Asia-themed FBM slot coming soon in Philippine market
FBM, a manufacturer of casino slot machines and an international expert on electronic bingo machines, says it is in the final stages of obtaining certification for its "Asian-inspired" slot machine product "Jin Qian Link." Philippine FBM Country Manager Pepe Costa said.
"We are finalizing the certification of Asian-themed games. "We plan to launch in casino Philippines and large properties in Manila," Costa told GGRASIA.
Casino Philippine network is operated by Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor), a Philippine gaming regulator and state casino operator. 슬롯머신
"Jin Qian Link is actually a game developed for the Asian market. We are still in the final stages of the GLI approval process," he added. "We have received some requests from casinos in the Philippines."
FBM describes the Jinkan Link slot, which was released in October last year, as a multi-game product that combines four themes in four games: "Lucky Guī," "Great Bái Hǔ," "Golden Long" and "Eternal Fènghuáng."
FBM deployed its first product in the United States at Hialea Park Casino in Florida last month. It included "Rainbow Falls" and "Catch the Gold" slot games, which are part of the company's Easy$Link collection.
The company's casino equipment is already available in several other countries, including the Philippines, Mexico, and Spain.
Mr Costa said 2023 had started "much stronger" for FBM's business after years marked by the COVID-19 pandemic. "The players are coming back into the field. We're excited. This will really be the first year to recover to 2019 levels and better numbers," he said.
The FBM manager also said the company will support Pagcor in its efforts to upgrade slot machines at multiple casino Philippine locations.
"They will renew the machine to all casino Filipinos in the country," he said. "We will provide them with several machines."
"We look forward to showing the Philippine market that we are not only an electronic bingo provider, but also have very good slot machine products to suit the preferences of Filipino players," Mr Costa added. That is what we look forward to this year."
Pagcor has expressed its intention to privatize casino Philippine gaming venues, citing a desire to separate regulatory and operational functions.
Pagcor's chairman and chief executive Alejandro Tengco said he recently received "a number of" expressions of interest in relation to the sale of casino Philippine facilities to GGRAcia.
"We hope Casino will improve its revenue and improve its performance after the privatization process, and I think the idea is to upgrade the machine before that [sales process]," Costa of FBM said in a commentary to GGRASIA regarding Casino Philippine Network
Management said it expects the "first wave of upgrades" to occur before "the end of the year" at casino Philippine locations, with thousands of machines being replaced.
In 2022, FBM has been in the Philippine market for 20 years. "What we started with a few electronic bingo machines in 2002 turned into more than 32,000 machines in that market," Mr Costa said.
The company is also expanding its online services under the Philippine Inland Game Operator (PIGO) licensing system as an approved operator of the remote gaming platform.
The PIGO business was described as a "growing market" during the pandemic, as COVID-19-related regulations prevented Filipino players from visiting casinos. PIGO games must be connected to a physical game machine located within the game location.
"We will be releasing FBM Emotion in a few months. All best-selling games are remotely available to players as needed," Costa said.
"We're excited to launch FBM Emotion. It's because we plan to provide casino games and sports books as well as bingo games," he added. "So it's going to be a one-stop location to find all types of environments."
According to the executive, FBM covers about 570 bingo locations in the Philippines and will continue to upgrade machines in these operations. The company will also gradually release FBM Emotion in that segment.
Next week, the company will also launch a "Cash Panalo Promotion," linking hundreds of locations it described as the "biggest promotion" in the country's bingo industry.
"There will be thousands of winners in six weeks," Costa said. "It would be interesting for them to offer their patrons."