What are you presenting at FADJA this year?

For the 20^th edition of FADJA this year we have brought a well-rounded mix of machines, platforms and games to Colombia. Returning to the show are the IMPERATOR S2, IMPERATOR S3 and NOVOSTAR® II cabinets, which are very popular in Colombia and the rest of Latin America. We are also presenting the DOMINATOR® Curve 1.40, GAMINATOR® Scorpion 2.24 and the V.I.P. Lounge™ 2.32 cabinets, which are newer to Colombia. These cabinets have now been in the market for a year and have started to build in popularity in the casinos throughout the country, in particular, the V.I.P. Lounge™ has become very popular in Colombia.

We have a variety of platforms on show – Coolfire™ II-s, which has a long heritage in Colombia, with classic titles such as Book of Ra™ deluxe, Dolphin’s Pearl™ and Sizzling Hot™, all extremely popular with players in slot halls and casinos throughout the country. We have the NOVO LINE™ Interactive platform, as well as Impera Line™ HD Edition 3 and Edition 6, the last of which is making its debut in Colombia and being showcased on a variety of cabinets. Impera Line™ HD Edition 6 provides a great combination of the classic games that Colombian players love with newer versions of those games as well as a selection of new titles, such as fruit games Blue Moon™, Fruit Cubes™ and Fruit Pots™. And finally, we are presenting a line-up of key stand-alone titles: Asian Fortunes™, Treasure of Tut™ and Goddess Rising™.

How do you see the show this year?

This year is very interesting because of the recent online gaming legislation in Colombia. It is the first country in Latin America to provide a regulatory framework for online gaming, therefore, FADJA this year has lots of stands from online game developers and also operators. For the first time this year, we had representation from Greentube at the show, discussing how the regulated operators can supply NOVOMATIC games online. And in general, FADJA has been very busy this year – I think the fact that opening hours of the show are 2pm until 8pm allows people to work during the day, conduct meetings, before the exhibition opens. We are on the second day now and yesterday, between 5pm and 8pm, the show floor was packed with visitors, not only from Colombia, but also from around the region.

How important is the region for the company?

It is very important. In Colombia itself, we’ve been in the market for around 25 years via distributors, before NOVOMATIC Gaming Colombia formally took over the distribution 7 years ago. Several of the NOVOMATIC classic games are very important in the region. We have some of the top-performing machines throughout the country, from Bogotá to Medellin and Cali.

Do you have a special product only for Colombia?

As we’ve been in the market for the best part of a decade, we have a good understanding of player tastes in Colombia, and develop games accordingly. For instance, we know that certain games on the Coolfire™ II-S platform, especially Sizzling Hot™ and Book of Ra™, perform extremely well. Therefore, when we bring new games to Colombia, the mixes include new Sizzling Hot™ pro and Book of Ra™ deluxe titles. In this respect, some of the new game mixes are selected for certain regions. The Imperia Line™ HD editions we are showing in Colombia address these needs, in particular, and we anticipate to become very strong in the country.

What is the company goal for the rest of the year?

At ICE, we presented four new casino machines. We also presented our linked progressive jackpot. During the second half of this year, we will show our new equipment for 2018 in Latin America for the first time. We are also developing new games which are tailored to different markets and creating new mixes applicable to different countries and different markets. In Colombia, especially, the online gaming legislation creates a new space, a new opportunity.

In general, for NOVOMATIC this will be a year of consolidation. We spent the last year or so completing the acquisition of around 52% of Ainsworth, and now moving into the end of this year, we have to see how the synergies between the companies can materialize throughout the world. There are a lot of different areas and lots of different things that we can cover and it is growing, but for 2018, we have a focus on the US and Latin America specifically.

Why did NOVOMATIC and Ainsworth have different booths in FADJA?

The NOVOMATIC and Ainsworth brands remain independent – there are different focuses in terms of product and markets. In the US and Asia, Ainsworth has a bigger footprint than NOVOMATIC and, therefore, in those regions we either share or have adjacent stands. But Ainsworth is very strong in Colombia with its own brand, and NOVOMATIC is very strong with its own brand, so we keep them separate here.

What are the next shows for the company?

We will have a presence with Ainsworth at Juegos Miami in May and then will have an increased floor space at the Peru Gaming Show with a NOVOMATIC stand. Ainsworth and NOVOMATIC will have independent, adjacent stands at NIGA, which is a very important market for both companies, due to our expansion into the US – this will be an important show. We are presenting our next licensed title MacGyver™ for the very first time, as well as showing the PANTHERA™ Curve 1.43, V.I.P. Lounge™ Curve 1.43 and the Enchanted Fortunes Linked Jackpot™ for the first time in the US. Then is G2E Asia, where we share a stand with Ainsworth.