Bluberi – Growing Strong

Bluberi Gaming has shifted gears.

The Las Vegas-based supplier, which started out as a Class II supplier in Drummondville, Quebec, Canada, has spent the past five years establishing itself in the U.S. slot market, and winning its first industry awards in the process. Andrew Burke, who became CEO of Bluberi in 2020, has continuously drawn in talent, much of it from the Class III world, and Bluberi has consequently built itself into a company that can compete with the industry’s top suppliers.

Last year, Bluberi completed an R&D expansion that added three new game design studios, bringing the total to five, plus a third-party studio creating games exclusively for Bluberi.

“The company is maturing in a good way,” says Burke. “The last three years saw a lot of change and a lot of growth-oriented developments. We’re doing a lot of things for the first time as a company, and this year is more about that operating process—getting the business really into a rhythm where things happen a little bit more predictably, a little bit less chaotically.

“One of the most exciting things this year comes out of Mike’s group.” That would be Mike Brennan, the slot industry veteran who became Bluberi’s chief product officer in 2021.

“These studios we’ve been investing in for the last three years are really starting to hit their stride and bring up content,” Burke says. “We’ve got some new folks on the team, like Mike McKiski coming in to run sales. Everywhere you look around the business, we’ve added talent and process, which for a company our size is really a good thing.”

McKiski, who became senior vice president of sales for Bluberi in May, had been senior vice president of table games at Light & Wonder, and held top positions at AGS, Interblock and Scientific Games.

Building Talent

“Time makes us stronger every year,” says Brennan. “Our teams that are relatively new are getting more experience. For a company that has almost tripled in size since Andrew’s been here, time is our friend. We now have a more robust hardware portfolio, and the longer we’re around, based on our talent and our collaboration and process, we’re just going to get better.”

The new hardware lineup will be one of the stars of Bluberi’s Global Gaming Expo show. First up is the Beacon Jumbo, featuring an imposing 75-inch high-resolution C-curve monitor and LED button panel complete with dual bash buttons. This new banking solution is designed to seamlessly integrate with existing Beacon+ placements. Bluberi also is showcasing two new configurations of its Beacon+ Lighthouse hardware. These innovative banking configurations expand on the recently released Beacon+ Lighthouse pod, bringing an immersive light and sound experience to players.

“When we talk hardware, we’re trying not to talk single units; we’re talking banks,” says Brennan. “Lighthouse puts our Beacon+ cabinet in a four-pod configuration, and there is this void in that configuration where we created a cool lighthouse effect that just uses light and sound.”

At G2E, Bluberi will show two of its hit game brands with the Lighthouse presentation, in a series begun earlier this year called “Slice ’N Dice,” launching the new games Devil’s Lock Slice ’N Dice and Shark’s Lock Slice ’N Dice.

Shark’s Lock Slice ’N Dice creates an immersive undersea pirate adventure packed with bonus features. The iconic Shark character is back, alongside his Angler Fish companions. The game features cash-on-reels prizes, free games, a jackpot wheel, and a unique hold-and-spin mechanic.

The base game builds on fan-favorite mechanics with the introduction of a new Waterline Reel. Cash prizes and jackpots are activated when the Shark lands on the center reel, while free games lock the Shark in place for the duration of the feature. The Angler Fish plays a key role in unlocking the Slice ’N Dice bonus: the Blue Angler Fish activates prizes above their reels, while the Red Angler Fish activates all prizes at once.

At the heart of the experience is the Slice ’N Dice Hold & Spin bonus—activated by the Angler and Shark transforming credit prizes or jackpots into a unique grid-based feature. The action begins on a two-by-two grid and can expand up to a five-by-five grid with each blackout.

Achieving a full blackout on the final grid unlocks the Wheel Bonus, which can award jackpots or trigger free games and grant additional free games if already in the bonus. “This layered progression system offers fresh excitement with every trigger, ensuring that no two bonus rounds feel the same,” Brennan says.

Devil’s Lock Slice ’N Dice applies the same bonus features as its sister game, this time with what has been Bluberi’s biggest hit as the base game.

Brennan says the new versions of these popular games were designed to shine on the new Beacon+ Lighthouse, and both retain the basics of the popular games while adding new elements.

“We’re trying to have one or two twists to the games,” he says. “We’re good at doing the work, understanding what’s in the market, and then trying to come out with something that isn’t revolutionary, but is evolutionary with some unique twists.”

