Business Model Canvas: WMS Gaming

I chose to model my own company, WMS Gaming, for this Business Model Canvas assignment.

WMS Gaming is one of the four largest slot machine vendors across the globe.  They design and manufacture the Electronic Gaming Machine cabinets (EGMs), and are recognized as the innovator in the gaming industry when it comes to the game content, which they also design, produce, and test in-house.  The game studios produce video reel AND mechanical reel content for slot machines, as well as game content for video lottery terminals (VLTs), for sale and distribution across the legalized gaming industry worldwide. Additionally, WMS recently launched a competitive poker platform. 




Business Model Canvas:  WMS Gaming

    

WMS Gaming, not to be confused with the online division Williams Interactive, sells and leases gaming machines and game content to casino operators, route distributors, and government lotteries worldwide. They operate in a B2B fashion, though the creative teams pay very careful attention to slot player segments, and research their preferences and behaviors.  The company uses account executives to directly sell to casino operators and government lotteries, as well as uses route distributors in various markets, primarily international markets. 

Revenues are generated directly from cabinet and game sales, but a little more than half of the overall revenue comes from the leasing of premium games like Wizard of Oz, The Lord of the Rings, amongst many other titles. Costs are primarily related to the manufacturing costs of the EGMs, brand licenses, and R&D spend on the creative talent.  WMS has the highest percent of revenue spend on R&D in the industry, but they pride themselves on that and believe in this investment as they continue to seek being the industry leader in innovative game content.  They have recently brought such innovations as Community Gaming, Adaptive Gaming, and motion chairs to the casino industry.

WMS does necessarily require leading-edge performance and state of the art graphics, but they regularly seek that capability for the extra curb appeal and entertainment value it provides players. The real value, though, is derived in the overall experience that the creative team produces, particularly the math model and game mechanics, which are geared at certain player segments and niches. WMS protects these ideas with intellectual property patents.

The competitors focus more on their systems businesses, in which WMS essentially does not compete, or licensing branded content, or being a low cost, copycat content provider, respectively.  One in particular is primarily focused on being the overall market share leader.  Hence, WMS' competitive advantage is with their innovative content, intellectual property, and creative game designs targeted at certain player segments.