Aristocrat Leisure: Still the Dominant Force in Electronic Gaming Machines

Narrow-moat Aristocrat’s deep portfolio of highly popular and profitable gaming machine titles, like Dragon Link, has allowed the firm to capture a significant share of the key North American market. We estimate the three major players—Aristocrat, no-moat Light & Wonder, and International Game Technology—together command the vast majority of both North American outright sales and a similar proportion of leased machines. In the four years since December 2019, we estimate the number of Aristocrat’s North American leased machines has increased by 34% to around 65,000 units. This is in stark contrast to Light & Wonder, where unit numbers have been roughly flat over the last four years, and to International Game Technology, where the number of machines has fallen by about 5%. Aristocrat’s leased units in North America are roughly the size of IGT's and Light & Wonder's combined.