Valicy with Chris Rowe

Good morning, Dan. How are things in Clark County this morning?

Great, Nick. Good morning. It's the spooky edition of the ReelCast today. I know we're not on video, but I see you're wearing your costume. You got your Michael Myers Halloween mask on today.

Exactly. Yeah. And it is actually incidentally my favorite holiday of all. And I oftentimes dress up and win prizes for these things. So it's a holiday I get behind, no doubt about it. So Dan, it was great spending some time with you at G2E. I take it you had a good show?

Yeah, it was great. A little subdued. I didn't see attendance, but I feel like maybe it was a little less trafficked, maybe not with some of the sports betting folks overseas in Portugal. But yeah, it was a great show.

Yep, agreed. And one thing we know for certain is those attendance figures will come out and everybody will look at them and start debating whether they're real. So that's the same way it works with every trade show it seems. Okay. Well, not surprisingly, Dan, all of this month's listener questions were about what caught our eyes on the G2E exhibition floor. Once again, my time down there was a bit compressed. I guess my main takeaway was really that the cabinet footprints are shrinking, music to a lot of operators' ears, I would imagine. All the big debuts. So we had Aristocrat's Reign, Light & Wonder's Lightwave Solar, Konami Solstice 27C or 29C.

Apologies. The dual screen. Yeah.

Yeah, I don't remember if it was 27 or... Anyway, the smaller one. And AGS's new Glow Upright 43 were pretty noticeable departures from, let's call them, let's say the theatrical formats of the past decade. But now you spent a lot more time down there than I, so I'd really like to hear what jumped out at you.

Yeah, sure. And I totally agree with you. And we talked about this a little last month about expectations going in, and I feel the show was kind of as expected. So off the floor, there was a lot of discussion as we thought about prediction markets and online, but also a lot about AI, hot topics as expected. There was some conversation in the OEM booths about using AI to aid and enable the development process of games. But a lot of the AI conversation was off the show floor, smaller startups talking about using it either as solutions or using it to enable and speed up their go-to-market strategy. All of that is expected.

We talked last month about how the big two, Aristocrat and Light & Wonder have really been able to continue to take share from everybody else, and that theme continued. They both showed very well. On the IGT front, I felt they really strategically focused on retrenching and consolidating. Their booth was, I think they strategically took some product out of their booth. They didn't launch a new core cabinet this year, but they have two very performing form factors in the peak 55 and the peak multi-screen. And so I think their focus was really showcase the continued performance of those and build momentum and show that they have a more consolidated, focused roadmap now with the consolidation of the two companies. Not a lot of IP from what I saw. Obviously in the IGT booth, they showcased Queen, Reign, and Aristocrat's continuing to get momentum with Monopoly.

Oh, that's fantastic. Yeah.

Yeah. But I agree 100% with what you said on the hardware. It seemed like either new form factors were, as you said, a little smaller or they were direct replacements of existing models simply with updated platform. And I think a lot of it comes from last year, one of the debuts was Konami Solstice where the focus was really the merchandising and the lighting around it. And a lot of folks are now making sure that that's a key focus of the hardware as opposed to more and bigger. And we can ask our guests in a few minutes, but my sense is just the race to bigger and better is kind of hitting a ceiling because of cost more than anything else. And then the cost of hardware is escalating so much more than the top line for either the OEMs or the operators, and it's nice to-

It's not just the purchase cost. I mean just logistically with these things, I mean they obliterate sight lines, they block surveillance coverage, you need specialized rigging to move them around. And of course, if a monitor busts on one of those suckers, you have a serious investment there.

Yeah, for sure. So I think people achieved bigger through jumbo form factors, which we talked about before, but there's some efficiencies there because it's the same platform, but bigger street and some different components. And so whether it's AGS or Bluberi or Konami or others, that was a big focus in trying to drive innovation and excitement and provide something for operators that is to be a splash on the floor. And I think we'll continue to see that. I think there was a lot of buzz around some of the mid-size and up-and-coming OEMs, in particular Bluberi got a lot of good press out of the show. They are making a big focus on sound in particular. They had the Lighthouse Cabinet last year, and this year they had some new presentations that really showcased how you can use sound and light to merchandise in a pretty cost-effective way.

