INSIGHT ICE SHOW REVIEW SYNOT
SYNOT has a large share of the VLT market in Greece, how is that market developing?
We have over 27 per cent of the VLT sector in Greece, which is an overall market of 35,000 VLTs. Currently we operate 6,700 VLTs in that sector. Te certification process remains complex, but there are not a huge number of competitors as in other markets, with just four vendors.
Are there any new or emerging markets that you’re targeting this year?
Our target for this year is further growth in Europe, and expansion in Africa to build on our existing presence, also South America, which is a huge territory. And if the year has 14 months, then we can also target the Asian market. We are looking forward to enter new markets in Asia in 2025.
Is it easier to establish a beachhead in a market via online as opposed to land-based?
I think there is a lot of
correlation between online and land-based players. I see in SYNOT's domestic market, Czech and Slovakia, all of the
successful games providers, are developing for both online having started from a very
strong presence in land-based. At the beginning, we didn't know how to explain it - as many of the large online
them that they are producing a ‘commodity.’ When you walk around a show like ICE you see just how many online game developers there are in the market. Tere are hundreds and hundreds of online game studios producing games annually, which begs the questions: how can you differentiate yourself? Te market is moving so fast that despite the coverage Synot has achieved, it does not make too much sense that we create different games for different markets. We conduct game adjustments, but in general we produce, develop and launch a game as quickly as possible. In this type of market, it’s the only way you can produce games.
However, there are operators asking for customised games, which is something that we are developing as they are heavily supported by the operators.
Are land-based games keeping pace with your online output? And is the differentiation of games with bigger screens and LED lighting getting too exaggerated?
As regards the hardware, land-based games I believe are keeping pace with demand.
providers were successful initially in these markets, before their presence eventually fell away, so that now you only
have a handful of successful online-only providers, the rest are traditional slots companies that are also offering their games online.
Tough I do wonder when the pace of growth for larger screens is going to end? I remember a few years ago thinking that 27ins. is more than we’d ever need, but now the average is 32ins. In terms of the software, it’s a little easier because when we develop new games we try to develop for both online and land- based at the same time. Tough the process of certification is quite painful, meaning that you’re usually unable to launch them at the same time in the markets. We start with the aim of crating identical games for online and land-based.
Actually, this is the first year that our online team have been approached by operators asking if SYNOT also produces land-based games? Previously, it was vice-versa, but now we are as widely known in online as we have traditionally been in land-based. In the past, we would target a market from the perspective of land-based, but now we go hand-in-hand. We analyse the opportunities to establish and develop a market from the perspective of both land-based and online. If an online presence can help land-based expansion in terms of the market, I think the entry point is very helpful.
Tere is a synergy between the products for land-based and online, such that it is easier and faster to develop the market when we have both channels available to us. Developing and delivering a game cabinet can take over a year, but with online the delivery time is much quicker. We see advantages in the land-based business, where a certain degree of success and performance means that you have a much better chance to create a strong player base, a loyal player base that recognises and follows your games.
Would SYNOT ever consider becoming solely an online developer?
It’s an interesting question and one that was debated in the company as we exited the Covid period. However, if you take into consideration the positioning of the SYNOT business in the land-based market, where in many countries, including Czech Republic and Slovakia, we have a dominant position, not only from our own business perspective but with a view to the partnerships we have developed over many years. We have long- term commitments in many, many markets in the land-based sector. It also wouldn’t make sense in terms of revenue. However, I’d also say that we are very happy with the additional growth and development of the online business for SYNOT.
WIRE / PULSE / INSIGHT / REPORTS P51
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