Evolution Gaming planning to introduce two brand-new products at ICE

Why is it important to exhibit at ICE 2017?

ICE is the only major show we attend en-masse each year and as such gives us an annual global stage on which to show our entire offering and introduce new products. It's also a great opportunity to meet new prospects who may not be so familiar with Evolution Gaming as new markets look to re-regulate and offer Live Casino. And, of course, we use the opportunity to meet up with existing clients and progress discussions and plans.

For this year’s stand we have gone for an even larger double-deck design, which in itself is an indication of how important ICE is to Evolution.

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We’ll have even more space to showcase more products and accommodate even more meetings

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We shouldn’t forget that ICE also gives us the chance to see what the industry as a whole is doing. It’s a chance to evaluate new technologies and ideas that we can perhaps embrace to further improve the player experience.

How do you analyze the industry's fortunes last year?

Live Casino continues to grow at a significant rate, which has allowed us to expand our footprint with our seventh studio opening in September 2016, at the Grand Casino Bucharest.

Land-based casinos have also become far more proactive in the last 12 months. They are naturally keen to strengthen their rapport with existing players and drive incremental revenue by ensuring that these players play online at the land-based casino’s website, rather than losing that online business to a competitor’s online offering. That’s a fundamental driver for a land-based casino’s investment in online services. However, many land-based casinos are now looking beyond this to true convergence.

September 2016 saw iconic London casinos The Ritz Club and The Hippodrome both deploy Evolution Dual Play Roulette tables ‘on-premise’. The Dual Play convergence solution serves as a very overt entry into the online arena, as players can play at the same table in-club or online against their usual dealers. This makes the casino’s players feel like they are actually there in the casino, which in effect they are with Dual Play.

Wherever the player happens to be in the world they can play at the land-based casino alongside players who are there in-person at the table. This is just one area where we foresee strong further growth.

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Once again, we see innovation in online games and service delivery driving operator investment. So, in that respect I see the industry’s fortunes as being very positive over the past year and in the years ahead

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It's a competitive industry and competition tends to drive innovation, differentiation and high standards.

What new solutions are you presenting this year?

Well, there are two brand-new products scheduled for launch at ICE but details are still under wraps. What we can say at this stage is that one will introduce an all-new game category to Evolution and the other will extend Evolution’s convergence offer for land-based casinos.

In addition, we’ll be further extending our Live Baccarat portfolio with Baccarat Control Squeeze and Speed Baccarat.
The first of these new Baccarat products gives players ultimate control of the squeeze. Whether playing on smartphone, tabletor desktop, they can now peel back the cards themselves. It really does take online interaction with the cards to new levels.

Speed Baccarat similarly appeals to Baccarat enthusiasts, of which there are a great many. Speed Baccarat is essentially ‘fast-lane’ Baccarat; it shaves 20 seconds off the duration of a game round (compared with our traditional Baccarat) to maximise th betting opportunities and excitement during the player’s session.

Those are the main new products, but there are many more product enhancements on show for the first time.

Are you planning to attend or take part in any of ICE's show-floor seminars?

Not this year, but we will be hosting a number of speaker sessions on our own stand N2-250. We’ll be covering a range of hot topics: ‘How To Get The Most Out Of Your Evolution Live Casino Offering’, ‘How Do Online Live Dealer Casinos Protect Themselves From Players They Cannot See?’ and ‘The Bridge Connecting The Offline And Online Worlds’.

Brazil in South America is also moving closer to gambling legalization. What is your opinion about this?

Evolution is constantly monitoring the regulation of new markets and evaluating the opportunities to offer first-to-market advantage to operators.

The opportunities can be very exciting, as Live Casino is one of, if not the, fastest growing verticals. As we’ve proven many times before with our solutions for new markets such as Italy, Spain and Denmark, Live Casino with real dealers can play a big role in building trust amongst online players in new markets.

We have focused on Europe to date as we strengthen our position as the leading Live Casino provider and ensure the very best service delivery for our customers and their players.

Of course, we will continue to monitor developments in Brazil and other re-regulating markets, but who knows where our eight or ninth studios may be!