And they showcased SirMixaLot last year and talked about premium. This year they're actually bringing it to market and ready to launch it. So making a big push there and some excitement. But between Zitro, GamingArts/Merkur, Valicy and some others, there's a lot of excitement around who is going to take a step up and give the bigger big two and big three a run for their money. I felt there was a little less buzz around digital payments. Folks are still innovating there, but it's less of a hot button topic and a little more in the background. I'll point out one of the cool things I saw. So you're familiar with the old Sigma Derby, which for those who aren't familiar, that's a legacy several decade old now mechanical horse racing game that's very popular in the States, Nevada in particular. So I think it was in the VSR booth. VSR is a slot-based manufacturer, and I think they partnered with a couple providers to showcase a new updated version of Sigma Derby, which is really exciting for a lot of folks to see and bring that to market.

Okay, great. And you mentioned there were a couple booths that were a couple new ones. So first of all, I have to say from a design perspective, that Zitro booth was super sharp. I love what they did there. Their four pods, they had some cylindrical signage, some spherical signage. And what I really loved in that booth was the black and red color scheme with those circles around the bases of the cabinet. It was just a really sharp presentation. I really liked that. It was super cool. And as was a new brand that came to the show this year, which was Valicy, it was quite the opening salvo, I felt. And rather than taking wild stabs at what this company is all about, we thought it would be a good idea to haul in its president, strap into a chair, get the light in his eyes and interrogate him.

So I guess that's the setup for today's guest. He is a 20-year industry veteran who spent 18 years with Aristocrat climbing from the ranks of the marketing department all the way up to the managing director posts for their Asia Pacific, Latin America and EMEA divisions. A few years back, he made the jump over to Konami where he served as a VP of North American Game Sales and incidentally made his first appearance here on ReelCast. In January this year, he made a big move both industrially and geographically becoming the president of North Carolina-based Valicy Gaming, which we're going to learn more about here today. I'm referring, of course, to Mr. Chris Rowe. Christopher, how are things in the Tar Heel State this morning?

Hey, Nick. Well, I didn't know you were wearing your costume today, so instead I wore my pullover. It's getting a little cool out here in North Carolina. A little bit of a change from Las Vegas.

How long have you been out there now?

So I've been commuting back and forth from Las Vegas to North Carolina since January. I moved with my family in the middle of the summer, right smack in the middle of July is when we made the drive across the country and formally settled in Greenville, North Carolina.

Okay. Well, cool. Okay, Chris. So for many who are listening today, Valicy is a new name in the North American slot scene. So perhaps you could just give us a brief backgrounder on the company, its founders, how it came together, that sort of thing.

Yeah, sure. So Valicy is a rebrand of what was Grover Gaming, and Grover grew through the route and ultimately charitable space. That resulted in an asset sale in May of 2025 to Light & Wonder. And so what went with that sale was the route business, so all of the machines that were leased to the charitable venues, the platform, the games, the people directly attributed to that business. So predominantly your customer support sales and warehousing associates directly related to charitable and also the name. So Grover went with the asset sale of the charitable gaming vertical. And so what Valicy was left with was around 300 people, most of whom were in R&D and then core corporate functions like finance, HR, and legal, the backend. And I think it's neat. We were also left with a couple of gaming platforms. We had the making and a number of games and IP as well in places that were not charitable.

So the name Valicy is fun. So it's hard to name a company these days, just the IP landscape and what you're up against in naming a company. And our founders, Garrett Blackwelder and his wife Corrie, love their daughters a whole lot. So they've got two, one a senior in high school, the other just left for college, and their names are Valicy and CJ. So Valicy is actually a combination of Valley and CJ, Valicy, and so kind of a fun story. So that's a bit about Valicy, where we came from. Did you ask about the founder? Did you want to know a little bit more about-

Oh, yeah. Sure. I'd love to hear that story because I know that Grover was quite a story on its own.

It was fascinating and a large reason that I'm here because the story is just so cool. But Garrett went to East Carolina University here in Greenville and he played basketball. He was a shooting guard and gosh, I want to say he was the leading three point scorer ever up until a couple years ago. So he played well during his four years at ECU. And during that time he met his wife Corrie, and they settled down. He graduated and he was working as a financial advisor and overheard a client talking about pull tab machines. And he tuned into this conversation. He's like, "Wow. That sounds wild." So I mean, him being aspiring and entrepreneurial went out and got a credit card and bought two of these things. And through his time at ECU on the basketball team, he got familiar with some of the boosters and the name on the arena at East Carolina is Williams.

