interview
“Stability in the Gaming Industry is a Fundamental Requirement” During the recent G2E held in Las Vegas Harald Neumann marked his first anniversary as NOVOMATIC CEO. The following is the result of an interview (slightly shortened) between Mr. Neumann, NOVOMATIC CTO Thomas Graf and the highly respected Editor of G3 Magazine, Lewis Pek.
Amid the amalgamations taking place in the gaming supplier businesses, the clamour for skill-based games, eSports and claims of a lack of innovation from some sections of the industry by operators at G2E 2015, there was a calm, rock-like stability about NOVOMATIC. Speaking to NOVOMATIC CEO, Harald Neumann and Chief Technology Officer, Thomas Graf, it’s clear that beneath the calm exterior, NOVOMATIC is wrestling with those major issues affecting the gaming industry, but it is doing so in a considered and highly structured fashion.
efforts upon the video gaming terminals”, states Mr. Neumann. “When you enter a major market as a newcomer you have to define where you’re going to achieve the greatest impact. You must also take account of local market legislation, where, for example, in most of the states in America a developer of machines can’t also be licensed as an operator. So, clearly, in the US, we have to take a different approach.”
“The German street market is one example of the issues facing the business right now”, confirms Mr. Neumann of the shifting legislative environment in Germany that could possibly see the removal of up to 100,000 machines in 2017. “NOVOMATIC assembles machines in Germany at present and while we anticipate a reduction in the volume of machines assembled, we are increasing our operations business in the market and making a transition from predominately machine rental to an ownership model.” “The biggest challenges we face in Europe are legislative in nature”, agrees Mr. Graf. “Changes in the legislation of gaming in the Netherlands, Austria and Germany in regards to online, lotteries, casinos and VLTs present challenges for NOVOMATIC but also create opportunites. The duality of our business means that we are both producer and developer, which enables NOVOMATIC to spread our interests across all gaming sectors. We have a very strong operations focus in Europe, recently expanding with the purchase of PlayNation in the UK and the acquisition of 40 gaming arcades in the Madrid market.” Casino slots, lotteries, online, sports betting, multi-players, street machines and VLTs are all integral components in the NOVOMATIC portfolio of products. The breadth and depth of the offering enables the company to prioritise with pinpoint precision its focus at a market-by-market level. “In the US, we are concentrating our
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novomatic®
december 2015