Interview
Interview with the Executive Board of NOVOMATIC AG In its Q1/2021 issue, iGB magazine invited a number of international industry professionals and executives for the annual predictions feature on the various market channels of the gaming industry. Included in part two, on land-based gaming, was the following interview with the Executive Board of the NOVOMATIC AG Group, Ryszard Presch and Johannes Gratzl. Reprinted with kind permission of iGamingBusiness. (Read the full eight-part predictions series here: https://igamingbusiness.com/tag/igb-2021-predictions)
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iGamingBusiness: Looking back at 2020, what – other than the Covid-19 pandemic – did you feel was transformational for the industry?
had to develop new strengths in developing digital presentation skills. That was certainly transformational for the means of product presentation.
Johannes Gratzl: Covid-19 had such a massive impact on 2020 that it is difficult to identify any other transformational event or development. Everything this year was either directly or indirectly related to the pandemic. The outbreak of the corona virus at the beginning of 2020 and the related measures practically led to a standstill of our daily business on a global scale and posed previously unknown challenges to our private lives and our business realities. The biggest indirect effect it had on our industry is the absence of gaming shows, which used to be pivotal events for an industry that is used to frequent gatherings and personal contact and that also deals with a commodity that relies strongly on the actual look and feel and the emotional impact of the product. Instead, companies
In terms of industry segments, the general trend in the gaming industry towards mobile, social and online gaming persists and has of course rather accelerated. Especially during the periods of complete lockdown we saw growth in the online segment. Players want a choice to play their favourite games in high quality on all kinds of mobile devices, smartphones, tablets etc. However, online gaming is a continually growing market worldwide – one in which NOVOMATIC is very well positioned. Our 25 technology centers in 15 countries lead the way in the development of innovative technologies and products, enabling us to leverage numerous synergies in the online, mobile and social gaming segment. Our subsidiary Greentube plays a key role in this and records steady growth.
