“We’re approaching Latin America in a very strategic and considered way”

Why have you decided not to participate in SAGSE with a stand this year?
We are exhibiting at about seven shows per year at the moment, so unfortunately you have to draw the line somewhere. This isn’t to say that Argentina isn’t an interesting market for Inspired or that the SAGSE show isn’t worth attending. We’re approaching Latin America in a very strategic and considered way – we have a lot of energy channeled towards Colombia and Mexico at the moment. 
 
Besides taking part in Ey! Are you making other trips to visit casino operators?
I personally spend a lot of time in Latin America. I managed to catch up with old and new contacts during my most recent visit and it was great to see so many familiar faces at the EY! Conference.  
 
Surely you met all the big Latin American clients at G2E Vegas. What has been their feedback?
G2E Vegas was a successful show for us in terms of Latin American new business. The operators we had meetings with – especially those from the countries we are focusing on – were particularly excited by our new cabinet, Blaze, which is a spacious slant top powered by our Open SBG Core platform. Blaze is just about to launch with several operators in Mexico, but we expect to see demand from across Latin America.
 
What Inspired products have performed better within this region?
For Colombia we have a locally assembled cabinet called Machete, which is powered by our Open SBG Core platform and has a library of hit games including Jungle Bucks.  We launched Storm MX in Mexico around a year ago and are adding to the product range by launching Blaze as a slant top alternative.
 
Our Virtual Sports are live with Caliente across 13 countries and are performing very well. Casino sportsbooks in countries such as Mexico, Panama and Venezuela can now benefit from the popularity of Inspired’s large range of virtual sports, such as horse racing, greyhound racing, soccer, speedway and motor racing. The sports are randomly generated to make each race or match unique and are transmitted to venues via a satellite feed. Our virtual sports are multi-platform allowing operators to expand the same high quality offering across mobile or online platforms in the future.
 
Specifically for Argentina, our Sabre Multi-Win Roulette is proving popular with operators. It is especially appealing to those looking to upgrade their Electronic Roulette offering to something more casino-like and profitable, as with our Electronic Roulette the player can bet on four wheels simultaneously.
 
After extensive player research we developed Sabre with a 26" primary widescreen so that it could deliver all the information a player might need on one screen. For example, players can see all four wheels on the right hand side (colour coded to avoid confusing players), they can bet via the traditional or racetrack layouts (both of which are available at the same time), and there's a host of Easy Bet options including "Repeat Bet", "Favourite Bet", "Complete Bet" and "Double Bet".
 
As well as the widest primary screen available for an electronic roulette product, Sabre also has a secondary 7" Player Portal screen for game history and an HD camera feed display of a live roulette wheel. The game history information includes player friendly graphics to display the hot and cold numbers, and players can bet directly on these numbers using the Player Portal screen.
 
What is your opinion about the current import barriers and exchange restrictions in Argentina?
There are lots of opportunities for foreign investment, however, the complicated import barriers and high taxation are hindering this progress as some international gaming investors are losing interest and looking to other regions.
 
How do you think that this situation will evolve?
The outlook isn’t particular positive for the next few years and there is further talk of nationalizing the industry. A change in Government direction is needed to change things for the better. It’s hard to predict right now. 
 
My recommendation would be for the industry to build strong relations with the Government, educate the regulators looking after gaming legislation and provide exemplary case studies from other regions. 
 
What are your expectations for next year?
I don’t expect any major changes to the situation in Argentina by next year, but hopefully we will start to see movement towards addressing stability issues, barriers to import and high taxes. Aside of the macro economic challenges, it is still an exciting region with some opportunities for growth.