Interview with CEO Sebastián Salat

"We believe Zitro's Link Shock will be a successful product throughout the world"

Sebastián Salat with Zitro's founder Johnny Ortiz.
2019-02-06
Reading time 4:42 min
The Spanish firm developed this new product based on the experiences of Link King y Link Me, and chose ICE London to launch it worldwide.

Zitro is currently exhibiting on stand N6-160 at ICE. At this year's edition of the trade show, the company will introduce two new products: the multigame progressive Link Shock and the free app Let’s WinUp! Yogonet spoke to CEO Sebastián Salat, who explained why Zitro is "a sure bet."

Link King and Link Me, which are part of BRYKE Video Slot product range, will take center stage at Zitro's stand. In what markets are they already present? How many units have been installed so far? In which new jurisdictions are you planning to expand? 

During the history of the gaming industry, there have been products which were able to take companies to the top on their own. These products are usually equally successful across the globe. Link King and Link Me belong to that category. Since they launched, everything that's happened has been amazing! machines have been installed non-stop, we have hundreds of banks working at their top and we still have a considerable backlog! We began in the markets where the company already had a strong footprint, such as Mexico and Argentina, but the success of these products rapidly spread across the globe, allowing us to enter into markets which were new to us, both in Latin America, such as Peru and Colombia, as well as Europe, such as France, Greece, Portugal and Spain. The deployment is being done very carefully, meticulously planning every step so as to guarantee a perfect operation, an optimal service, features by which Zitro is widely known.

You have chosen London for the global launch of Link Shock. What are the main features of this multigame progressive bank? What are the ideal venues for it?

Link Shock is a multigame progressive that offers a symbol-driven four-level jackpot, which also has a mystery progressive after which the product was named, Link Shock. This new prize changes the player's experience completely, as it gets the adrenaline going throughout the whole game. The progressive also features a set of five mathematics games and completely new themes and functions such as Big Symbols, Stacked Scatters, Extended Wilds and many more. We've learned from the experience acquired with Link King and Link Me, and based on their success, we have designed Link Shock. We believe it'll be a very successful product across the world.

Zitro, a renowned brand within the video bingo segment, has also decided to embark on video slots during the last few years. However, you are still breaking into new markets with video bingo. How would you describe the company's evolution? What other jurisdictions are you planning to penetrate?

Zitro was created with and for video bingo and although we are still enjoying a remarkable amount of success with our Bryke video slots, video bingo is still a considerable part of our business and we work hard every day to maintain our leadership in that segment. However, in order to keep Zitro as a global leader, we had to design the Bryke line, which enables us to compete in every jurisdiction of the world. In 2017, we came to ICE announcing that our time had come (The Time Has Come). We showcased our first Bryke machines and reaffirm our commitment to position Zitro as a global leader. In 2018, we also visited ICE announcing we were ready to win (Ready to Win). We introduced a wide range of Bryke products which had already been proven profitable in Mexico, Argentina and our first European markets. This year, we came to London announcing that Zitro has become a sure bet (Sure Bet), since our Bryke video slots are succeeding in each one of the Latin American and European countries. The clients in those jurisidictions already consider Bryke as one of the best video slot lines in the world. Our goals in 2019 are to stengthen our position as leaders in the global video bingo market, as well as Bryke's position in Europe and Latin America, and to continue expanding into the Asian and US markets.

Zitro Interactive is introducing its free app 'Let’s WinUp!' In which jurisdictions are you planning to get into with this social casino?

The machines offered in land-based casinos and those offered on online casinos are oriented towards users interested in betting so as to obtain a prize. Social casinos like Let’s Winup!, are meant to attract any users, even those who are not gamblers but just want to have fun, since the app does not pay money prizes. This type of users is much larger than the gambler type. Besides, Let’s Winup! help us learn the users' tastes, interests and, eventually allow us to create the ideal gaming experience at land-based or online casinos.

Colombia was the first Latin American country to regulate online gambling. Two other jurisdictions in Argentina, Buenos Aires City and Buenos Aires Province, have taken major steps towards internet gambling legalization at the end of 2018. Is Zitro Interactive planning to break into any of these markets? 

Zitro Interactive's games can already be accessed in some Argentine provinces, such as Neuquen, and we continue holding talks with operators so as to create alliances where regulations are clear. Colombia is another jurisdiction which exhibits great potential and we hope to get into it in the future. Latin America is very appealing to our online division and our games are already present in first line casinos managed by very important operators such as Caliente-Playtech, Microgaming, Patagonia, 1XBet, Tecnalis, Suertia, Playbonds, Knockout Gaming, Codere or Big Bola, to name a few.

Are the locations and dates of Zitro Experience in Argentina and Mexico already confirmed? What can you tell us about them?

We are in the middle of the preparations for these two events which will take place in April in Argentina, and in June in Mexico, so we will be unveiling more details soon. I do not want to say much more, since we want to surprise visitiors, but I can already tell you there will be incredible product launches.

Last year, Zitro opened offices in Peru and Colombia. What has been the progress in both jurisdictions so far?

Peru is a highly competitive market with manufacturers from many countries. Operators are also still under the effect of the implementation of the Selective Consumer Tax. These factors have contributed to a slow growth of our products, But we can still announce successful Link King instalations in many casinos. As for Colombia, the currency's inestability is still conditioning the market, making operators reluctant to incur debt in US dollars. In spite of that, Link King's first installations are already succeeding and proving Colombian operators that Link King is a great investment.

What trade show are you planning to attend this year?

We will have a stand at FADJA, and we will be holding our own event, the Zitro Experience, in Argentina and México. This year, we prefer to hold our own events, which enable as to get closer to our clients. Finally, we will be attending G2E Las Vegas.

 

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