Book of Ra is a perfect example because the brand is established and the integrity of the game can be preserved. But what about the other direction? Tere is now an entire generation of players whose first gambling
experience is online. Some may never have visited an arcade or casino. So why shouldn't a game they already know online become the reason they engage with a physical machine? We have experimented with bringing successful online content into land-based environments. At an exhibition in the Netherlands, for example, we had an online
game running on a physical machine. A young guy came over and rec- ognised it immediately because he played it online. He hadn't known it existed on a machine. Ten he said he owned five bars and wanted machines. Tat clicked for me. If you have a brand that people already know online and you can
translate it successfully into an experience that complies with the land-based market, that can become the bridge.
We have to innovate within the boundaries available to us. The advantage we have is that we now understand a huge amount about compliance from both land-based and online gaming. Those two worlds are
increasingly dealing with similar restrictions and that knowledge becomes part of the solution.
Is attracting that online generation into physical venues one of the industry's biggest long-term challenges? Absolutely. Otherwise, at some point younger consumers will ask: why should I go there? Physical venues need to become social spaces where people interact. Technology can become the catalyst connecting those experiences. I can imagine a streamer playing in a physical venue while people online participate in the same tournament or experience. Technologically, we can do many of these things. Te challenge is how you make them work within regulation.
Does that mean the distinction between land-based and online eventually becomes less useful? I think those areas will converge. Te consumer doesn't necessarily
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think in those categories. Tey want to access entertainment through whatever technology is available to them. But the glue is always the game. And ideally the game becomes a brand. If a brand has survived for more than 20 years, like Book of Ra, that
tells you something about the strength of the underlying game. Look at roulette. It hasn't disappeared. For many young people visiting a casino for the first time, roulette may still be the first game they play. It is simple, everybody understands it and it has a community element. Technology changes, but those fundamentals remain important.
Does 25 years of experience therefore remain relevant even when you're dealing with technologies that didn't exist when Greentube began? Definitely, because you always have to remain player-centric. How people experience what we provide is the essence of the business. Technology can be completely new, but understanding why people engage with a game, why they want to play together or why they respond to a particular environment remains valuable. Tis experience helps you make decisions about new technology because the technology itself isn't the objective. Te player experience is.
Regulation has become significantly more complex during that 25-year period. Does that make innovation harder? It makes innovation even more important. Te playing field isn't always equal because regulated businesses have to operate within restrictions while black-market operators may ignore them. But we cannot solve that by ignoring regulation ourselves. We have to innovate within the boundaries available to us. Te
advantage we have is that we now understand a huge amount about compliance from both land-based and online gaming. Tose two worlds are increasingly dealing with similar restrictions and that knowledge becomes part of the solution.
Is Greentube particularly valuable within the wider group because it can experiment in areas that might be harder to pursue within a traditional land-based organisation? Yes, but it can still become part of the bigger group solution. Tat's the real strength. Greentube has the people and the technology, and we also have the wider group behind us. Content from NOVOMATIC was fundamental to Greentube's development, and today with projects in- volving server-based technology and physical hardware, that group support becomes important again. Te strength is combining those synergies while retaining the ability to innovate. Ultimately, we are moving towards networked gaming and towards
solutions rather than simply products. Te solution starts with the game. Good games drive everything, and technology supports that.
So the future supplier is increasingly selling a solution rather than a machine or an individual game?
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