NSoft brings breath of fresh air to ICE 2017 with next-generation platforms, virtual games and sportsbook solutions

Why is ICE Totally Gaming important in NSoft's calendar and what is your overall impression of this year's show?

As expected, ICE 2017 was very successful for NSoft. Thirty-nine people were part of the team travelling to ICE this year and presenting the newest additions to the product families. New stand design, new products, new people, new friendships and partnerships.

ICE is ‘The Thing’ in the industry. The majority of the business we create and the contacts we make often come from ICE. Our year starts and ends with ICE. Everybody from the industry is gathered at one place, and that is the best opportunity to showcase new products and forge partnerships.

Tell us about the products that made their international debut at the exhibition.

We presented three different groups of products to the global gaming industry: Platform, virtual games and sportsbook solution. On display was NSoft’s SEVEN Platform, which offers a single solution for managing core betting business operations. It is a collection of modules, applications, and APIs that serve as a base layer for laying products on top of it and offering to betting operators.

Ever since NSoft was created, virtual games have proven to be the most profitable ones in the market, especially our most popular game Lucky Six which is a draw based, bingo type of game. This year, we decided to exhibit at the show two new virtual racing games: Motorcycle Speedway and Drag Races.

Given our partnership with Sportradar, over the past years we’ve seen prominent growth in the sports betting sector, a trend that is likely to continue in the future. For this reason, NSoft will continue to pursue business opportunities in the sports betting sector which will probably outgrow our virtual games. So far, we’ve been offering Betradar’s MTS and now we’ve also developed Self-Managed Sportsbook solution which gives the customer full autonomy of sports events creation, odds management and risk management. We also became Betradar Gold Certified Partner which confirms that NSoft is qualified to provide professional services that are designed to assist customers in rapidly deploying and implementing Betradar’s Pre-Match Betting, Live Betting, Live Channel, Managed Trading Services and Gaming Solutions.

The social aspect of any application, product, event or industry has never been more important than it is nowadays, and gaming is no exception. NSoft’s brand new product Pool Betting is developed to meet the demand for a social experience. Operators can offer something new to the punters and grow their businesses. Pool Betting is offered for Pre-Match solution and is based on Betradar feed. It is a multiplayer application where both players and administrators can create contests and select events from the company’s product portfolio. Although sports betting is the only product supported at the time, the development of Pool Betting for other games is ongoing process.

As NSoft does not develop casino games, we allow integrations of third party providers to take their games and bring them onto our platform to provide these to our customers. Now, we offer games provided by Oryx Gaming and Blue Ocean Gaming.

What are the trends that will shape the future of the gaming industry and where do opportunities lie?

Trends are exactly the products we are developing or have developed. Besides sports betting, virtual games and SEVEN Platform, these include already mentioned Pool Betting, social aspects and eSports. We plan to release eSports version of the product together and in cooperation with our partner Sportradar.

Last year we showcased our take on VR (Virtual Reality) and this year it is AR (Augmented Reality). Whereas mobile gaming was the trend about 5 or 10 years ago, today we see plenty of opportunities in VR and AR, and obviously we want to be part of the future.

Regarding our expansion plans, we have a strategy we intend to carry out in the near future: Expand our sales network into three different regions (Eastern Europe, Southeast Africa and South America). We're currently in search for local partners that can act as our sales representatives, for we understand that distance can sometimes be a barrier to doing business. We also a expand development operations a bit closer to the home region of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but still there is a plan to hire some new people. Currently NSoft employs around 190 people, but the plan is to end up with at least 250 by the end of the year.

In terms of markets, NSoft enjoys a strong position in the Balkan region. We have a big footprint in Romania, and started working with Bulgaria's biggest operators, Efbet, and are in the process of finalizing a deal with the Bulgarian Lottery as well. The next step in our strategy is to further develop our business in new markets such as Poland and the Czech Republic. In addition to this, we have customers in both Africa and Latin America and we aim to strengthen our position there even more.

For us, the most challenging thing will be to overcome the development capabilities we currently have and to expand to new markets. The greatest challenge there would be to attract players to use the products. Of course, changes in legislation can go both as the risk and as the opportunity.

UNDER THE SPARK UMBRELLA

NSoft was born nine years ago and currently employs 190 people. In 2015, it created an umbrella brand, SPARK, that includes NSoft, their biggest and most profitable company which is 40% owned by Sportradar, as well as Starks Solutions, its sister company that produces betting terminals, among others.

SPARK has a school that organizes free workshops and delivers training programs for new programmers, designers and project managers. At the same time, every NSoft employee is allowed to form a team, develop a joint product and pitch the idea to the company's top management. If the executives see potential in it and believe the cooperation would be a successful one, they offer the product to customers. Once the product goes live and hits a certain amount of revenue, it becomes an official NSoft product and employees get a chance to share profits. Recently at ICE, NSoft debuted some of these new developments and has several more underway.

NSoft develops state-of-the-art software solutions, promotes new technologies and learning. “Considering that we offer a family-like working environment, we managed to expand our business and become one of the leading employers in the area. It is our honor to hear that professionals want to become NSofters and be part of the family. It's a place where new products and services are developed, and a place that sparks the passion,” Obralic concluded.