Eduardo Aching, Konami Gaming: “We need to keep innovating, bringing the leading-edge technology”
Shows & conferences - 31 October, 2025
During SBC Summit Lisbon 2025, Focus Gaming News spoke with Eduardo Aching, VP at Konami Gaming, about the company’s European commitment, its omni‑channel strategy, the engineering behind bringing hit land‑based titles online, product roadmaps, and responsible entertainment.
Aching confirmed Konami’s expanded European footprint with a new office in Slovenia. “We decided to open an office in Slovenia to show our commitment to the region,” he said. The move supports steady growth and strengthens service for “all the operators, not only online but also the land‑based casino.”
Tracing Konami’s evolution, Aching noted that while the company’s historic focus has been “land‑based casinos and casino management systems,” the last two years have seen accelerated investment in igaming—with strong results. The core advantage for operators is true omni‑channel continuity: “Your player is going to play exactly the same type of game they used to play in land‑based casinos.” For many Konami clients in North America and LatAm—and increasingly in Europe—this is a “natural fit,” enabling a consistent journey “to their online casinos,” and giving operators “something different, not the same thing over and over.”
Delivering that parity takes significant engineering. “It’s not a simple task,” Aching explained, since original cabinet titles were built for “a 75‑inch or 49‑inch monitor,” whereas online play is often on “2‑ or 3‑inch” mobile screens. The critical work is adapting the format while keeping the essence intact: “We still need to keep that look and feel of the original game. But mathematically they are exactly the same.” The outcome is familiar gameplay: “The same feeling as a gambler that you have in a slot machine, you can play in an online casino.”
On roadmap priorities, Konami is first porting “traditional or classic games”—proven performers operators and players already love. But Aching revealed plans to expand with online‑first originals: “We have in our plan to invest more in what we call the originals… first designed for the online player and, if they do well, we could go backwards to land‑based.” Mobile‑first development will likely be part of that journey “in a few areas.”
Looking ahead two to three years, Aching sees opportunity and challenge in continuous innovation. “We need to keep innovating, bringing the leading‑edge technology… at the end of the day, we’re a technology company,” he said. That means elevating “the look and feel of the machines,” making games “more attractive visually,” and investing in R&D for features “two, three years down the road.” Still, there’s a balance to strike: “There’s a set of features that everybody’s expecting to have… but we are always looking [for] the next feature that everybody might like.”
Crucially, innovation is guided by responsibility. “Gambling has to be healthy,” he stressed. “We try to make this balance… focus on the entertainment of the person, but not on the addiction,” because harm “is not a winning for anybody.”
On the operator side, Aching said priorities remain constant: “How to bring more players to my casino.” Konami’s role is to help with compelling hardware aesthetics and, above all, hit games: “If the person likes the game, they want to play the game.”
As for SBC Lisbon, the experience has been positive and productive. “So far [it’s been] pretty successful,” Aching said of his first time at the event, highlighting face‑to‑face meetings with known operators and “working on our next steps expanding our igaming business to Europe.”