The first half of 2023 is now almost over. While the past six months were a period of high intensity for the gambling industry, amid new tech developments and regulatory changes in many key markets, this particularly rings true for Slotegrator. During the first few months of the year, the online casino solutions provider exhibited its latest products at over a dozen events around the globe and expanded into new markets, targeting further worldwide expansion.
To learn more about the company’s start to the year and its insights into the iGaming industry, Yogonet caught up with Javier Santos Arango, Sales Manager at Slotegrator, in a video interview where the expert also discussed tech developments in the sector and the company’s plans for the future.
How would you describe the first few months of the year for the company? And based on the lessons learned, which countries should gaming stakeholders be paying attention to this year, and which markets are key in the gambling industry today?
We’ve been very busy. We’ve been trying to attend all the events that are in this industry. We’ve been in India for SPiCE, we also attended Sigma Asia, we went to the Philippines for the ASEAN Gaming Summit and we also attended the Gat Expo in Colombia, among others. Next week, we are going to Sigma Americas in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
What we are trying to do is to better understand these markets and grow our presence in these countries. We’ve been to 12 countries already. We are trying to dive into every market; try to understand more what are the preferences of the players and the operators, and also understand the regulators.
As for the main markets, Latin America is obviously one of them; and also India and Southeast Asia. Regarding the gambling jurisdictions, the most popular, I think, are the ones that are already big like Curacao, Malta, Kahnawake, Isle of Man, just to mention a few of them.
Which topics are driving the gambling industry agenda this year? We have seen many tech developments not only in this sector but in society at large, with the growth of AI, ChatGPT…
We are in the software industry, so the most popular topics right now are related to technology, in particular artificial intelligence. That’s the main topic right now, not only for this industry but for everyone. I think it will help operators a lot, for example, in data collection, and the use of chatbots. It will really help to automate the daily processes that these platforms have. At the end of the day, it will improve the customer service that a platform can provide to the players.
We can talk also about NFTs. This will be in the casinos – in fact, it’s already there. It can be used as a deposit and as a token, but also as a reward for the players. So that’s another main point. And ChatGPT, well, this is very trendy now in every industry and I think it can help here as well. Players like to analyze data, especially for sports betting; they may try to use it to help them set up a strategy that they want to use in terms of betting.
Another topic worth mentioning is the metaverse, and the growth of metaverse casinos. This will really enhance the gaming experience for the players, that feeling of being able to go to a casino just from your house, without actually going out.
As a platform provider, we try to keep up with these new technologies and implement as many features as possible in our platform. We are adding them in the future, if we haven’t started yet. The clients ask about new tech, and if you haven’t added something, they’ll ask you when are you going to do it.
Would you say that, all in all, the industry is at a good point today? We are also seeing calls for tighter regulation. How is this changing the gambling landscape?
It definitely is at a good point. Despite some economic concerns, the industry is still growing in 2023 and it’s expected to grow even more in the next few years. We can say that the business and the industry are doing good and growing.
As for regulation, definitely; the industry is going in that direction. The regulators are implementing new laws that they want in place. Us, as a software provider, we must always be as transparent as possible and follow all the rules – and help our clients do the same. We have certified software and we work with certified game providers. The idea is to always make sure everything is checked and correctly implemented.
Turning to Slotegrator’s solutions, one that we have seen grow in importance is the Telegram Casino solution. What are the keys to this product’s success? And what other solutions are in high demand?
Telegram is mainly used as a communication application, but we were able to create a platform through it that allows players to play on Telegram, using a bot. We integrate the game providers, also payment solutions.
It is multi-platform and what it allows is for the operators to attract a new segment of players that are using this application. It’s also very easy to promote. The cost of promotion is really low because there are no restrictions in Telegram. Those are the key features of this solution.
Besides that, there is always a high demand for our aggregator, which allows the integration of the game providers. We integrate more than 15,000 games in one single integration and you can work with more than 100 providers.
As for other highlights, we also have optimized our platform and now we have a feature that is the Casino Builder. It allows operators to design the front end on their own or following what they are looking for.
What should we expect from the company in the coming months?
We just integrated a new bonus feature. It’s called Wheel of Fortune. Basically, it works with these wheels that are divided by sectors and what the feature allows is for the players to play with the wheel, and then they will get a prize while playing. We are also planning to implement some platform features regarding all this that we were talking about; ChatGPT and artificial intelligence. Those are the things that we are working on now.
We also have events coming up. As I mentioned, we are going next to SiGMA Americas in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Our booth is going to be the C103, so please feel free to join us. We are also planning to attend iGB Live in Amsterdam, and I believe we will be attending SiGMA in Manila in July.
