Dune will premiere across the United States on Oct. 22, bringing a futuristic world of flying “ornithopters” and mammoth sandworms to life.
While a blockbuster movie with the same name debuts the same day in theaters and on HBO Max, this “Dune” is a slot machine from Aristocrat Gaming.
The company says this is the first time a slot title tied to a movie is debuting simultaneously with the film. The game includes movie clips highlighting stars, including Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, and Jason Mamoa.
The game comes in Aristocrat’s Neptune cabinet, with the option of a single or double configuration. The double cabinet features an arched LED canopy showing images moving between the two units, like a small-scale Fremont Street Experience connecting machines a few yards apart.
“With the Neptune double cabinet, it’s like playing this game in IMAX,” said Ryan Scott, vice president of gaming operations for Aristocrat. “It’s got a great play, sound, and feel to it.”
Those attending G2E can see the setup in the company’s booth, No. 1133, with one bank on the floor of the Palazzo, where Aristocrat installed the game to coincide with the tradeshow.
The game includes film clips shown during regular play, as well as with special features. Legendary Entertainment, which made the film, licensed the slot rights to Aristocrat. Dune, based on a classic science-fiction novel of the same name, is the one of the year’s most anticipated films. Made with a budget of $165 million, the film was released last month in Europe and grossed $76.5 million in 10 days.
Scott said about 50 units of the Dune slot game are scheduled to go live at casinos across the country on the day the movie debuts in the United States.
Instead of having to wait years for film footage, as would be typical in a movie-related slot title, Aristocrat received early access from Legendary. That helped shape the game’s content and play.
Scott said he expects Dune the slot, like Dune the movie, to be a blockbuster.
“We’ve done a lot of customer presentations and the feedback has been unbelievable,” he said. “The game content is incredibly strong. The visuals are incredible.”
One example is the sandworm, a creature native to the planet Arrakis, where the action is set. Sandworms live beneath the surface, but spring up to defend their territory when they sense vibrations above. In the slot game, the sandworms leap from the bottom of the screen; getting three of them triggers a single-spin bonus. Multiple bonuses are available, including ones with Momoa’s character, swordsman Duncan Idaho, and the ornithopters, or “thopters,” small vehicles that resemble birds.
“It’s a real power game,” Scott said.
The basic denomination is a penny, with options of one-to-five and one-to-10 cents per credit. Per-spin bets can top $8.
Scott said Aristocrat has several patents pending for facets of the Dune game. “This is really innovative in the base game and the math,” he said. For example, if a player lands a specific symbol on reel one and another one shows up on reel two, it acts as a multiplier. If the same symbol lands on subsequent reels, the multiplier increases, building anticipation in the players.
“That’s a unique way of displaying wins with this game,” Scott said. “There are really powerful multiplied wins that tie in a lot to the theme.”
The Neptune Double cabinet has a new ergonomically designed sound chair with built-in speakers, the capability to move back and forth and to swivel. The seat vibrates during some features.
The Neptune Double cabinet, introduced about a year ago, is available with games such as Crazy Rich Asians, Timberwolf Diamond, and Wild, Wild Buffalo. It features stacked, curved, 49-inch monitors, 4K graphics, and a virtual button deck. Ergonomic design resulted in a screen angle allowing a player to look straight up and see the top progressive meter.
