AWP stakes and prizes change imminent?
+ More News
AWP stakes and prizes change imminent?
AN announcement from the DCMS about a review of stakes and prizes for AWP machines was expected either today or early next week, we understand.
Rumour was rife this week, varying between an award of 30p/£35 and 50p/£35. Both were viewed by the industry with considerable dismay, the former because it was only a marginal increase from the current 30p/£25 and the latter because the prize is no better than the old Gaming Board recommended unsuccessfully two years ago.
It is generally considered in the industry that the only improvement which will really go some way to resurrecting the AWP would be 50p/£50 which is fully justified not only by the fact that it is five years since the last review and probably three years before the next one, but also because the 'playing field' is currently so skewed by Section 16 in arcades and FOBTs in betting shops.
However, this is unlikely to register with the DCMS, it is thought. A 50p/£35 uplift would do no more than create a very temporary flurry before the AWP business resumed its dramatic decline.
The DCMS confirmed to ecoin-op that it is currently ‘considering representations for the industry’ over key policy issues, but would not confirm that it related to a review of stakes and prizes for AWP machines.
“We are currently undertaking further policy work in the area of gambling based on representations from the industry, but any suggested changes in policy are subject to the usual legal procedures, which can be complex and lengthy,” said the spokesperson.
Reflex looks to exports
HEDGING his bets, Quentin Stott at Reflex Gaming is looking hard at export markets in a bid to overcome the current downturn in the UK pending any relief in the form of a stakes and prizes review. He told InterGame that Reflex is ‘focusing heavily on product developments for markets outside of the UK.’
He sees the main British problems as no review for AWP machines, a saturated Section 16/21 market and increased taxation in club machines. “It leaves development companies scratching their heads about what to develop next.”
As Reflex is a small company, he felt confident that it would ‘ride the storm’ but not as confident about the UK providing such a major part of its business in the years to come. “We are also quite confident in our ability to seek out some opportunities which traditional manufacturers would not find commercial attractive.
We will keep upbeat and seek opportunities and then react quickly to them."
Empire grows in Hungary and UK
EMPIRE Games of Bridgend, South Wales, has entered into a partnership agreement with major Hungarian operating company Game Profil of Szentes, to supply it with a succession of AWP machines for the Hungarian market.
Empire will also release a second all-new Section 16 game for the UK market will be launched at the London Preview trade show this month. The company had a success with its first all-new machine, Ocean’s Eleven, and is following it up with Knight Fever, using the CMS Cyclops cabinet and a 27ins touchscreen monitor.
Capital gains Minnesota licence
CAPITAL Gaming, the Cardiff-based supplier of multiplayer automated casino games, has been granted a licence to supply machines to Minnesota - the second US state to approve the company after California. The licence will open up new opportunities for the company in Indian reservations. It currently has a major shipment of games going into Stanley Ho’s casinos in Macau. Two containers with 10, 15 and 18-seater roulettes are already ‘on the water’ and another shipment has just left the factory containing a 10-player roulette and an 18-player horse racing game using a 50ins plasma screen.
Sanken plans Bridgend move
THE major producer of power supplies and semi-conductors to the UK gaming machine industry, Sanken, is about to close its factory in Abercynon, South Wales, and relocate 40 miles away at Bridgend. The company will open a European Design Technology Centre at Bridgend’s Industrial Estate, while output of components switches to a new factory in Hungary. The move to Bridgend will take place in December.
Source: eCoinOp UK
|