“Having a solid performing German market is key for us at this level”

(Exclusive interview).- Athanasios ‘Sakis’ Isaakidis, Chief Executive International of Merkur Gaming, talked with Focus Gaming News after ICE London 2020.

ICE London 2020 was the biggest show to date, and some companies are already starting to see the benefits of a successful performance at this event.

Merkur Gaming is always one of the highlights of the show, and Athanasios ‘Sakis’ Isaakidis, Chief Executive International, talked with Focus Gaming News about this year’s experience.

Merkur Gaming exhibited once again at ICE London 2020, the most highlighted event of the gaming industry. How was the show for you?

I know it sounds maybe a typical sales answer but this year this show the first two days have been really really fantastic. We saw a motivated sales team and we’ve been surprised by the quality of visitors on our booth. It’s really about the business.

And it’s a lot of fun, even if it’s hard work. It’s a lot of fun and you see exhausted people with a smile on their face. 

Did you introduce new gaming concepts at the show?

We had several new things at our booth. First of all let me explain to your audience the configuration and set up of our booth this year. We have EPG, as part of the Gauselmann family. They are introducing brand new solutions for money handling equipment. We have “edict”  with its portfolio of new online games. GeWeTe, Blueprint Gaming and the other companies of the Gauselmann Group have been at the show as well introducing its latest products.

Having said this, I would also add that this year it will be a very hot summer for us because we will have a lot of new product to be tested. We also showed new cabinets: one is called Allegro Trio which is a nice 27 inches with a small footprint, it looks very elegant, it looks very stylish. It’s very small but gives the operators all the benefit of modern ergonomic cabinet design. In the international markets we would like to promote that product as the carrier for jackpot Solutions. We will see how that will work soon. 

On the other hand, if we are talking about cabinets, I must talk about Avantgarde Max. This one stays for three monitors as a trio version with 32 inches monitors inside. It’s a successor of the old avantgarde product. It gives us a better picture for the games, it gives us more screen to present the games and we believe that the clients will appreciate that size of monitor. From first tests in Germany we can see that a direct comparison between an Avantgarde and Avantgarde Max. 

We see a huge benefit in participating in all kinds of online and sports betting activities.

We’ve been talking for a while to Mr. Gauselmann at the booth. What does his presence at the show mean for you and also for the company?

First of all, it’s the proof of the commitment of the Gauselmann’s family to support the business, to support individual companies in all regions of the world and it’s an example of what it means to lead from the top of the company being always with the employees, with decision-makers supporting them and being next to them if they need them.

You know that iGaming and sports betting are growing fast, and we are very aware about the products you have for these markets. What do you think about the next stage for sports betting and for iGaming industry knowing that during the last years their growth was unstoppable? 

This is the future. It’s a product solution, a product for the younger generation. We see a huge benefit in participating in all kinds of online and sports betting activities because it’s part of the gaming sector that we need to fill with life, but I have to say very clearly that we will combine all our power and all our staff members in working on solutions for the German Market key. Having a solid performing German market is key for us at this level.