"The industry has been waiting for Brazil to open its market for years"

GMB - Again we find Novomatic with an outstanding presence in SAGSE. With what expectations do you arrive at the fair this year?
Natali Lopez Blanco - That's right, we are again accompanying SAGSE, its organizer Giorgio, and presenting great successes of the company, with very important releases. Among them, we can mention the V.I.P Royal, with extra large incredible monitors; and the Imperator, which is a state-of-the-art machine with two very interesting platforms that are also on the Scorpion, the Dominator Curve and the Dominator, which is a Novomatic classic. These new platforms are Superia and Impera. The first is more thought for the American market and is having a great performance in Argentina, after several tests we made a few months ago in different gaming rooms.

We are also presenting the Pinball Roulette, which is also a classic from Novomatic, which is working very well in Argentina and has the peculiarity of having this innovative pinball that makes the players can become their own croupier.

We also brought to SAGSE the ATM and the promo kiosk, which are two solutions powered by Octavian. The promo iosk is a self-service terminal where operators allow bettors to have better communication. And we also brought here our ACP, an online control system, super robust and successful, chosen by the most important operators, and even by government entities in different countries of different markets.

And finally we are supporting the release of "From Dusk Till Dawn", which could be said to be the star of the event bringing to the casinos the cult film of Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino. It is a great game.

How do you see the reception of SAGSE visitors to all this Novomatic proposal?
We have done very well. Since the first hours the fair was very busy. Our clients were interested in our proposals, with the V.I.P Royal as a great sensation that attracts for its size, the screens, the V.I.P seat and its sound system that make it a great attraction. It is the great vedette of our stand and I can say that it is one of the most outstanding products of the whole fair.

Having such a global presence in different markets, what does Latin America represent for Novomatic?
Latin America is a very important market for us. Although Novomatic is well known in Europe, we put a lot of effort and work into this region, with acquisition of companies and developments designed exclusively for this market. Traditionally, Novomatic had gaming options with a much more European profile, where it is the undisputed leader, but through a lot of work it has managed to gain a lot of territory in America.

Arriving almost at the end of the year, how can you evaluate this 2017?
We come from complicated years at political and economic level in this part of the region, but 2017 has been a year with a lot of growth. Above all, the most important thing is that it was a year of many launches, of new products that have been very well received by the operators, chosen by them. Among them we can highlight the WAP (Wide Area Progressive), also powered by Octavian, a multi-room jackpot that is already in Argentina, being the first homologated, which is having a very good performance. We are very proud of that product.

It is inevitable to ask about Brazil. What expectations do you have?
Let them open the market. We've been waiting it for for years, and at Novomatic we've been thinking about it for years. It's going to be a very big market. All suppliers are waiting for the same because they know that it is a huge market. We even have operations in Misiones - the Argentine border with Brazil - and we received a lot of visitors from Brazil due to proximity reasons.

Is Novomatic ready to enter the Brazilian in a short period of time?
Novomatic is always ready to enter new markets. We must wait to see what the definitive legal framework is, since Novomatic is very strict in that sense when deciding to enter with its products to a market. Once the scenario in Brazil is clear, we can talk about more firm things.

Talking about numbers, Brazil is a vey attractive market…
It can potentially become the number one market that all suppliers will want to join. Today it seems that it is closer to being regulated. Hopefully, it will finally open as quickly as possible in order to learn more about the profile of the Brazilian bettor.