Review ICE TOTALLY GAMING 2015
Inspired continued its amazing run of success at the ICE show in London with the latest set of Virtual Sports titles, new acquistion announcements, VLTs, AWPs and a suite of killer mobile phone games
Inspired has made a flying start to 2015, beginning with the acquisition of soccer social games developer, We R Football. January also saw the announcement of senior team changes and new recruits, the unveiling of a new brand identity, the launch of Virtual Sports in Kazakhstan, Inspired’s acquisition of a 100 per cent stake in Merkur Inspired in Italy, and finally a partnership, unveiled at ICE, with High 5 Games. Oh, and Inspired launched a few products at ICE too, including a brand new FIFA-esque Virtual Sports, Rush Football 2.
“It’s a new Inspired for 2015,” described Inspired CEO Luke Alvarez on the stand at ICE. “We started Inspired in 2001 as an entertainment software company and we’re still an entertainment software company, but with a new brand, an international business focus and a diverse technology and game mix that will propel Inspired into our next decade of growth.”
The shift in brand identity to the new folded blade design and simplified Inspired title (as opposed to Inspired Gaming Group), it is reflective of its expanding focus on both gambling B2B and social gambling B2C. This was illustrated by the recent acquisition of We R Football, whose mobile product I AM PLAYR is a social football game already enjoyed by 20+ million people worldwide that lets the user play the life of a professional footballer. The new consumer-ready brand identity is part of Inspired’s omnichannel games and technology – launching games simultaneously on VLT’s, mobile regulated gambling platforms and social b2c.
“At ICE we are showing new games, new apps, new cabinets and a new brand,” highlighted Mr. Alvarez. “The Optimus and Inceptor are two new VLT cabinets, launched in readiness to deploy into the new VLT market in Greece, into Asia and modern VLT markets internationally. Italy remains a big market for Inspired in which we’re one of the three big suppliers of VLTs. We also see Greece growing into a very significant market for Inspired in the near future.” In addition to Inspired’s VLT success in Italy, the company currently boasts a 95 per cent market share of the Virtual Sports sector in that country. “Italy continues to be a very important market for us,” underlined Mr. Alvarez. “Since
4 2
INSPIRED: CAPTURING THE ESSENCE OF THE REAL GAME
enterprise that employs 100+ people to develop our current crop of Virtual Sports products. It’s been an amazing success story.”
Unsurprisingly, mobile also forms a major element in Inspired’s multi-channel content and distribution model and has been the focus of a large amount of corporate investment. “We believe that omni-channel is the way forward,” said Mr. Alvarez. “If you look at the figures from Paddy Power, with over one half of GGR generated by mobile and William Hill, whereby
Luke Alvarez
we launched our VLT’s in 2011, our share of the market has rapidly grown and we’ve expanded into Virtual Sports – it’s now a key market for us which is why we completed the 100 per cent acquisition of our Merkur Inspired JV at the beginning of the year.”
Omni-channel content and distribution has become a mainstay of the Inspired range, with select new games launching across all channels simultaneously as part of a programme to engage with players across every type of media. “Our job,” affirmed Mr. Alvarez, “is to supply gaming and lottery operators that can touch players with content that is available across retail, online, mobile and social gaming platforms.” The acquisition of We R Football has given Inspired access to a 20 million-player database whose largest market to date is Brazil. It’s a move into non-gambling markets for Inspired, which will broaden the reach of Inspired’s footprint.
“In the coming year we look forward to delivering upon our existing contracts for land- based VLT’s, Virtual Sports and Mobile,” declared Mr. Alvarez. “Since the launch of Inspired’s Virtual Sports in 2002, we’ve seen over a decade’s worth of amazing innovation that has brought fluid HD graphics and stunning motion-capture techniques to a gaming
“If you look at the figures from Paddy Power, with over one half of GGR generated by mobile and William Hill,
whereby mobile is now larger than desktop but still trails
retail, you can see the shift in player preferences.”
mobile is now larger than desktop but still trails retail, you can see the shift in player preferences that will ultimately change the retail environment too. I firmly believe that we will see the evolution of low-tech casinos into entertainment stores for omni-channel gaming, whereby you’ll get the ‘full fat’ gaming experience in retail and a ‘lower-cal’ version in mobile and online.”
Inspired is one of only a handful of companies worldwide that has launched online, mobile and land-based versions of the same game and same gaming experience. This omni-channel release strategy means that Inspired can deliver a single marketing campaign on 20,000+ machines in venues and across all mobile and online channels simultaneously for maximum exposure and impact.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108