Novomatic Americas: Leading the Charge
New leadership at Novomatic Americas focuses on increasing the supplier’s footprint in North America
Novomatic Americas was established in 2012 with the goal of bringing the slot content of Austrian gaming giant Novomatic AG Group, and its Austrian Gaming Industries subsidiary, to North American markets.
Since then, the company, located just outside of Chicago, has achieved success in several U.S. markets, notably Georgia, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Puerto Rico. The supplier also serves VLT/VGT markets and casinos in Canada.
This year, Novomatic Americas is committing itself to growing its footprint in North America. The effort is being headed by Juergen Keller, who took over as managing director of Novomatic Americas in July, succeeding Jakob Rothwangl on the top management team, where he will be the U.S.-based managing director, along with Austria-based Managing Director Sabine Stoppel. Rothwangl continues with his senior executive-level duties across the globe with Novomatic.
Keller joined Novomatic Americas a year ago as vice president of finance and treasurer, and became a key member of the executive leadership team.
“Juergen has made a significant impact in a very short period of time,” Stoppel said in announcing Keller’s appointment. “His combination of international leadership experience, financial expertise and operational discipline makes him an outstanding addition to our executive leadership team.”
Keller and his team are centered at Novomatic Americas’ Buffalo Grove, Illinois headquarters. His team is now focused on developing new product for the North American market, and expanding the supplier’s U.S. footprint.
“Expanding our footprint is Juergen’s central focus,” says Kathleen McLaughlin, vice president of corporate accounts, communication and marketing for Novomatic Americas. “The company is investing in R&D to create stronger, more engaging products built around what today’s players want.
“We will announce a new vice president of sales following G2E, and the experienced team already in place gives us what we need to accelerate our growth. We have been deliberate and systematic in the past. Now, we are prepared to take more calculated risks, move faster and bring more player-focused products to market.”
That strategy includes new linked progressives, enhanced merchandising packages, the V.I.P. X Galaxy 2.65 cabinet and a focus on electronic table games through the global success of the Novo Unity product lines.
“Vision Link reflects where we are going,” McLaughlin says. “We are creating games with competitive graphics, compelling math and more frequent moments of anticipation and enticement. Ghost Party has already generated a strong customer response because it is energetic, entertaining and designed to keep players engaged.”
The V.I.P. X Galaxy 2.65 features lounge-style comfort, a large-format display and intuitive play options. Its ergonomically positioned button panel and LED console allow players to interact with the game in the way that feels most natural to them.
“It is a complete player experience,” McLaughlin says. “Comfort, immersion and choice all work together to keep the player at the center of the game.”
Vision Link, which debuted at the Indian Gaming Tradeshow last spring, is a multi-feature linked progressive concept that combines five-pot mechanics, modern gameplay design and the popular “Lock & Spin” feature. There is an elaborate signage package designed to turn banks of games carrying the Vision Link progressives into themed gaming destinations.
Feeding the Link
There were three games launched with the Vision Link progressive— Fu Flow Bao, Hot Pot and Ghost Party. More games for the link will debut at Global Gaming Expo.
Ghost Party, in particular, has generated such a strong response during its soft introduction that Novomatic is building its entire G2E experience around the theme.
“When you see Ghost Party, you immediately understand why it’s leading our Vision Link showcase,” says McLaughlin. “It’s bright, energetic and packed with bonus activity, the kind of experience U.S. players respond to. It represents a fresh direction for Novomatic, with competitive graphics, engaging math and the performance potential operators expect.”
Ghost Party is one of the first five-pot games on the Vision Link. The pots are different-colored ghosts marked “More Coins,” “Jackpots” and “Hot Coins.” The other pots are a dog marked “More Spins” and a cat marked “Bigger Reels.” All are enhancements to a main free-spin bonus, which can grow up to a five-by-five grid with the Bigger Reels enhancement.
