When IGT introduced its new category of games, Infinity Instants™, in 2022, the initial wave of releases offered a glimpse of just how dramatically the technology could transform an instant ticket. The first games featured jaw-dropping resolution, vivid color symbols even beneath the scratch-off coating, and more. But this was just the beginning.
Given the power of this patented digital-printing technology to transform virtually all elements of an instant ticket and unlock opportunities to create new game mechanics and customized graphics, the full possibilities of Infinity Instants™ will continue to unfold for some time.
The current wave of Infinity game innovation, being released into the market this year, is focused on the extended play category, including the forthcoming launch of a line of Crossword games unlike anything previously available to players.
NextGen Advantages
The new line of Crossword games was developed using IGT’s advanced game-programming platform, NextGen, which harnesses modern digital-security technology to improve on the legacy security processes that have been commonly used across the industry in recent decades.
“IGT invested several million dollars in developing NextGen, and it’s revolutionary in many ways,” explained Keith Cash, IGT Vice President Global Instant Ticket Services. “Our platform takes more of a data-based approach, as opposed to traditional game programming, and this has given us vast means to innovate and add value for customers and players. It allowed us to develop a new and superior security process that harnesses the advantages of blockchain technology, which can be used for all of IGT’s instant products, including our Infinity Instants™ games.”
More than Security
“The state-of-the-art quality of NextGen’s security features allows us to produce more complicated games with the confidence that complexity doesn’t add risk, only more enjoyment for the player,” said Tony Lucci, IGT Director of Marketing, Instant Ticket Innovation. “With the combined capabilities of our NextGen game-programming platform and our Infinity Instants™ digital printing platform, we can provide players with new, highly engaging play mechanics that can’t be replicated with traditional printing technologies.”
The first Crossword game to feature this “crossover technology” (see figure) adds a secondary level of play by placing gems within the unoccupied spaces in the Crossword grid. In addition to offering traditional Crossword game play, a set of coordinates is also provided to players. These coordinates allow players to collect gems that are interspersed in the grid spaces that are typically left blank. Bonus prizes are then awarded based on which gems have been collected.
The high level of unique combinations between letters and gems, coupled with the eye-catching color of the gems, gives players a clean, simple, visually intuitive bonus game that adds significantly to the play value of traditional Crossword games.
The combination of NextGen and Infinity Instants™ technologies increases the number of game symbols that can appear in a single Crossword game. It also allows for the addition of color to the Crossword symbols. The shape and configuration of the Crossword grids can now feature unlimited variety, no longer constrained by the number of versions that could be represented using traditional flexographic plate technology.
The new games are the latest results of IGT’s investments in innovation for the benefit of players across all segments of the instant ticket market. “It’s another fundamental shift in what we and our customers can do with instant games,” said Cash, “and we’re just getting started.”
Optimizing Success
IGT supports customers in every aspect of their instants business through its Instant Advantage program. Beyond game innovation and printing, IGT teams work with customers to assist with portfolio planning, ticket design, and prize-structure development, instants warehousing and distribution, marketing and inside sales/ordering, retail execution, research and analytics, and more.
To give players a whole new way to experience Crossword games, contact your IGT representative.