Rui Magalhães participates in the panel CULTIVATE: NEW TRENDS IN GAMES on the first day of BgC 2018, on Tuesday, April 23 at 4:30pm, which will show the ways to develop a competitive market that responds to future trends and the preferences of players debating : marketing for the new generations; the new technologies, tools and concepts to improve the terrestrial industry and eSports: How to fit this trend in the market of games of chance? The CEO of Estoril Sol Digital will share the stage with Francisco Javier Vidal Caamaño, COO of Sortis and Golden Lion Casino.
GMB - You will be present at the BGC in April in São Paulo, participating in the panel on new trends for gaming. Tell us about your expectation for the event?
Rui Magalhães - The invitation follows the previous events where I was also present as a speaker or as a panelist. I must confess that I am curious about the attractiveness of the event in the face of the latest developments regarding the regulation of the activity in Brazil. As time goes by and nothing happens with regard to gaming law, it increases the disbelief that something will actually occur in the medium term. At this moment the focus is on the Chamber of Deputies and what happens on the draft law of the House of Representatives. We are in a critical moment, being an election year, in which, if nothing happens until April (date of the event), it will hardly happen this year, or even the next. This, of course, generates significant disinterest among investors and the gaming community.
What are the key information you want to get through in your talk during the BGC?
I will try to convey a message of the importance of the adequacy of supply to the new generations.
Among the topics of the panel is the question of the relationship of young people with gambling. In Brazil, young people are very connected to digital media such as social networks and content channels, such as You Tube, blogs, among others. Considering this factor, do you believe that online gambling will have the most loyal audience among young people?
Digital and online is a natural thing for the younger generation, particularly for young adults today and tomorrow. Of course, entertainment, including online gambling, finds a greater affinity between this audience than in older, and, say, less "digitized" generations.
Still about the youth, what should be the position of other gaming activities, such as casinos, bingos and even lotteries, to attract this audience to their business?
Adapt the offer to the youngsters' entertainment needs. The online industry and digital games is very dynamic and the more traditional segments will have to accompany it under penalty of becoming obsolete in future generations.
New technologies are also themes of the panel that will participate. What has been their impact on the current gaming market? In your opinion, the trend is that the new technologies dictate how the industry will evolve from now on?
In the last two decades the impact of technology in the gaming industry has been notable. Nowadays this industry depends mainly on technology, although it safeguards the honorable exceptions of more classic games, as they are the games played in the casinos. Even so, there is already a lot of technology today that leverages these types of games for live-dealing modes, much appreciated by online gaming consumers. I have no doubt that in this, as in most industries, at a global level, technological dependence will be increasing and almost integral, in the majority of the offer.
Tell us a little bit about the Las Vegas case study that will be discussed on the panel. What experiences of the city could be adopted in Brazil in terms of new technologies?
This study will be presented by another panelist. I have no details of what will be presented. I am aware of some pioneering developments and studies that are taking place in Las Vegas, such as slot machines that combine traditional games with skill games. Something that is being watched with much interest by industry, mostly in Western countries.
How important are eSports in the gaming industry these days? What are the major advantages and care that should be taken into account before investing in this modality?
eSports is a segment that has had a significant impact and growth in the last five years and which attracts more and more fans. It is an early modality with a significant affinity with the new generations where role-playing games are already part of the culture, which is transversal in global terms, from the west to the east. This segment, given its relevance, has become increasingly prominent in the current gaming offering. This is the case of the bets that are made on this type of events. The advantages and the care are generally the same as the operators already apply in traditional sports betting.
Finally, what is your expectation for the Brazilian gaming market? Even with indecision in the process of legalization, do you believe that Brazil can even become one of the biggest industries in the world?
The Brazilian government has given a very bad international image regarding the management of this dossier. This has been going on for too long without significant progress. What is more curious is that, while the rulers are in a game of advances and retreats, gaming continues to take place without the state being able to assure its function that is based on three main pillars:
(1) early on the priority in protecting the player;
(2) the development of an entertainment industry in an economically interesting way, which promotes tourism, which generates employment - in particular - specialized and value-added employment, which generates technological development, which manages regional developments, alleviating asymmetries;
(3) that, from this economic activity, the state collects revenue, through a system of competitive taxes, which can then be applied in the service of citizens.
It is estimated that the Brazilian market for online gambling (Sports Betting, Casino, Bingo and Poker) will be worth about US$2.1bn in the first year of activity, competing worldwide for the 2nd position, after UK. However, I believe that a market with good regulation and a competitive tax system will quickly take pole position in world terms, being able to do so in the second or third year of activity.
While I answered this interview many hundreds of thousands of reais were played, in the most diverse aspects of the gaming activity. To get an idea of the dimension of the phenomenon, the site of one of the world's leading gaming and betting companies was listed in Exame Informática magazine in 2017 as the 35th most visited site by Brazilians. The site of the bank of Brazil appears, in the same list, in 50th place.
Source: Exclusive GMB
