“EGT projects a 30% sales growth in 2016”

What were the main obstacles the industry had to overcome in 2015? How have market challenges affected your company's performance?

Analyzing the gaming industry, we should take into account how complex it actually is on a global scale. Every country has its policy and regulations that affec both the land-based and online gambling sectors, which change dynamically. In 2015 there were markets that faced drastic deceleration, like Macau, and others that had the prospect of significant growth and reopening for our industry. We are all following closely the news about the gambling legalization in Japan, Brazil, Ukraine, Russia, and Crimea. Certainly, our industry had its ups and downs during the past year, but they were all part of its normal life.

Looking through the prism of our company, 2015 was uniquely successful for EGT. We doubled our manufacturing capacity, presented many new products and games, attracted numerous potential customers, penetrated new markets, enlarged our team and opened new offices and facilities. Our company is still young and flexible. Being able to adapt quickly to industry changes is an important advantage.

What was your best-selling product in 2015? To what do you owe its success?

Undoubtedly that was our slot cabinet P-24/24 Up, followed by the 4-level progressive jackpot system Egypt Quest. P-24/24 Up has been a success on every market, where it has been presented. It is its design, ergonomic features, high-quality sound, variety of games of high performance mathematic models and appealing graphics that drive both operators and players to it.

The Egypt Quest in its turn attracts with its look and adventure theme. Our interactive games have also been well accepted on many markets, because of their features and constantly widening portfolio of new titles.

Brief us about your business plans for 2016

In 2016 we project a 30% sales growth. We will be pursuing new markets, expanding our business also in the U.S. and will further develop our strategy for Latin America. We plan on releasing new products, most of which will be showcased at the ICE show in London. As a whole, EGT will keep strengthening its position on the global market as one of the leading gaming equipment manufacturers in the industry.

Looking ahead, what will be the main challenges for gambling-related companies?

Many companies in our industry are trying to attract the young generation of players, who have grown playing video games and surfing the internet. It is considered a challenge because their needs are very specific. More and more manufacturers are beginning to adapt their products to this gaming audience and to search for solutions that comply with its tastes and expectations. Online and mobile gaming, for example, are gaining speed as an alternative that appeals mainly to younger demographics. It is a challenging task to anticipate the expectations of the consumers and to find the best match for them.

What will be the trends that will determine the industry's successes and failures of the coming year?

The success of the industry is the success of all its participants and the key to it is to listen to customers and to find the best way to satisfy their needs. As I mentioned, each market is different, so are players’ tastes and preferences, but gaming suppliers have already found ways to analyze them and to meet consumers’ demands. There are different systems, like casino management and player tracking systems for example, that provide the casino operators with the needed tools to be more effective, to be able to offer the right gaming choice and to conduct incentive and loyalty marketing programs to keep their players coming back.

In pursue of a better service the casino equipment manufacturers for their part have created so many various types of gaming – land-based, server-based, online and mobile, social, and thousands of different games and gaming machines. They constantly improve their products and solutions and keep the industry evolving at a pace or even outrunning the customers’ expectations. As far as all these good practices are in place, there is little room to think of failure.