“The climate in the international market has been very different in the last 18 months”

How was the show for Novomatic this year and what products have you chosen to present in London?

David Orrick: You can tell just from walking on to our booth that we have so many visitors, more than ever before, which is fantastic, but, more important than just the number of people was the quality of those visitors. We had many good conversations, good negotiations and good things for the future, which is what we expect from ICE; since it is, as you know, the biggest gaming show in the world and it is also the event that we regard as Novomatic's home show.

We are here with the biggest booth ever in the world of gaming, anywhere, at any time, and we are very proud of that. The whole team and the teams of the subsidiary companies that are here with us, everybody is doing a fantastic job, so everything is good.

As you would expect, we have launched some important innovations here. For example, our brand new Dominator Curve made its world debut in London; a dramatic evolution of the hugely successful Dominator. The Dominator Curve features all the ergonomic and design elements of its predecessor plus the advantages of its own unique feature, an upright 40” full HD curved touchscreen. In addition, the player position in the focal point of the curved screen guarantees an impressive gaming experience with sophisticated graphics and sound.

Novomatic has also presented two new jackpot concepts: the Book of Ra Jackpot and the Four Seasons Jackpot. The first of these is based on the world famous game Book of Ra and has its own range of Egyptian-themed games. Our second presentation is also complemented by its own suite of four games representing the four seasons of the year with Spring Queen, Summer Queen, Autumn Queen and Winter Queen.

Several mergers and acquisitions have taken place within the gaming sector. What is Novomatic's position in the international market with all those changes?

Max Lindenberg: Novomatic is Europe's clear leader in gaming, with more than 22,000 employees today, and with our field of competence in the whole world it was important for us to come to London with a show presentation of products for all segments of the international gaming and entertainment industry. This made it absolutely necessary to integrate no less than 18 different group companies into the Novomatic booth. Our guests highly appreciate the possibility to be able to see a product portfolio from land based casino / AWP products, sports betting and lottery solutions to online / mobile and social gaming including solutions to merge these various businesses for the benefit of our clients.

Have you planned strategies with regard to the recent changes that have taken place in the market?

Orrick: A famous philosopher once said that the only thing that is constant is change. The climate in the international market has been very different in the last 18 months from recent history. Huge gaming groups have been created, and that has created a climate of opportunity. When you make mergers or acquisitions on the scale of those that have happened recently, the process of integration and re-structuring inevitably takes time. And in that time, you can expect to see Novomatic move forward in its own strategic structure. About the only thing we can tell you for now is that we are of course aware of the new climate of opportunity and we will use it in the best way that we can.

Lindenberg: The Novomatic strategy has been slightly different. The growth of the Novomatic group has also been driven by numerous acquisitions during recent years, but also on a large scale by organic growth in the various business segments in which we are active. Rather than trying to create a massive organization through one or two big acquisitions Novomatic has decided on a very selective approach and integrated the skills and the know-how of many specialized companies into the group structure and therefore quickly created a strong and dynamic conglomerate of companies.

We have seen large growth within the online gaming market at ICE. What is the group's future strategy in that field?

Orrick: We first entered into the online gaming space with the acquisition of a company called Greentube. It was a huge success and it continues to be so. Thus, we now have a dedicated division that covers everything from Greentube's games and online gaming philosophy and that is also now spreading out into lotteries, sports betting and so on. The world of gaming is changing and the rise of iGaming will certainly continue. Of course, there will still be a balance between online and what we call traditional gaming and Novomatic will continue to succeed in both.

Lindenberg: As Novomatic has its roots as both a technology supplier as well as an operator, Novomatic also knows about the doubts that some land-based gaming customers might have about the rise of online and mobile gaming. But we clearly understand the need to support them during the current phase of transition; providing them with the right solutions to also benefit from online, mobile and social gaming.

What do you think about the Asian market and the American market with the igaming growth?

Orrick: It is absolutely no secret that Novomatic is coming with full strength into the American market and initially that will be through terrestrial gaming. We have to make (and already are) a lot of progress with licenses, approvals, and the fine-tuning of products for the American market.

In Asia, we are already involved in many interesting countries such as the Philippines, Macau and South Korea. We are strong and active and have good business relationships there, wherewe have representative companies across the region. What's more, we will be present at G2E Asia in Macau.