IGT PlayDigital’s Andrew Bonnici unveils November Mega Vault upgrades
IGT PlayDigital is set to release the biggest iteration of its Mega Vault this month, as well as combining the prize pool across all operators and jurisdictions.
Talking to CDC Gaming at G2E in late September, IGT PlayDigital Vice President of Product, Platforms and Data Andrew Bonnici said the enhanced Mega Vault was the culmination of a year’s work, in which there had been two previous iterations to date.
He said the pooled prize pot was the feature most requested from operators over that time, hence it appearing in the third iteration this month.
“That’s a big win for the operators because they can market a much bigger prize pool,” Bonnici says. “And it’s a big win for the players themselves because they have chances for bigger prizes as well.”
Moreover, he said the group had more big plans for the 2026. The first is to launch a mini game mechanic to enhance the interactivity of the Mega Vault and the second is to make the Mega Vault a more permanent feature of IGT games with a longer themed presence in certain seasons.
“We sat down at the end of last year with the commercial team and we saw that [the Mega Vault] was really successful. Players were using it a lot and operators were liking it,” he says.
“We wanted to try and leverage this success to turn it into a brand that we could own and run with over the years. So, after a lot of good and bad ideas, we settled on this Mega Vault.”
Building player engagement
The vault themed widget is a draggable drop mechanic that players have to release their prizes from. The first iteration was launched in May, with a second being released in September, this month will see the third and biggest iteration to date.
“Let’s say in September, we run it from Thursday to Sunday, a four-day period where there’s about 400 prizes a day. We divide it in two tiers,” Bonnici explains. “There’s the bigger prizes ranging from US$1,000 to US$5,000 and the smaller prizes of US$50, US$10. And as the players play over during the day, they get a chance to win one of these prizes, which they won’t know until the win-celebration happens and they can see all the prizes.”
Asked about the payout rate, Bonicci says, “We try to understand what the traffic will be during the promotion, and depending on the amount of traffic we think there’s going to be, we try to adjust what hit rate makes sense to make it a good enough experience for players. So, you want them to see enough prizes going out and you want all the prizes to be given out at the end of the promo.”
IGT’s suite of player engagement mechanics includes, leaderboards, progressive jackpots, drops, and mystery prize draws. The system can be overlayed on any game and is fully customisable to fit the operator’s requirements and branding.
Over the course of the last three years IGT PlayDigital has built these features from scratch, going live in that time with almost all tier one and two operators in the US and Canada, and ramping up to more than 200 promotions last year.
“We work with them to understand whether they want to run retention campaigns or acquisition campaigns, and we’re trying to curate it – whether we run it over a weekend or over a week or a whole month. We’ve even run three-month-long promos with some customers,” he says.
While Bonnici can’t fully reveal how the mechanic will evolve over the coming years, it’s clear his team has big plans to continue building on it, making it a feature that players recognize and want to return to.
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The Backstory
Why the Mega Vault matters now
IGT PlayDigital’s decision to roll out a larger, pooled-prize version of Mega Vault in November builds on a year of rapid iteration and growing operator demand for cross-operator liquidity. The company framed Mega Vault from the outset as a hub that blends drops, jackpots and leaderboards into a single, reusable promotional layer. That intent was clear when the product debuted in late spring, with major U.S. operators leaning in as early adopters. The latest upgrade raises the ceiling on prize visibility and consistency across jurisdictions, a move aimed at helping operators market bigger campaigns and keep players engaged longer.
The strategy reflects two pressures converging on digital casino suppliers: the need to prove measurable retention impact for operators and the race to create recognizable promotional “brands” that can be re-run, scaled and merchandised throughout the year. By combining prize pools across partners, Mega Vault shifts from a site-limited perk to a networked experience that can support headline jackpots and frequent rewards without fragmenting liquidity.
From launch to lift-off
IGT PlayDigital formally introduced the concept in May, positioning the toolset as a one-stop promotional experience powered by its Engagement Platform. The first campaign went live May 23 with marquee names including Fanatics Casino, FanDuel Casino and Rush Street Interactive, according to the company’s announcement of the Mega Vault engagement tool launch. The pitch was straightforward: combine prize drops and leaderboards, standardize execution through a central hub and give operators more knobs to turn on pacing and reward frequency.
