Michael Bauer: “Localisation is becoming extremely important as more markets open up”
Michael Bauer, CFO/CGO at Greentube, spoke with Focus Gaming News about the highlights of the year for the company and their expectations for 2022.
Exclusive interview.- Expansion across new markets has been the key for Greentube’s successful year in 2021 and the company expects to continue in that line for the year that is about to start. Michael Bauer, CFO/CGO at Greentube, is excited about all the work done throughout the year and shares his thoughts on the challenges to come.
2021 was quite a year with new partnerships and new markets for Greentube. What was your highlight?
It is hard to pick just one as we have had a fantastic year full of exciting events. We are especially pleased with the three acquisitions we completed in the year that will see us strengthen our local presence in the Netherlands and Italy, but also enter the esports sphere.
The acquisition of esports platform provider HERO sees us move into uncharted territory but the esports and blockchain space offers a lot of possibility for the gaming sector and will open up new doors for us as a company.
The Netherlands is a market of high importance for us and we significantly strengthened our product portfolio in the newly-regulated market with the acquisition of Eurocoin Interactive, a supplier whose classic slots cater for the Dutch audience. In November, we acquired experienced Italian developer Capecod Solutions which increases our game portfolio in the country but also adds the first aggregator pole within our online offering.
Another highlight was the opening of our development centre in Belgrade, Serbia, where our new team will focus on our proprietary platform development and strengthening our operations units. Lastly, we are thrilled to have been able to expand our footprint across several existing and new regulated markets such as Canada, Luxembourg, Germany, the Netherlands and of course, the US.
How have Greentube’s games been received in New Jersey?
We have had a fantastic start in the US together with Golden Nugget Online. Our content has been performing well with the local audience, especially the titles that we have designed with the US market in our mind. We are currently analysing the performance of our content and we’re working to introduce even more localised games to ensure our offering caters to the local preferences.
The New Jersey debut was a very important step into the US market and we are now preparing ourselves for future launches in Michigan and Pennsylvania as well and we are excited about what the future holds in this strategically important region.
“The New Jersey debut was a very important step into the US market.”
Michael Bauer, CFO/CGO at Greentube.
What are your thoughts on the first months of regulated gaming in The Netherlands?
Only a limited number of operator licences have been handed out so far, so it is still a bit early to fully gauge the performance of the Dutch market. Through NOVOMATIC, we have always played a big part in shaping the Dutch land-based market so we know what content local players prefer and that is an advantage for us. Through the acquisition of Eurocoin Interactive, we also gained invaluable local expertise.
For example, Eurocoin has developed local classic slots such as Random Runner and Simply Wild, which are names that are well-known among players in the Netherlands and customers are now keen to play these game online. This classic slots segment is very popular, with certain market studies showing that this type of content make up around 35 per cent of the total online slots market in the country.
Our portfolio offers a good mix of traditional casino content as well as these Dutch favourites and we are very optimistic about the Netherlands and believe it will become one of our key markets going forward.
Can we expect more expansion in 2022?
Absolutely. We continue to focus on expanding across regulated markets next year. The US offers unparalleled potential and is a key territory for us going forward as regulation continues to make headway across different states.
Pending regulatory approval, we will expand into new states in 2022 and we are keeping a close eye on opportunities across the pond.
Further boosting our presence in the Netherlands and Germany is also part of our growth trajectory as well as Italy so watch this space!
What games do you think will be drawing in the punters over the next year?
Localisation is becoming extremely important as more markets open up and we analyse player data from every jurisdiction where we are active to ensure we have a full understanding of what makes players tick. Our roadmap for 2022 consists of titles with popular and proven mechanics, features and themes that we have seen there is an appetite for at the moment across multiple global markets.
These include our successful Hold N Spin, Diamond Link and Cash Connection offering. In the US, we predict jackpots will be king as well as content that is familiar from land-based venues, such as stepper slots. Player preferences in the Dutch, German and other European markets differ and we will release targeted content for the local audience.
“The gambling industry is ever changing with new trends and innovation occurring constantly and next year will be no different.”
Michael Bauer, CFO/CGO at Greentube.
We are up to the challenge to establish ourselves as a leading supplier to the online gambling industry and will create content that players want and that will stand the test of time.
