American gaming machines innovator Scientific Games Corporation has announced the launch of a pilot program that has seen Germany’s Sachsenlotto roll out a limited number of its PlayCentral HD self-service lottery scratchcard vending machines.

The Las Vegas-headquartered firm used an official Wednesday press release (pdf) to detail that the first-of-its-kind arrangement has involved the lottery for the eastern German state of Saxony introducing the units at local malls and retail locations as well as within its headquarters in the historic city of Leipzig.

Experimental exercise:

Scientific Games Corporation revealed that the on-trial PlayCentral HD machines have been customized with the livery of Sachsenlotto and are also accepting debit card transactions after being integrated with the state lottery’s payment provider. The developer explained that the vending advances have now joined its stable of over 12,000 such units exploited by operators around the world and are moreover utilizing age verification software so as to meet local responsible gaming requirements.

Rapid rise:

Matthias Muller, International Lottery Systems Sales and Marketing Vice-President for Scientific Games Corporation, used the press release to proclaim that scratchcard titles are ‘the fastest growing lottery games in Saxony and Germany’ and that the PlayCentral HD machines furthermore come complete with ‘a player check-out experience similar to shopping online.’

Read a statement from Muller…

“Self-service technology is already modernizing the lottery retail network in the United States and in other countries. Scientific Games Corporation has led innovation in this area, helping our lottery customers expand retail distribution to drive maximum sales and profits for their good causes.”

Customer consideration:

For his part and Siegfried Bohring, Deputy Managing Director for Sachsenlotto, declared that the PlayCentral HD units will assist the lottery in ‘meeting increased consumer demand’ for scratchcards while simultaneously allowing it to align ‘with international trends for player self-service solutions.’

Bohring’s statement read…

“This important pilot is off to a strong start and may guide other German lotteries in their retail modernization plans.”