And Mr. Williams owned a chain of convenience stores. I want to say it was over a hundred around North Carolina. So Garrett had this vision that, "Well, hey, I mean, these things sound cool. What if I could convince Mr. Williams to put these things out in his convenience stores?" So he called him up, again, got his credit card, got the two machines, took them out, put them in a couple of stores. And the story goes on day one, he went and installed it and almost immediately got a phone call that the machine was broken. And so he went back to have a look. Well, it wasn't broken. The bill acceptor was full. And Garrett hadn't seen so much cash at one time, and he had to go back behind the register and grab one of those paper bags that you put a 40 ounce in and started stuffing bills in it and went out to his car. And then he goes, "I think I might have to buy a couple more of these machines." So two turned into four, turned into eight, and the rest is history.

But really the pivot to the manufacturing side is the why behind what became Grover and now Valicy. As he was buying machines, he had a weekend where all the machines went dark and he had called for service to get the machines turned back on, to get the server reactivated and got crickets. He got nothing, and he would've lost a lot of money that weekend. And he would've said that that was very, among other things that happened on this journey, really poor customer service. And he said, "I never want to be treated this way. I'm going to make these things myself." And so it's kind of wild. Valicy is rooted in bad customer service, but absolutely committed to the opposite. He founded this company to give now route and casino customers the best possible customer service they could imagine. So that's a bit about the founder, a bit about Valicy, and a bit about our why, if you will.

And Chris, with that, so you mentioned a couple times, so I understand the route side of it in convenience stores and whatnot. And then you mentioned the charitable gaming. So were the venues for that like American Legion Halls and Rotary Clubs and this kind of stuff, so what-

You nailed it. Moose lodges. Exactly.

All right. And was that a big part of it or was it mostly the convenience store routes and that stuff? Was that the majority of the business or was it more the charitable side?

So I mean, his business was born in the convenience stores, but morphed into charitable. Charitable was the vertical that was, I suppose, recently legislated that he found and then very much explored. So that was, I suppose, the ultimate success that was Grover, that was the sale of the Light & Wonder.

What markets was he in, Chris? Was it just North Carolina or elsewhere in the Southeast?

Oh, man.

Oh, I didn't mean to quiz you.

You might have to get Garrett on. I know a little bit about the history, but not enough.

Fair enough.

I wouldn't want to take a stab at exactly which markets Grover grew through, but it did expand, I know, through the East Coast and the Midwest. It was not just North Carolina.

Gotcha. So I think Nick said January, you made the move. So you were at Konami, and I don't know the exact timing, but Konami was either getting ready to launch the Solstice or just launched the Solstice, exciting cabinet that's been very well received. You enjoyed your time at Konami. Can you tell us why you decided to make the leap, A, to the company, B, to North Carolina, and the timing? Because I know that wasn't an easy decision for you.

Yeah. And man, I was happy at Konami. I mean, Dan, you and I got to see a lot of each other while I was there. I mean, you wouldn't have seen a frown on my face. I was enjoying every minute. I woke up every day happy to go to work. I mean, I felt like I was working with a really, really great group of people. In fact, the day that I left, I mean, that conversation with that person was one of the hardest I've ever had in my career. I mean, I went home and cried. I was genuinely sad to leave because those people mean a lot to me. I mean, I was working-

Yeah, they're really cool people, I have to say.

I mean, I was working with great friends, Steve, Tom, Jay. I mean, they're awesome humans. And look, again, I had no intentions. I got a cold call from a recruiter, and it was about a president role, which was interesting. I was running North American sales at Konami, which was a great, if you will, re-entry to the US market because my general management experience was international. And so to run sales for Konami was fantastic because I got reacquainted after nine years abroad, if you will, with the US market, US customers, how the landscape had shifted over the nine years. So I spent a year and a half really, really soaking up the US market. But I heard a president role, and I love this notion of general management. I like managing across verticals. I love solving different and unique problems. And so president was interesting. And then he said Valicy, and then I was really interested because I had come to know Grover through my transition from Aristocrat to Konami, and had done a lot of research on the company because I had helped some coworkers explore opportunities.

