“Omni-channel products are an important part of what NOVOMATIC is working on right now”

What is the importance of ICE Totally Gaming for the NOVOMATIC Group of Companies?

Traditionally, ICE Totally Gaming is known to be the most important show for the NOVOMATIC Group, for it is somehow our home event. Undoubtedly, ICE is the biggest event on earth for our industry and that is exactly why we decided to offer attendees such an exciting experience at our booth. For NOVOMATIC, it was very important to present the products and solutions from the entire group – a product range that can't be found anywhere else. At this year's edition, our stand was divided by sectors - casino products; management systems and cash management solutions; street market and sports betting products; lottery solutions; and a comprehensive Novomatic Interactive sector. All of the sectors were interconnected to offer customers the range of products and services they need, providing a true omni-channel product presentation. As everyone knows, omni-channel is the big buzz word in our industry these days and NOVOMATIC is taking the lead in catering to this modern fast developing gaming industry.

How are you positioned in Europe?

Our core markets are still in Europe, but there are also other markets in South America, for instance, where there's still potential to further grow our presence - Colombia, Argentina and Peru are good examples of this. In North America, NOVOMATIC Americas has doubled its team and is confident that it will make substantial advancements in 2016. This is also due to the opening of a new games development studio in Illinois, the new headquarters of NOVOMATIC Americas. Currently our teams in the US are developing new products tailored for the different US jurisdictions. Next G2E in Las Vegas will see a great range of new products especially designed for the US. There's still great potential for NOVOMATIC.

Changes in government have lead to the opening of the Argentinian market. How do you see the future of gambling both in Argentina and Brazil?

We can already feel the effects of the opening of the Argentinian market, and we're seeing positive signs for the future of NOVOMATIC in Argentina, not only online for the slot machines sector but for our systems business as well. In regards to Brazil, we're looking forward to seeing new gambling legislation come into effect. Once that happens, we are well-positioned to be at the forefront of gaming development in the Brazilian market.

What can you tell us about NOVOMATIC's performance in Asia?

NOVOMATIC has a strong position in some of the well-regulated Asian markets, such as Korea, Malaysia and Singapore. Our distribution partner, Jade Gaming, has been doing a fantastic job.

The player of the future

“One of today's biggest challenges is to engage with young audiences. With this in mind, NOVOMATIC is heavily investing in new technologies to offer millennials different types of entertainment. But to achieve this, we need to work hand in hand with casino operators. Our goal is to empower operators to offer the best player experiences in this field of the wider entertainment industry. Omni-channel products are an important part of what we're working on right now,” Lindenberg said.