Lightning Link lifts Aristocrat online

David McKee

5 September 2025 at 2:06pm UTC-4

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Aristocrat Leisure’s Lightning Link social-casino game outperformed the sector by 11% in August. That news was reported by Jefferies Equity Research analyst Kai Erman in a 4 September investor note.

The social-casino market “remains challenged,” Erman wrote, citing “various industry headwinds.” Light & Wonder’s SciPlay division was said to be flat in terms of revenue. Its Jackpot Party continued to improve its numbers sequentially but still lagged the sector by 14%.

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Aristocrat’s Heart of Vegas — Casino Slots game was reported to be outperforming by 6%. Erman expected an additional, incremental boost for the company from its August release of NFL Super Bowl Slots.

Although SciPlay revenues slipped 2% quarter-to-quarter, there were signs of life. The 88 Fortunes Slot Casino Games offering leapt 62% while Quick Hit Slots — Vegas Casino hopped 10%.

Erman was optimistic about Aristocrat. “Ongoing launches of sweepstakes products may provide competitive pressures; however, we do note that discussion on the legality of such products has increased in the US, which may slow ramp-up,” he penned.

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Indeed, Erman saw Aristocrat growing market share despite sweepstakes-impacted market dynamics, ones which were proving adverse for other operators in the social-gaming sphere. He theorized that Aristocrat’s social-casino content was proving more attractive to players than what sweepstakes purveyors were offering.

The analyst warned, “igaming ramp-up in the US may present a competitive threat to social casino.” Still, he figured that any conversion of social players to real-money ones by Aristocrat would be a boost to the company, “given stronger operating margins and unit economics in the category.”