Jumbo Display

One of the games Bluberi designed with the new jumbo cabinet in mind is Timber Jack Jumbo, reprising the popular lumberjack character in another sequel to follow last year’s Timber Jack Going Wilder.

This new theme maintains the core DNA of the original—players loved Timber Jack Going Wilder—and introduces new-to-market features that integrate with the Beacon Jumbo hardware.

New to Timber Jack Jumbo is the Jumbo Hold & Spin bonus triggered by one of two pots filled independently by either of the two bash buttons. Once triggered, players will enter a unique hold-and-spin bonus, chasing extra spins, credit prizes and five-diamonds to win the Jumbo Jackpot.

The new jumbo-style games will share the G2E stage with new games presented on the Beacon Elite cabinet, launched last year. One of the standouts is Shoot for the Loot, released in September.

The game comes in two versions, Sheriff and Bandit. The main hold-and-spin bonus is triggered by six cash-on-reels symbols. If the player lands five symbols, the character from the other base game—the sheriff or the bandit—can randomly appear to shoot a bullet at the screen to award the sixth cash symbol and trigger the feature.

The hold-and-spin feature is different. The initial screen displays three rows of symbols and five locked rows above. A special symbol—“Hands Up” on the Sheriff version; “Hold Up” on the Bandit version—resets the spin counter and accumulates toward unlocking the upper rows. The symbols also add bullets to a counter for a special added bonus at the end of the feature.

The lower three jackpots are included in the hold-and-spin feature. The Grand, a progressive resetting at $10,000, can be in the top row of symbols. If the player unlocks the top row with a total of 23 special symbols, the Grand is awarded. After the feature ends, the game character appears with two six-shooters and blasts one of the cash-on-reels symbols, increasing the value with every hit.

The center of the screen displays an empty six-gun chamber. Accumulating six bullets in the main feature launches a second hold-and-spin bonus within the main feature. The chamber spins in a three-spin cycle, adding credit amounts and/or jackpots to each cylinder. Filling all six awards the “Lucky 6 Jackpot,” a progressive resetting at $500.

There also is a free-game bonus with all the lower-paying symbols removed, while ZZ Top’s “La Grange” plays in the background. The hold-and-spin bonus can be triggered within this feature as well.

Another standout on the Beacon+ cabinet line is Shear Luck, the first game from Bluberi’s new Austin development studio. As the name indicates, sheep are the main theme, with the title character “Baachus” hosting.

The cash-on-reels symbols in the game are all fluffy sheep. When Baachus lands on the fifth reel, he shears all the sheep to reveal and reward the cash-on-reels credits, or jackpots—all lower-level jackpots are hidden by the gold sheep landing in the feature. There is a single filler pot that triggers a free-spin bonus, with the same cash-on-reels feature in effect.

This game play is accompanied by a frequent wheel spin bonus. Wheel symbols trigger a spin on a two-level wheel, with credit awards and jackpots—including the top Grand—on the inner wheel and re-spins the outer wheel.

From Bluberi’s Reno studio comes Dynamite Dragons, a new game with a unique wheel-spinning mechanic in the primary game. Wheels sit above the reels, and when a “Catalyst” symbol lands on the fifth reel, the wheels spin to the reels and award credit amounts. The title dragons are the collection pots, which provide one of three routes to the main free-spin bonus. Alternatively, an “Instant Spin” symbol on the reels or “Bonus” symbols on the first and fifth reels trigger five free spins with the Catalyst always on the fifth reel. An Extra Spin spot can extend the feature.

When wheel symbols go to the reels they spin individually, with the result multiplied by fifth-reel symbols of 2X, 3X, 4X, or the Mini jackpot, which is added to the total.

Jackpots landing on wheels begin a unique collection feature. Players who are able to spell out the name of the jackpot will win that prize. Spell the word “LUCKY” for a second chance at all jackpot awards once the free-game feature is complete.

Another new G2E release for Bluberi is Smokin’ Train, a three-pot game in which the pots are locomotives that grow and get closer to the screen as they fill, in a clever animated sequence. The trains read “Extra Cash,” “Cash Boost” and “Instant Win.” Any or all of them can trigger a main hold-and-spin bonus feature.

During primary-game play, nugget symbols on the reels travel to the train and increment a meter. Collecting 13 triggers the “Super Nugget,” which guarantees the bonus will be triggered with all three enhancements.

There will, as always, be a few surprises to be unveiled at Bluberi’s G2E booth. As Brennan notes, time has been on Bluberi’s side, and the show will demonstrate that it has been time well-spent.