Cost-to-cover bets in land-based slot games are on the rise, outpacing general price inflation and shaping player behavior. In this episode, we discuss cost-to-cover inflation is all upside for the industry. Featuring insights from seasoned operator veterans, Fred David and Robert Allen, we explore the impact to the industry.

In this episode, Brendan Moore and Jared Book speak with Sega Sammy CEO Naoki Kameda and President & COO Takashi Maekawa about the company’s evolution from its roots in pachinko and arcade gaming to becoming an award-winning slot manufacturer in North America.

Topics include:

• The origin story of Sega Sammy Creation

• The success of Railroad Riches and the Genesis Atmos cabinet

• What’s next for Sega Sammy: from new themes and expansion

In this episode, Brendan Moore and Jared Book meet with Phil Bernard, Managing Director of Gaming Equipment & Technology, to review the Q1-2025 Slot Survey results. We take a look at those results and compare to historical benchmarks and discuss operators' forward looking outlook in an uncertain macro enivornment. We also discuss sales and gaming ops trends.

Today's episode covers product analysis on a few important game series in the industry: Light & Wonder's Huff N Puff and Aristocrat's Dragon Link and the newly debuted Phoenix Link. The Game Performance & Analytics team also discusses some product segment trends with insights from the recent Cabinet Sales & Lease report.

In the premiere episode of Bonus Round, Brendan Moore and Jared Book from the EKG Game Performance team sit down to discuss some insights from recent operator polls and land-based slot trends in 2024.