“US could be one of the most promising markets”

(Exclusive interview).- Focus Gaming News visited Comtrade’s offices in Slovenia last week and Igor Rus, Director of Systems, granted us an interview.

2018 has been a great year for Comtrade Gaming so far, as the company managed to extend its reach to new markets and improve its products. Igor Rus, Director of Systems at Comtrade Gaming, talked with Focus Gaming News and discussed the upcoming plans of the company, as well as the different strategies to face the second part of the year.

Earlier this year you obtained a license in Romania. How big has been the impact of that market in the company so far?

Obtaining a Class II License by the Romanian National Gambling Office (ONJN) has given us an opportunity to provide operators in Romania with our product portfolio of igaming platform. Romania’s leading sportsbook operator announced that it intends to invest significant resources in digital opportunities and we can expect their industry counterparts to follow their lead. With a focus on multi-channel and multi-brand strategies, platform technology is accommodating a scalable business structure, quick innovation and the ability to cater to any point of the player experience. Comtrade’s iCore platform has the technical capacity to develop both player-focused and business-centric features and we see the opportunity to have a prominent presence within Romania’s fast-developing market.

Regulation is the focus of your growth strategy, and there are some territories in Europe that are currently revisiting their gambling policies. What markets is Comtrade laying its eyes on?

Italy is a very attractive market for us, with its massive GGR growth for the online gaming and positive development in VLT industry. Spain is another European market that is expanding. We saw a big increase in size in 2016 and 2017 and it is, in fact, one of the most liberalised markets in Europe. We actively follow Sweden’s newly liberalised gaming regime and the opportunities that provide international online operators to legally participate in the market. Our interest is drawn also to the UK market, that it is still one of the largest markets in the world.
Newly established VLT markets around the world are also our target, as we have invested in our own gaming management system technology.

Romania’s leading sports book operator announced that it intends to invest significant resources in digital opportunities and we can expect their industry counterparts to follow their lead.

Comtrade is focused on managing customer prospects. Do you think that it’s an essential first step towards product development? In what other ways can Comtrade strengthen the brand?

Comtrade Gaming actively works with regulators and operators to execute operational and legislative priorities to create enhanced gaming experiences. While our main focus is on managing and coordinating global opportunities, we learned to expedite our product development to match stakeholder needs. Comtrade Gaming’s speciality in product customisation means that we meet client standards and business priorities and our partnerships that speak for our success. Our ability to keep our partners and adding new is a testament to our flexible approach and ability to meet the demands of competitive igaming and land-based territories.

What is your strategy to face the second half of the year? Is the process different than the one you set at the beginning of the year?

In today’s rapidly changing environment we as well adjust our priorities. We need to be also flexible in the way we approach the new markets. On our product, we did not make strategic shifts, but we started to look at broader markets, of course, based on the regulation framework changes. The US could be one of the most promising markets in the future: with the adoption of new technologies within the matured land-based markets and scalable, flexible igmaning platform for the new sports betting landscape.
Our G2S gaming management systems, CRM platform, remote gaming server technology and igaming solutions are proactively meeting the needs of our partners.