“At the new IGT we are starting a totally new chapter of evolution”

Tell us a little about your new role at the company.
Janine Roth (JR): The new role is really a statement of the investment IGT is putting into the region. This has been a very important and significant region for us. It’s a growing region and we are putting our focus here. As part of this role I will be moving to Buenos Aires and looking into the region from the headquarters here.

Besides Argentina, what Latin American markets will be your main focus?
JR: Well, my responsibility is basically for South Latin America, and Caribbean-Central America. 

What are the main characteristics of each country?
JR: Well, certainly Argentina is one of the most significant markets. It is one of the most important markets. But we also have great activity in Colombia and Peru. Uruguay is a very important market, too. We are seeing growth in Chile, Paraguay, Bolivia. And then, of course, the Caribbean markets.

Sabby, what challenges can you expect in your new role?
Sabby Gill (SG):   I think the biggest challenge is probably to try to understand every single market and work on the content that we need to deploy to each specific market as quickly as possible, as every operator and every market is very different.

And one of the things down here is that, as Janine said, it is a growing market for us and a there is a high propensity to play and gamble, from and operator’s and machine perspective. So my main aim now is to try and make sure that we leverage everything we possibly can to enable us to learn in relation to the operators and the way they deploy games, what are we doing in Latin America, and what I, in my new role, will try to leverage in the rest of the world. A perfect example is that we came across a specific game that we made for the local market and that ended up being one of our top performing games in Europe, in Germany specifically. And no one would ever have expected it, so trying to find those different pockets of opportunity and taking full advantage of them is really my main focus. 

Are you planning to launch other products like Huevocartoon for Latin America?
SG: Yes. Huevocartoon is actually one of our top performing games. There are other games we have introduced like Legend of the Gaucho, El Gran Festival. I would just focus on making sure that we create the right game for the right market. And that we are able to leverage our vast library of content across all of our best markets, because a lot of the content that we make now is focused on global content, so a lot of the top-performing market-attuned games have the same content you will see in any international market.

The other key thing to mention are the Megajackpots titles that we are showing here at SAGSE. Avatar is probably the biggest Megajackpot we ever brought out on a global basis. We launched Avatar at G2E and now we are presenting it down here and in the other major shows.  And I think the true advantage of the new approach that IGT is taking, specifically with the Avatar game, was how much involvement there was between our studios and the creators and producers of the Avatar movie. Jon Landau is the producer of the movie and the main force behind the characters; he has been so happily involved with the design, the development of every stage of the Avatar product. If you get a chance to see it, you’ll see most of the experiences you have are so close to the movie experience, with the characters, the look and feel and everything else. And that’s something we’ve never done to the extent that we have done with this one.

Janine, is this your first time at SAGSE? What do you think of it so far?
JR: Yes. Truly it’s been a very successful show. I was impressed overall with the response that we got from our operators. We had a great number of regional operators, and also operators beyond the region. We were talking with one of the coordinators at SAGSE and he was saying that the turnout of operators from other countries has been one of the highest they have ever had. So we’ve seen a lot of player interest and one of the things that we also noted was that the operators are bringing players here, which has been nice in terms of getting player feedback.   So overall it’s been a very good experience, and one that I am very impressed with. 

In Vegas you have launched your new logo and image. What has been the response of the Latin American public?
SG: It was time for a change. The old logo represented a very different company. At the new IGT we are starting a totally new chapter of evolution in our company. This can be seen in the way we are now concentrating so much on content, games and trying to make the best experience that we possibly can for the player. And also we are showing that we make the best systems, the best infrastructure that allows an operator to properly manage deployment on those games. From online or social media, to more traditional electronic gaming machines - EGMs, that’s the key for us. What the new image and the new branding allows us to do is to really align our global business strategy to our communication strategy. 

How important is online gaming in Latin America?
SG: There are a number of different jurisdictions that we are now looking very closely at in terms of how they actually deploy our online licenses. We had a huge interest from a number of potential operators because when you have such a presence as IGT in a market like Argentina, which could potentially be one of the best markets, everybody asks themselves ‘how can we attract the greatest possible number of players to the online space’. They look to the land-based organizations and the players buying the game and the content that works. We’ve been approached by every one of those operators because they know that IGT has the best content out there today and a huge player affiliation. We have solutions around social gaming, and so when it comes to online, everybody wants to look for the best business partner they possibly can. This is going to enable them to find that content and to track players. So once the market opens new licenses, I think we’ll see IGT playing a significant role.

So you think Argentina will be the first country. What about Brazil? They haven’t legalized operations yet, but with the World Cup and the Olympics coming, might it reconsider its stance on online gambling?
SG: Yes, the interesting thing with Brazil is that it is a market that we very much look at from the outside. I agree with your comment that now is the best chance they have because of the World Cup and then the Olympics - for sports betting. Whether or not they will allow land-based casinos and those particular licenses, I think it will be something that they will look at, and maybe at the same time, but I really do think that the key focus at this precise moment is really more on sportsbetting and those types of products since they tie in with the upcoming sporting events. 

If you look at any major online market, the first step toward legalization always tends to be sportsbetting, due to the player affiliation, and because people tend to already do that in the existing lotteries and the existing racing and horse racing. So that tends to be the first place for most organizations that are working towards it, followed by the proponents of slot offerings and everything else, so IGT has a very wide offering for the online space. And we’ll continue to monitor how it goes, and once the market has legalized and offers legal operations and licenses, then, I think, will see IGT playing an active role in relation to supporting the operators when they look for content.  The fact that we have a large presence in the region, a significant land based operation, means that many Brazilian are familiar with our slot content since they tend to travel to nearby countries in order to gamble . 

Which Latin American market has more growth potential for next year?
JR: Argentina, I think. Widely speaking, there are good expansion opportunities and we are expecting regulations in several places in Latin America and the Caribbean. 

What other shows are you going to attend (apart from SAGSE Buenos Aires)?
SG:, G2E, G2E Asia, ICE, and in addition to international shows, we tend to have a presence in  more local shows like SAGSE Panama, Peru, etc.