INSIGHT ICE LONDON REVIEW


Post-Covid e-gaming doubled down on online gaming content. Has this continued from last year into this?


Covid affected the business negatively on the land-based side, as e-gaming was traditionally 90/10 split in favour of land-based over online. However, following very intensive development during the pandemic to concentrate on the online segment, today the global parameters of the business show that we are now 50/50 split between land-based and online. Which is not to say that land-based has dropped while online has grown. Land-based has normalised while online has expanded dramatically, growing the overall revenues of the business.


New market opportunities continue to present themselves, both in land-based and online. However, business activities have slowed in our domestic market in the Czech Republic, which has been hit by major legislation changes, which includes certifications for bonusing and marketing that have affected both land-based and online games. Unfortunately, this is a trend that we are seeing across Europe, with increased bureaucracy and administration now part of the every day business.


I would also suggest that many of the large operators are not fighting against this trend, as a lack of marketing opportunities favours the established brands in the market. New entrants can’t gain a foothold if they are not allowed to market their presence.


We understand the need for robust regulation and support the measures of governments to protect players. We have been through huge growth in land-based, followed by restrictions in every market, and today after the huge boom in online, there is the need to accept similar restrictions to this market too.


It has been very difficult in the Czech Republic to bring players new games due to the restrictions that have come into force. We have lost significant time through the administration of new requirements, as opposed to developing games for the market. We believe that this is the historic low, we have 20 new games ready for the market that will be rolled out in batches to both online and land-based sectors. Tey will be available shortly for multiple jurisdictions over the course of 2024-5. We also have a new proto- type cabinet that launched at ICE London for the first time. We expect it to move to production in


Doubling Up


e-gaming


e-gaming presented its proto- type gaming cabinet at the ICE London 2024 exhibition, which it aims to launch in the third quarter this year. G3 spoke to Radek Pucek and Pavel Michalcio at the show about


the company’s progress both in land-based and online, market trends, and what the new


cabinet brings to its customer offer in 2024.


the third quarter of 2024. We are also working on providing additional link games for the market, which continue to be very popular with players.


In Spain, an important market for e-gaming, feedback is that the market has stabilised and has slowed a little. Customer demand for links continues to grow, so this is an area that we are concentrating our development. Tis is the plan for 2024, and once this is done we will approach new markets both for land-based and online.


Do you see the move of ICE to Barcelona as being positive for e-gaming?


Yes, we have a domestic market in Spain and


LatAm customer base that Barcelona is much more likely to serve than London. ICE has been a very big and important event for e-gaming, but we see the move to Barcelona as being a Spanish exhibition with international exhibitors.


Do you see land-based continuing to be an important part of the e-gaming business?


As long as we continue to see potential we will continue to support the land-based business. We have clients in many countries in both categories, so it is logical to co-develop games for both sectors across our markets. As to the new markets, it is easier to enter from the online perspective, but at the moment we have several countries that we are looking to enter in both categories.


Land-based is stable, but it is online that is growing and we don’t see an end-point to that potential. However, we are never trying to be the fastest in a market. We consider our market entry, we aim to explore the market and ensure that we grow consistently as it evolves. Everything must be based on the legal and technical requirements and see how the games perform in reality.


You have to meet the expectations of the player. Tere is always the question of going directly to the market or finding a partner and at e-gaming we establish long-term business partnerships. We are not seeking customers, we are seeking partners.


Te reason why we don’t create huge volumes of games every year is that quantity doesn’t suit our business model. We want long-term partners that we can work together with to establish and create business growth for 10 years. We work with local partners to ensure that our products are best-suited to their market, as they have the experience we need to localise our games for their players.


What’s special about the photo-type cabinet you’re showing at ICE?


Large screens are the default setting in the market right now and this cabinet follows this trend. We need to bring something new to the customers as they are constantly demanding something fresh, something different.


We have to adapt to the requirements and regulations for each market, and we are currently trialling the cabinet in our own locations before the Q3 launch.


The reason why we don’t create huge volumes of games every year is that quantity doesn’t suit our business model. We want long-term partners that we can work together with to establish and create business growth for 10 years. We work with local partners to ensure that our products are best-suited to their market, as they have the experience we need to localise our games for their players.


We are testing and adapting within our own operations, just as we do with our land-based and online games. Right now we are making adjustments that can take as little as a few weeks, or as long as a few months. We build everything in-house at e-gaming, which is to say that we design the cabinet ourselves and assemble the product from the best components available on the market. And, of course, all the software is ours too.


WIRE / PULSE / INSIGHT / REPORTS P47


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