“Regulatory changes will be the main thing in 2017 to impact Inspired’s global operations”

It is no news to the industry that ICE is a must-attend event in the gaming calendar, for it sets the trends that will determine the future of the sector. What's been your overall impression of this year’s edition?

ICE continues to be a key event in the gaming calendar and the show is always a great opportunity to meet with industry peers and friends to discuss the agenda for the coming year. The Inspired stand looked better than ever this year and was the perfect platform to bring our wide range of products together, including our latest Virtual Sports, mobile games, SBG VLT cabinets and ETGs.

Delegates were particularly impressed by our impactful Virtual Sports wall, which dominated the Inspired stand and demonstrated why we are a world leader in the field. Seeing the quality of animation, particularly in our new Grand National Race of Champions product and Rush Greyhounds 2, on the big screen was truly compelling – an opinion shared by our many customers and visitors to the stand. ICE 2017 was also the perfect forum to introduce NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal as the face of our new Rush Basketball product, which is currently in development and promises to be a slam dunk.

Do you anticipate any major changes or hope to see any changes to the gaming industry in 2017 that are going to have an effect on the company's operations?

I think that regulatory changes will be the main thing in 2017 to impact the company’s global operations. Inspired only operates in regulated, legal markets, and as new legislation and regulations are passed new business opportunities inevitably open up.
One of the hot topics at this year's ICE was Multichannel Convergence. What is your approach towards the cross-channel experience and why is this a key revenue driver for businesses? What are the main barriers to multichannel success and what is the importance of data?

Delivering a cohesive, multichannel offering to customers has been a key strategic priority for Inspired in recent years, and it’s no surprise that Multichannel Convergence was an important topic at ICE 2017. Offering a personalized player experience across multiple platforms will undoubtedly be an integral part of the future of gaming, as consumers demand and expect a seamless product journey in every aspect of their lives.

For us, the main of challenges to successfully delivering this multichannel experience lie in adapting content for different platforms and ensuring that that content is appropriate for the platform it’s being played upon. Brand consistency is of course key, and it’s a question of ensuring that customer can access their favorite content across online, mobile and retail whenever they want, wherever they want.

What is the industry lacking today and what can companies do to fill that void? Will the industry see a shift in focus from major casino suppliers over the next year?

I think that the industry primarily needs to focus on innovating and developing products that will appeal to a new generation of players. Generation Y, for example, have grown up with immediate digital access to entertainment whenever they choose, and it is, therefore, naturally their expectation that they should be able to access gaming content 24x7. In this sense, scheduled events don’t hold much appeal, and so we have developed on-demand in-play products such as Rush Football Live which enable players to place bets from their smartphones and online any time, anywhere. The inevitable further shift to online is something which all major suppliers and operators are anticipating, but there is still a long way to go in terms of developing products and deploying them in a way which will appeal to the next generation of players.

What can we expect to see from you in terms of product development?

In terms of Virtual Sports, the much anticipated Rush Basketball - featuring NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal–is coming soon, along with a range of upgraded and refreshed Virtuals products. Our premium Grand National Race of Champions and Virtual Grand National will be released in advance of the famous race in April, and we anticipate a huge excitement around this – after all, who wouldn’t want to see Red Rum jump the famous fences at Aintree again? Our new suite of Rush Virtuals Go! products which have been designed for casino and game tabs, will soon be going live and promise to be a hit on mobile and online. We’ll also be revealing our next generation SBG VLT cabinet in 2017, which will deliver an unrivalled player experience – more on that soon.

What are your aims for the year and how do you intend to achieve them?

We expect to work to strategically grow the business while delivering on the milestones which we already have in place.
Growing our Virtuals business in North America, where we are already live in Nevada, with go-live in New Jersey imminent is a major priority, as is rollout of our SBG VLTs with OPAP in Greece, which will be a key deployment in 2017. It’s going to be a hugely exciting year for Inspired and we’re looking forward to delivering our most diverse and exciting selection Entertainment with and Edge to our global customer base over the coming months.