And so when they said Val, "Wow, okay. I have friends there," and they happen to be really great people, so I knew of the company, and so I was intrigued. I'm like, "President, Valicy." And then the recruiter said, "And you'll have to relocate to North Carolina." And I was like, "Wow. This has been a wonderful conversation. Absolutely not. No chance. I'm done." And so I told the recruiter no twice, but you asked why did I ultimately do it? Well, the recruiter was extremely persistent. He came back. Guy was a former pastor, so he was very gentle in his sales and sensitive to my feelings. And so he called, I didn't feel like he was annoying, and he's like, "If you've got even any interest, would you be willing to have a chat with our founder?" I said, "Okay." So I talked to the founder. The founder convinced me to come to Greenville for a day, and the rest is history.

Once I got out of my rental car and met Garrett in front of the building, and he looked at me and goes, "What's up?" And then we walked through the building and he got to tell me a bit about the history, and I got to meet the people. I mean, man, it was magic. I get chills every time I tell the story because that first time I walked through the building, I got chills. You could feel it. There's just something different about this vibe. I mean, something really different that invokes a physical reaction. I mean, the people were so nice. It was almost threatening. It felt like a Disney movie or something.

But really the hook was the mission, vision, values. So as I sat through my interview, I could look over at the wall and there was this mission and these values, and they weren't just on the wall, you could feel it. You could see it, you could feel it. And if you ask Garrett about the success of Grover, he'd tell you that it was their commitment to the mission, vision, values, a really simple vision and then the set of values that they ran through. And I felt lucky to have worked in an environment like that once. I got to lead the team over in Asia, and I felt we were very people and values-driven, and it was probably the best five years of my career to date, but that was one business division within a very large company and the company didn't subscribe to those.

So I always sort of wondered could we bottle up what we experienced in that region, but scale it across a company? So in the end, it was the trip to Greenville, the vibe, the mission. We want to do something truly special, and then just the passion around doing that.

You also mentioned the appeal of a president role, and you called it a general manager type role, and I know there's a lot of folks that are in leadership positions, they're VP level or C-suite or whatever, and I feel like everybody to an extent has some level of imposter syndrome, and I think a lot of people are thinking about making a similar leap. Any words of wisdom or advice, I know it's early days, just for folks who are thinking about, "Hey, I'm in a leadership position, but I'd like to, whether it's be a founder or whether it's be a president, actually lead an organization on what that transition has been like"?

Yeah, my advice would be do it. It's a blast. I mean, not without its challenges, that's for sure. I mean, in a role like this, a primary responsibility is managing the ownership, and in evaluating these type of opportunities, I think that's incredibly important is do you have chemistry with the ownership. And you've got options when you start to look at jobs like this, you've got publicly-traded companies, in which case the shareholders are your owners, you've got private equity situations. In this case, we have a sole proprietor with zero debt and a reasonable bit of cash from the last transaction to fuel our growth. And so important to me in making this leap was my chemistry. I mean, you said, "What's the why?" Well, I got out of my car. I met Garrett. He's a huge part of the why. He's just a good human with great values that wants to do something special, and I feel like we've got good chemistry in doing that.

But look, I mean, it's not all going to be right. We're going to make mistakes. But look, 20 years of experience, general management in the background, enough mistakes, enough hard lessons that I do believe that those are the building blocks. So man, I'm a huge advocate and it's been fun, Dan. I've gotten to have a couple of those conversations so far because wow, who would've thought? What a cool opportunity. Should I consider something like that? So yeah.

Cool. Now, Chris, with Grover's background, so the mathematical foundation of all those products being pull tabs and the finite deal pool, this type of thing, and just considering the pressures that are on any new entrant to the industry, I take it that you're really focusing on the class two market, and I'm just curious if you're looking at those non-traditional RNG segments, all those that are out there, so your pull tabs, your bingo, your HHR, that kind of thing, can you give us a bit of a sense of what you're going for there?

So first, I think it's cool that you're familiar with the Grover model and pull tabs and how those things work. You mentioned focus. I think that's a really important word, focus. No, we will not be entering all the non-traditional RNG markets. There are some that are just not interesting, but we do have an approved NIGC-compliant class two platform that is scaling today through regulated class two markets. So we've had really some amazing uptake in Washington, the cluster in the Northwest, Oklahoma and surrounding states. And so class two is very much a focus. Everything you saw on the booth at G2E was class two with a small preview of a VLT product. And that is so beyond just technology and game development, having a heritage of pull tabs, Grover very much had a competency in serving distributed gaming markets or route markets. So how do we get product into, I mean, you said earlier, convenience stores, how do we do that? So we do believe that we have a good commercial competency and a good infrastructure, if you will, to distribute into route markets. And so that will be something that we explore over time.

