GMB - How do you evaluate the current position of the company in the global gaming market?
Alejandro Ortiz: First of all, I would like to thank you for the invitation
of this interview, since Games Magazine is a publication I have known since my beginning in the gaming industry. And answering your question, we are strongly positioned as the leading provider of
videobingo for the global market, both in the physical market and for the online one.
Our company is expanding the offer of
videobingo products as well as offering added products. Regarding our platform, at this year's G2E edition visitors will be able to see a wide range of products on 27-inch monitors, already with screens in the new generation of
videobingo. With all
this we are able to increase our market share in the continents in which we operate.
What are the main countries where Ortiz is operating?
We are operating in several countries in America, Europe and Asia regarding the physical model, and in the online sector we have signed -with others to be signed- contracts on several gaming sites around the world, and this is the result of our products.
What does the company expect for 2018?
We can separate the growth of 2018 into two parts.
The first one, at
global level, we expect a fairly robust growth, both in the installed park of machines and in the best financial result of our games, and as a consequence of these two points, growth in benefit of our customers, which is our final goal. We are also significantly expanding our development department. Our goal
is than we can customize our games to each market, both in America and Europe and Asia, as they have different player profiles. So we are customizing our games for each of them, both with regard to the screens, sound and the mathematical distribution. On the other hand, we are launching a number of new games for the online market. And as I mentioned before, we will be customizing the games also for the online market,
sinceits players also have their own characteristics.
The second part depends on the opening of the large Brazilian market.
And what are the company's plans for the future opening of the gaming industry in Brazil?
We are betting very strongly on the opening of the Brazilian market, the manufacture of our models of offices in Brazil and the operation of our games inside the bingo halls that will open.
With Brazilian DNA, Ortiz Gaming is very familiar with the local market. Will this be a competitive advantage over other players who have never operated in Brazil?
In the first moment
certainly it will make much difference, and for several reasons. As we have the knowledge of the market and the taste of its players, we will have the best starting games. By prior knowledge, we know the best places of gameplay by state,
city and neighborhood in the country, thus giving us a certain advantage of market knowledge. The initial phase will be fundamental to position ourselves strongly in the market, but after this phase, we will enter the salutary competition phase of the market, where each company must continuously develop the best products, have the best operation of rooms, as the mature market would be like any mature market in the world. Only competence will make a difference.
Do you expect regulation to happen later this year?
As hope, I would like the market to open later this year. But analyzing coldly the political and economic moment of Brazil, I do not believe in the opening of the Brazilian market this year. Depending on the political and economic events, we could talk about the opening of the market for the second quarter of 2018. At this moment, the government is trying to bid the
Lotex instant lottery. This will also be a thermometer on the market. Also at the end of the year would be judging the possibility of state lotteries working with lottery products within the isonomy they defend. The sum of these factors, plus the political and economic environment, will determine the opening times of the market. We will be waiting
anxious, and
mostly prepared.
Which
cold
be be the difficulties for starting the company's activities in Brazil?
In fact, in order to be able to answer your question widely, we should have prior knowledge of what the rules of the new market will be. Will there be gaming certifications? Will there be certification of the cabinets? Will there be homologation of the companies? Will there be a licensing bid?
There are many questions as to how the market rules will be. But I can tell you that we will have much
less difficulties than other companies. Not only because of the market
knowledge, but also because our games have already been approved in several countries, including the United States and the Philippines. Practically enabling our games for the first time.
Will Brazil be the main market for Ortiz Gaming?
I think so. Or rather, in each country we are present, we work and dedicate ourselves in the same way, regardless of their position in the market. In Brazil, we will act in the same way, and if the country becomes our biggest market, we will all be at Ortiz Gaming very proud, since we have the Brazilian DNA in our essence.
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