Focus
INSPIRED MERKUR
Merkur Inspired stand featured prominently at the ENADA Rome showinOctober.
Inspirational thinking
Having formed an alliance in the ItalianVLT gamingmarket with German powerhouse, the Gauselmann Group, Inspired Gaming is at the forefront of this unfolding newmarketplace
Inspired Gaming Group is one of the first companies entering new Italian VLT sector with a market-ready platform. "We've been doing this for a long time, having amassed the required number of functions within the software as dictated by the Italian authorities," explained Inspired CEO, Luke Alvarez. "The machine network is similar to that used in the UK FOBT sector in which we have been supplying server-based roulette games since 2001. Inspired had a product ready for the opening of the VLT sector in Italy as opposed to many other suppliers who have been building VLT platforms for the first time.
"We had a significant advantage from the start," described Mr. Alvarez. "The Italian government was asking for a specific kind of networked platform. This was not a slot machine simply connected to a network. This was not a first generation VLT venture. AAMS specified that it needed to monitor income data continuously, check machine events such as door openings and intrusion, payouts etc. Operators had to site terminals with no pre-installed games on them, instead having to install games over the wire to ensure that they are regulatory approved. In addition, every piece of software on the box needs to be validated, which
means that AAMS must be able to check the signature of each file against those they have approved. And all this must be done in real-time. The Italian VLT model is truly a real-time interactive, controlled and monitored server-based environment. It is very different from VLT implementation anywhere else in the world." To be one of the first three companies in the world able to meet these requirements is a major coup for Inspired, especially as the other two companies happen to be gaming giants Lottomatica and Novomatic.
First mover advantage is always a good thing, but in the newly created VLT sector in Italy, there are a host of opportunities for the pioneers in this market. "Being first out of the blocks allows us to get product out there early and test how players are reacting to games," stated Mr. Alvarez. "We are therefore able to improve product faster than our competitors. One of the reasons that Inspired's FOBTs make a lot more money than competitors in UK is due to the fact that we push three times as many games into the market as our rivals - we intend to do the same in Italy." Establishing its products in the marketplace from the outset enables Inspired to test the waters with players from the earliest stage.
G3i I ISSUE 2 I PAGE 22
InspiredGaming Group CEO,
Luke Alvarez.
Putting new games through the testing labs ensures that operators won't be short of new games to place on site from Inspired and can have greater confidence in games that have been thoroughly tested. "It's also a fact," described Mr. Alvarez, "that of the 15+ suppliers currently looking to work with the 10 concessionaires, around half have no reasonable prospect of getting through the testing process. These companies have completely underestimated the complexity of what is involved. While concessionaires wait for their supplier to get up to speed, they will take the opportunity to talk to a secondary supplier."
OPENINGTHEFLOODGATES Inspired's Open platform is exactly that - open. Much like a PC, the platform is agnostic, accepting games from any
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