"This ICE show was extremely good for Novomatic"

What is your overall opinion of Novomatic's presence at ICE 2018?

The show this year was extremely good for us. It started early Tuesday morning with our annual press conference in which we made some special announcements, including a significant deal for Greentube with Hard Rock International and the Seminoles in Florida to provide social casino solutions to the Hard Rock and Seminole Gaming properties in North America. We also announced a deal with Sportradar for a combined sports betting solution that will initially be rolled out in Italy. We were also very proud to deliver the news that on January 5, the acquisition of a majority stake in Ainsworth Game Technology finally completed, so we are very happy to have made those announcements.

On Wednesday afternoon, we had Las Vegas resident DJ Hardwell on our stand to promote a new slot game called Hardwell, developed by StakeLogic, a 100% subsidiary of Greentube, part of the Novomatic Interactive division. This game targets millennials and will be available on the Greentube platform. DJ Hardwell produced music especially for the game and was quite involved in the creation process. We had him on the stand signing autographs during the afternoon, and also held a big party at the O2 Arena later that evening – it was a fantastic industry party, with around 800 guests dancing to the latest remixes of popular classics and top hits.

What can you tell us about the Ainsworth deal?

The deal to acquire approximately 52% of AGT eventually completed on January 5. It was a long time coming, they had 236 licenses and the regulatory and approval processes were lengthy. Having completed the acquisition, we became the first Austrian company to receive regulatory approval in Las Vegas, and the acquisition itself was the largest ever by an Austrian company in Australia. Now that the acquisition has taken place, we can really work on integration moving forward. The Ainsworth and Novomatic brands will continue to remain independent: Ainsworth has a different line of products that complement Novomatic. We also have a commitment to roll out 2,000 Ainsworth machines into Europe by the end of the year, so will push the Ainsworth imprint into the European markets. On the other side, Ainsworth will help Novomatic gain a foothold in the US market, as well as in Asia.

Which is the next show for Novomatic?

There are many gaming shows on the horizon important for Novomatic as well as localised customer-focused events we hold in various countries. A big focus for us this year is further expansion in the US and so two particularly important events coming up will be NIGA and G2E in Las Vegas. As far as major exhibitions are concerned, here at ICE we have a stand that spans 4700 sqm and shows a range of products from 25 group companies represented this year –this really sets us up for the year, before taking our latest products to the more local and niche shows around the world.

What would you like to tell us about Novomatic's portfolio presentation at ICE?

From a product standpoint, we are really excited this year to launch four new gaming machines for international casino markets: Panthera, Panthera Curve, V.I.P. Lounge Curve and Grand Roulette II. The V.I.P. Lounge, in particular, has been a resounding success for Novomatic in global markets, so we replaced the two screens with a single 43-inch 4K-ready curved screen and updated the player interface to a 15.6-inch TouchDeck. We are excited to launch new content for these cabinets moving forward. Another product I would like to highlight on the international casino front is our Enchanted Fortunes Linked Jackpot; it is the first time Novomatic has brought this linked progressive solution to London, and we had 6 titles for that product at the show, including Asian Fortunes, Book of Ra Mystic Fortunes, Voodoo Fortunes and Vampire Fortunes. From Dusk Till Dawn made its international omni-channel launch at the show as well, presented on the Novostar V.I.P. III in addition to being shown by Greentube in the interactive area on desktop, tablet and mobile devices.