“In R.Franco we see the present and the future in a realistic and optimistic manner”

What evaluation can you make of 2012?
From R.Franco we want to make a realistic balance, but with an optimistic attitude. On one side, we see how the economic situation continues withouta recovery, and we, as part of the gaming industry, have noted that. However, we have checked how, despite that, the market doesn’t stop and new products, games and modalities appear strongly, some opf which have been developed by ourselves because we know that the effort today is the result we will have tomorrow. It has been a productive year in which we have dedicated our best efforts to keep on improving in everything that will help us, not only to ourselves but also our customers, to be at the height of what the market demands. Despite the current situation, technology doesn’t stop, either the requirements and demands of our customers.

We are immersed on a continuous change at all levels, which not only le tus but also forces us to incorporate to our development and business models to the totality of the current gaming modalities and their constant improvements, together with the new ones: online gaming, mobile gaming, tablets... All those changes are produced fast and require agile and flexible answers in which we work day after day. Now is the moment to keep on working without a break and studying the best solutions for the future.

Which have been the main challenges that the firm had to face in its main markets?
In this issue we do not differentiate from the others, and with that, I want to say that the economic slow down registered in recent years has affected us directly. It has forced us to optimize all the development processes and to manage resources attached to reality. At the same time it has forced us to maintain the investment levels in the development of the new games, it has let us detect possibilities of improvement in the productive processes and the application of sinergies that were not sufficiently implemented. Our industry requires constant investments and agile answers. We cannot stop, specially when, before us, we have a growing range of gaming modalities.

In your opinion, Which was the most remarkable novelty (positively or negatively)?
I would like to name more than one novelty. On one hand, our Tombola Roulette model is having a great evolution in the British market. On the other hand, our models specially developed for bingo halls continue bringing luck in the country with high jackpots. I can’t avoid mentioning our interconection systems of machines and bingo halls because they suppose an unprecedented revolution and modernization in the sector, either the interconnection of machines in hostelling and venues that have turned in technology all the requirements and solutions that will soon achieve excellent results for our customers. And, last but not least, to remark the great range of possibilities that we, as a Madrid-based firm, will have due to the future construction of Las Vegas Sands.
 
Which was the most innovative product or service launched this year by your company?
Here I would have to hame the previously mentioned, but, to them, I want to add a wide range of products in different phases of development, some of which are almost concluded and ready for their upcoming market launch. We will present some of them on the following ICE edition in London, others in InterAzar Event in Madrid and some more during 2013 and for many different markets.
At the same time, due to the cercanía geográfica I would like to remark the granting of online gaming licenses in Spain because it means a great step forward,  which involves a great technological challenge and the adaptation to a diverse  and growing market that will keep on registrating an exponential growth. And, besides, the potential that involves the application to mobile terminals, tablets. A myrad of gaming possibilities that will accompany us in the future all the time.

In your opinion, Which is the country with more growth potential, facing 2013, and why? 
I think it is really more than one: Norway represents a high potential, UK also after the great results of our Tombola Roulette model, which will be taken to ICE show next February; the Spanish market will experiment many innovative changes. In sum, it is a long list that includes other markets in which we expect that the legislative developments that are taking place will be materialized in norms that allow a greater and a better implantation of our products.

Which are the plans of your company for 2013?
In different business lines, as I have mentioned before, we have many projects, some of which have just started and have to consolidate while other are already in the homologation phase before different administrations. Our I+D+i area has kept growing and, accordingly, our games catalogue will also continue doing this. We will keep on developing different applications and improvements on the current markets, and, specially, we will continue bringing our máximum support in all the levels, institutional and prívate, to each and every one of our customers to contribute in the best possible way to the sustained growth of our industry. We will keep, mínimum, the high investments in technology on the last two years. And without forgetting, of course, our great presence on the new gaming modalities: online, tablet, mobile…

How do you see 2013 for the gaming industry in general? Will it be similar to last year? Will there be a growth or a decrease in the activity?
I would like to answer, going back to the start of this interview: “in R.Franco we see the present and also the future in a realistic and optimistic way.” The current situation will not change all of a sudden but, on the contrary, progress will happen slowly, as long as it grows the trust in economic recovery.

However, to recover levels, not equal but similar to the previous ones, it will be necessary to have been able to take advantage of all this time and have been able to learn. In conclusion, having carried our in each case the precise structural changes and having remained aware of the market trends. 

We will keep on making an effort in order to achieve that our company is strengthened and we are convinced that the measures we have been adopting not only will obtain more or less immediate results but, above all, in a special way they serve to achieve a better positioning of our gaming models in all their aspects in the future. We have reached this position because we are a company with a solid past. We occupy, instead of worrying about the present, and always looking at the future.