Early feedback set the direction for subsequent waves. Operators wanted more control over prize timing and tournament-style dynamics, but most of all they wanted scale. A pooled prize pot, now landing in the latest iteration, answers that brief by letting operators market larger events and sustain momentum over multi-day windows. It also takes advantage of traffic patterns—more brands and jurisdictions feeding the vault—so the headline amounts can climb without forcing any single operator to shoulder the funding or risk alone.
That cadence of improvement tracks with IGT PlayDigital’s broader engagement roadmap. The group has spent the past few years building overlay tools—leaderboards, progressive jackpots, mystery prizes—that can sit atop any title and run for a weekend, a week or even months. Turning Mega Vault into a recurring, branded promotion was a logical next step, evolving it from a feature drop into a platform that operators can plan around seasonally.
Product breadth underpins the pitch
IGT PlayDigital has been moving in parallel to deepen its game library, a critical complement to any engagement layer. A recent five-year deal with Galaxy Gaming expands the company’s online table mix with brands like 21+3, Perfect Pairs and Caribbean Stud. The licensing agreement, detailed in Galaxy Gaming reaches licensing agreement with IGT PlayDigital, gives IGT more variety in categories that perform consistently in regulated markets and on mobile.
At the same time, the studio continues to seed omnichannel titles meant to convert land-based familiarity into online sessions. The North American launch of Prosperity Link: Cai Yun Heng Tong, part of an established franchise, is the latest addition to that strategy. The title’s multi-grid “link” moments and grand jackpot mechanics are designed to deliver recurring peaks of excitement across sessions, as outlined in IGT PlayDigital welcomes Year of the Snake with new slot game. For engagement tools like Mega Vault, a steady flow of fresh, recognizable content improves the promotional canvas and gives operators more options to spotlight during campaigns.
The mix matters because promotional overlays are only as effective as the content they amplify. Table games reward frequent, quick-hit prize formats; omnichannel slots with bonus loops and jackpots create natural anchors for multi-day prize drops and leaderboards. By widening both, IGT makes Mega Vault more versatile across operator portfolios.
Leadership, licensing and a reshaped corporate platform
IGT PlayDigital’s organizational footing has shifted as well, with leadership continuity and regulatory milestones supporting the product push. PlayDigital chief Gil Rotem, who has overseen the business through meaningful share gains in North America, is on track for a Nevada license following a positive Gaming Control Board recommendation, according to IGT PlayDigital CEO on track to get Nevada license. The hearing underscored ongoing integration work after funds managed by Apollo Global Management acquired Everi’s and IGT’s gaming and digital operations in a $6.3 billion, all-cash transaction that grouped the businesses under the IGT banner.
While the structure is still evolving, the throughline for PlayDigital is clear: consolidate product development, leverage cross-vertical capabilities and scale promotional frameworks like Mega Vault across a broader base. Regulatory approvals such as Nevada’s are practical gating items for that plan, opening doors for deeper collaboration with operators headquartered or licensed in the state.
Operator economics raise the stakes
The timing also dovetails with improving online operator economics that put a premium on retention and monetization tools. One bellwether is BetMGM, which recently raised its 2025 revenue and profit outlook on sustained growth in online sports and casino. The joint venture now expects at least $2.6 billion in net revenue and at least $100 million in EBITDA next year, up from a breakeven view, per BetMGM upgrades financial outlook for 2025. The company reiterated that online sports should be profitable for the full year alongside strong igaming contribution.
That shift in guidance signals a market where promotional dollars are being scrutinized for return, not just grossing up handle. For suppliers, the implication is straightforward: promotions must be configurable, measurable and scalable. A cross-operator, pooled Mega Vault aligns with those priorities by concentrating attention around fewer, larger moments, enabling clearer attribution and letting operators tune hit rates and tiers to their specific traffic profiles.
What to watch next
The November release is not positioned as a finish line. IGT PlayDigital has telegraphed plans to layer in more interactivity through mini game mechanics and make Mega Vault a more persistent fixture during key seasons. That could turn episodic events into a rolling calendar of tentpoles, with operators slotting in campaigns to match acquisition pushes or retention goals.
Two markers will show whether the pooled approach delivers: the size and frequency of headline prizes across participating brands, and the breadth of operator adoption beyond early partners. Content cadence will also matter; the pipeline of table and slot additions, from Galaxy-powered tables to omnichannel slot launches, will determine how much creative variety operators can bring to each campaign. With leadership continuity and licensing progress, IGT’s bet is that Mega Vault can evolve from a toolset into a durable brand that underwrites loyalty in a more profit-conscious era.