Okay, cool. And just hearkening back to what Dan and I were discussing at this year's G2E, with the operators just griping quite a bit about these monster cabinets that were all the rage for so long. I noticed that the centerpiece platform that you had there, the Teton LE, you guys stayed away from that skyscraper footprint. So can you maybe touch on that decision and the reasons for going that way?

I can. So I'm going to give a two-part answer to this because you did touch on it earlier in your intro, and you mentioned cost and sight lines, and I agree 100% that those would be drivers for these types of considerations. And you talked about, I think you mentioned a cabinet, almost like an arms race towards larger screens. Everything was just getting bigger and brighter over time. I learned this very recently with the cabinet that you mentioned. We had the Teton LE, which is the slant model, but also on our stand at G2E, you would've seen a bank of our Teton Upright, which is brand new. I mean, it was the first time we've shown it to the market. So I just went through this exercise, which is one reason I'm so familiar with the topic, and I worked through it with Nick DeMarco, who I'll talk about a little bit more in a second. He's got a long history in cabinet design.

And when we do these types of things, we build models. And so when we're looking at the Teton Upright, which is the version that sits on top of a slot base, not its own stand. So we're looking at the Teton Upright. On the model, we hung a 43-inch monitor and we hung a 49-inch monitor. The 49-inch monitor extended the entire width of the slot base. So a 49-inch monitor extends the entire width of a standard slot base. A lot of casinos in the world have standard slot bases. So unless we are going to force a large scale replacement of slot bases and therefore floor reconfigurations, which ultimately means less slot machines, which can be okay in certain venues, and I'm sure you've talked about that trend and pods and sight lines and all that. But look, there's still a whole lot of standard slot bases in the world and if we push it beyond 49, we just can't fit. So at some point the race has to stop and there's only two ways to go. You either stick at a 49 or you go the other way.

And just an observance of aesthetics, industrial design, sight lines, signage, packaging, there's a lot of other ways to make cabinets grow. We landed on something just a little bit smaller. So we went with a 43 instead of a 49 and we had a number of players cycle through the cabinet to talk about play experience and feedback was overwhelmingly positive. So we're good on that and pretty excited that the look, the feel, but also to your point, the operator friendliness with the ability to scale. We do have some very modular infill as well as signage options that can be easily installed, configured by our own technicians without the need for third parties. So while it's a smaller form factor, it can be expanded to compete with the biggest and the brightest, if you will.

But the second part to my answer and the reason I love your question, because I talked about some friends I used to work with who are now at Valicy, and prior to my decision, we had hired a guy named Nick DeMarco. And Nick has just, again, a crazy track record in cabinet design. I bet that he's produced almost every number one cabinet by industry reports in the last 15 years. So he has an amazing pedigree and just a real eye for what's important to both the operator and the player. So him being here, it's a special part of our journey. And again, he was a big part of the Teton LE and the Teton Upright that you saw in the booth. So really excited for what the future will hold and working on new projects with him.

Great. So we've talked about the Grover/Valicy pull tab charitable route DNA. When you think about that transition from those types of products to more traditional casino environment with class two, it's a pretty significant shift in the types of games you're producing. So whether that's math model, mechanics, I imagine you're designing for different cabinet. Everything's different. So can you give us a sense of what that looks like from the game dev and studio standpoint? Is that just transitioning the kinds of products folks are designing or is that standing up new studios or what does that look like?

Yeah, if only the audience could see the smile on my face as you're asking this question.

You always have a smile on your face, Chris.

Well, we try, Nick, we try. But look, honestly, so far we have done nothing more than love on our homegrown talent in this space. Our game dev team is so special. And while they embraced pull tab and were fully committed to designing the best possible games for that market, they drew their inspiration from casinos and YouTube. So they would travel to casinos and play in the largest regulated casinos. They would then study influencers online and be looking at the latest mechanics and really they could only dream of one day developing those. So those same people who were developing our pull tab games just had this innate want to develop something bigger and go and compete. And we all love a little bit of name in lights every once in a while, and it's like to get into that space and have a chance to hit industry rankings and get to see yourself and your brand and that which you created amongst the best in the industry is just so humbling and very cool.

