% senior notes due 2025. Pending such use, the Company may invest the net proceeds in short-term interest-bearing accounts, securities, or similar investments.

The notes being offered will be general unsecured senior obligations of the Company, guaranteed by substantially all of the Company’s wholly-owned domestic subsidiaries that guarantee the Company’s other senior indebtedness, and equal in right of payment with all existing or future senior unsecured indebtedness of the Company and each guarantor.

Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., BofA Securities, Inc., Barclays Capital Inc., BNP Paribas Securities Corp., Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Citizens JMP Securities, LLC, Fifth Third Securities, Inc., J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Scotia Capital (USA) Inc., SMBC Nikko Securities America, Inc., and Truist Securities, Inc. will act as joint book-running managers and Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, PNC Capital Markets LLC, U.S. Bancorp Investments, Inc., and Wells Fargo Securities, LLC will act as co-managers for the proposed offering.

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The Nomination Committee’s Proposal of Catena Media’s Board of Directors at the Annual General Meeting 2024

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The Nomination Committee of Catena Media proposed re-election of the following members of the Board of Directors:

Øystein Engebretsen

Theodore Bergquist

Adam Krejcik

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Sean Hurley

The Nomination Committee proposed that Erik Flinck and Dan Castillo be elected as new members of the Board of Directors.

Göran Blomberg, Esther Teixeira-Boucher and Austin Malcomb have declined re-election as board members.

The Nomination Committee proposed that there will be six (6) members of the Board of Directors, changed from seven (7).

The Nomination Committee also proposed Erik Flinck to be elected as Chairman of the Board of Directors.

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Erik Flinck, born in 1980, currently provides high end business consulting combined with serving as Chairman for the digital health startup, dr HUD. Mr Flinck previously served as Head of BCG Sweden and has extensive experience from corporate management, growth and turnarounds from nearly 20 years of Management Consulting and serving as Head of Group Strategy and M&A at Sandvik AB. He has a Masters Degree in Engineering (Software development and Financial Mathematics) from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm and a Masters Degree in Business and Administration from Stockholm University and Stockholm School of Business.

Born in 1980, Dan Castillo has accumulated over 20 years of experience across startups, growth companies and turnarounds. Since 2015, Castillo has invested in Catena Media, maintaining a close watch on its progression, especially after its IPO in 2016. He has previous experience of listed board work in Kotipizza which Orkla acquired in 2018. He currently serves on the boards of five companies in different sectors, including Quartr.com in Fintech and Hope Studios in movie production. His academic background includes studies in Finance and Economics at Linköping University.

The Nomination Committee of Catena Media consists of:

Nicklas Paulson, representing Investment AB Öresund (chair of the nomination committee)

Marianne Stenberg, representing Second Swedish National Pension Fund

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Martin Zetterlund, representing Niklas Karlsson

Göran Blomberg, chairman of the board of Catena Media.

The post The Nomination Committee’s Proposal of Catena Media’s Board of Directors at the Annual General Meeting 2024 appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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