The More Coins enhancement turns poker symbols into cash-on-reels symbols. Hot Coins transforms reel spots around a cash-on-reels win into cash symbols, and More Spins extends the session. The Jackpot box adds a number of spots beneath each jackpot, and awards the jackpot if the spots are filled. The top Grand is included, and with extensions of the free spins, it’s possible to land more than one jackpot during the feature.
Hot Pot on the Vision Link is another five-pot game, in this case five volcanoes. Cash upgrades, expanded reels, prize boosts, extra spins and a jackpot pick feature are the enhancements to the free-spin round in this game.
New game families to be featured at G2E include the Treasure Coins series, with Egyptian-themed games Rise of Cleo, Rise of Tut and Eye of the Queen. All are three-pot games, the pots enhancing a free-spin round with Level Upgrades, Prize Upgrades and Extra Spins.
Landing coin symbols in the base game feeds a meter that triggers higher award levels during the feature, with the highest awards, including jackpots, at the Gold level.
Another new series is Xtra Boost, headed by Panda’s Dragon Gold Xtra Boost. According to Kirubakar Santhanam, vice president of product development at Novomatic Americas, games in this series are distinguished by the hold-and-spin bonus, in which all pot enhancements can be triggered during the feature.
“The idea is that most of our games trigger the feature and remain the same,” he says. “Now, you can trigger more than one pot once you get into the bonus. We’ve branded that as Xtra Boost, and it’s something we’re excited about.”
In Panda’s Dragon Gold Xtra Boost, the hold-and-spin feature (branded Lock & Spin) plays out on a grid of three reel arrays, with the top two locked. The “Unlocked Reels” pot activates the next reel grid up. “We are trying to keep up the action for a longer period,” says Santhanam. “We are also adding multipliers to the grids. It’s our long-term approach to the Lock & Spin feature—we’re getting different flavors on top of existing features.
“Panda’s Dragon Gold is the first of many titles in the pipeline. We have more Egyptian themes and Irish themes coming in the future.”
Santhanam adds that more games will be launched for the Rising Treasures game family, which saw a hit this year with Book of Ra Treasure Gods.
“There will be feature-in-feature versions of these games in the future,” he says. “Book of Ra Treasure Gods is performing well in markets like Oklahoma and Puerto Rico, so we will continue that family.”
At G2E, Novomatic also will display De La Isla, a wide-area progressive developed specifically for the Puerto Rico market. “Launching a wide-area progressive in Puerto Rico is huge for us,” says McLaughin. “We designed the whole package, and we’re excited to play in that space and bring a very locally designed experience.”
Finally, Novomatic will highlight its electronic table game solution, the Novo Unity Pro line and the Novo Unity Core Classic.
The system ETG game family features Novo TouchBet terminals connected to a live dealer or can be connected in a variety of configurations, but the newest standalone product combines electronic live games and premium slot content in one flexible platform placing table games and the latest slot content into a multi-game program housed in one of several cabinets.
The company also will display new games in emerging verticals like historical horse racing and VLTs with strong focus on Illinois, Pennsylvania, Georgia, West Virginia, Puerto Rico and other emerging markets.
McLaughlin says Novomatic’s established portfolio continues to deliver sustained performance in the field. “Products like Ultra Boost Mixer and Money Party Mixer Link have proven their staying power,” she says. “They remain strong, reliable performers and important staples for our customers.”
Novomatic also is boosting its R&D efforts. Game development studios in Vienna and Gumpoldskirchen in Austria are augmented by studios in London, Malta, Alderney, Vancouver, Canada and Australia. Novomatic Americas draws from all sources to produce games for North American markets.
“From Novomatic Americas’ perspective, we are finishing the year with strong vision and entering 2027 with real momentum,” says McLaughlin. “With new progressive games, expanded ETG offerings, world-class merchandising packages and our new wide-area progressive system in Puerto Rico, we are focused on innovation, growth and greater choice for customers and players across North America.”