And so our developers were just chomping at the bit to get there. And yeah, it's kind of like the shackles are off or the animals are out of their cages. And I don't know if that... I just called our game developers animals. I don't know how well that sits, but I think you get it. It's kind of letting them loose and it's been really, really cool to watch. I mean the ideas, the innovation, it's special and something I enjoy. Nothing I like more on a Friday than going down late and just having a play session and sitting down and getting to see what's new. But this said, I mean, we can't grow to be what we want without welcoming some new people. So had one new addition to the team that we're really excited about over the last month, and then we're always looking for really, really talented artists, game developers, mathematicians, but those who feel plugged into our mission and are happy to live our values. So that's key.

Is it one studio you have or you have multiple studios?

We have three now. So we have three studios, three different locations, but multiple teams within each studio, which is scale.

Great. I guess putting my operator hat on for a second. So I imagine it's very tough going into new markets, especially in class two, because I always felt like class two is a little different because you have to achieve some kind of minimum scale in class two because you as an OEM, I mean you can depending on how well capitalized you are, but it's difficult to go in and say, "Hey, I want to put four games on the floor," because you got to standup servers, very expensive. So you have to go in, I don't know if it's 10, 15, 20, you have to ask for a significant number of games. And I imagine that presents, A, challenges, but B, it requires operators to be open to trying new things and taking a leap of faith. So what's your pitch to folks on why they have all these legacy OEMs, why they should be displacing someone or pushing someone or minimizing someone's footprint to bring another supplier in when truthfully today there's a lot of competition out there, right?

So I feel like we found a little bit of a sweet spot here in the sense that we haven't seen a new entrant into class two in a while. So maybe the market was craving just a little something new, but that alone isn't going to do it. I mean, we've got to prove ourselves. And again, it's about performance at the end of the day. And we've been a bit lucky in that sense. We've had some real early wins and that we've hit some of the industry rankings early on. I never would've thought at this point in our journey that we would've landed quite where we did in the rankings with not just one game, but several games in our portfolio. So we've started with a pretty deep portfolio. We've got over 30 games approved, and again, with a number of them in the rankings, that goes a long way.

But it's wild. My customer meetings in the last 10 months have just been different. Kind of like I said, when I walked in the front door of our Greenville headquarters, it just hit different. These meetings, they're different. We're spending a lot less time talking about product and a lot more time talking about that why, why we started our business and being rooted in that horrible customer service and our desire to do something completely different. We also spend a lot of time talking about our people, because again, you asked about our games and entering new verticals. I mean, it's really our people who are plowing forward in that path. And we spend a lot of time talking about our culture of care and how we genuinely care for our people and how we want to extend that, not just to our people, but to them as customers. So it's been different, I would say, but in a really positive way. So the performance helps, but I think the why is going a long way.

Yeah, the why and the people at G2E in your booth, you had something called the CARE Corner. You want to talk about that?

Yeah, it was subtle, but it's really cool that you noticed that. Yeah, so CARE for us is about the wellbeing of the person. We believe that if you are complete in your life outside of work, that you'll be productive at your life inside of work. And so CARE has five pillars. They are spiritual, mental, physical, relational, and financial, and we have a team of people at Valicy that are responsible for CARE. They are a resource for anybody in our company to go to for anything that they may be facing in their personal life related to those five pillars. And we're here to help in that sense. It's not that we're necessarily doing counseling, but we have resources for counseling. We can point you in the right direction. It's not that we can do your diet for you, but we have resources who can provide you a diet if you're interested in the physical health pillar. We've got access to gyms around town.

And again, it's special, and I really do believe it's made a difference in a whole lot of people's lives, and again, the way that they show up at work and the way they represent to customers. And yeah, something that is a big part of our mission statement. So it's funny, we've talked a lot about the mission, vision, values, and I haven't actually said the mission statement, but it is we exist to create excellent gaming experiences, treat our customers the way we want to be treated, and positively impact people's lives through a culture of care. So yeah, I talked about values just hanging on walls, and I've lived and worked in those environments where that happens, where they're printed on a nice pretty piece of paper and you look at them, but nobody knows what they mean, and they certainly don't live them or live into them.

And yeah, really, it's cool. I mean, if you head to our website, it talks a lot about it, you can explore it, you can submit a CARE request online. And I mean, that starts with our employees, but there's no gate on that. Anybody can sit. I mean, Dan, if you had a bad day and you wanted to talk to somebody, I mean, submit a CARE request. You can find that on the website. So it's neat. And we had it on display at G2E. We had our head of CARE on the booth, guy named John Conway, who's just a really special person, and he was there as kind of an ambassador for that program. People had questions, they could have a chat, but it was neat. It was an area where there weren't a whole lot of slot machines, and it was a place you could sit and have a good chat, so it was fun.

Well, it's cool. This really does differentiate you, and it's interesting for me... I had a conversation earlier today and we were talking about loyalties in the gaming industry and operator perspectives towards certain companies. You were with Konami, it's one of those that's very customer-focused and they have great relationships with people. AGS would be another one where they have really tight relationships for their company, and to a large extent, a lot of people at Light & Wonder and these places as well. And it really does drive a lot of business. When people are out there, really, they like what you're about, they recognize good people, and they're rooting for you, which I think is a huge thing that's been... For all the companies I mentioned there, it's a big thing, and I can certainly see that paying off for you guys as part of your ultimate success, no doubt about it. Relationships really are driving so much, and anything you can do to really strengthen and build on those is fantastic.

The crazy thing, Nick, is you said that it's going to pay off, but if it doesn't, who cares?

Yeah, I gotcha. Yeah.

Because it's not about the returns, it's not about the dividends, it's the part of our mission that is positively impacting people's lives. And so I think that's the secret sauce, if you will. I do believe that relationships are key, and again, having been rooted in bad customer service, that's what we're about. Relational is one of our seven values, relational. So building trust with customers and teammates. So we absolutely believe that that's foundational to our success, but regarding CARE, if it weren't to result in another dollar, that's okay.

Sure. Yeah, I get you. My point is really just that every operator gets the pitches where people come in and drone on about hardware specs or drop a cherry-picked performance claim and this kind of stuff, and I'm sure it's hugely refreshing too for people to have very differentiated interactions like that. There's no doubt about it, and I understand completely. So Chris, when are we going to see you and Valicy next? What do you have in the hopper there for new events and whatnot?

Well, if you happen to be floating around class two markets between now and the end of the year, you'll probably see us. We're loaded up with new installs and a couple of key product launches. So we'll be doing some debuts of marquee new product. Again, I talked about our clusters up in the northwest and the states surrounding Oklahoma, so we'll be spending a lot of time out there installing and launching new products, super exciting. And then we've got plans to be at all the major trade shows next year. So gosh, it's hard to believe that we're almost in 2027, but we'll be back on the beat. US focused, so nothing international planned at the moment, but we'll start seeing around the IGA timeframe and working through the summer and then G2E again next year. So super excited for that chance to connect with all of you in person as soon as we can.

Okay, great. Well, I think, Dan, did you have anything else for Chris today? Do you want to beat him up anymore?

No, no, not beat him up. I was just going to ask Chris when folks are out there and about in class two markets, what's the hit Valicy theme they should be looking out for?

Hey, look for Falling Fruits. So Falling Fruits is our stalwart. It just kind of climbed into the core category, so it's been out there and performing for some time and just an awesome, awesome classic Valicy game. But as we head into the Halloween season over the next couple of weeks, keep your eyes out for Blood Moon Monsters. So got two titles, Mr. Hyde and Headless Horseman, and arriving on casino floors just in time for Halloween. So put that Mike Myers costume on Nick and go play some Headless Horsemen. But it's out the gate strong. Super, super excited for that one. So yeah, look for Falling Fruits and Blood Moon Monsters.

Okay. Will do. Well, Chris, thanks so much for spending time with us today. Obviously, we both wish you nothing but the greatest of success in everything that you're doing there. And yeah, we were, I think both certainly impressed by what we saw there at G2E this year. So yeah, best of luck with everything and no doubt we'll be bumping into you out in the field. So looking forward to that.

And it's always such a pleasure talking with you guys and thanks a ton for the invite back. It was great spending some time with you guys today.

Yeah, likewise. Okay. Well, thanks so much, gents. We'll see you.

See you.