How have the new developments at Interblock helped the company expand its reach within gaming?
I think when you have a piece of content that resonates in the traditional casino environment, we’ve learned over the years that that same content can also be distributed within other areas of the gaming sector successfully. At Interblock, we’ve been so inundated with our growth from a traditional casino perspective in the past 10 years that we’ve been somewhat limited in our ability to diversify outside of just core casinos. Now, we have the critical mass and scale necessary as well as, quite frankly, the capital needed to bring us to where we are now. Coming into this year’s G2E in Las Vegas, we will be taking the company into several new categories within the gaming sector worldwide.
Are consumers becoming more expectant of that innovation and enhancement?
The player dictates where the industry is going. Right now, I believe what we’re experiencing is the sophistication of the player base evolving rapidly due to the online space. Because of that, there’s a lot of new technology and enhancements within the sector that are providing players with alternatives and methods by which to play content we’ve not seen before. The level of innovation and the expectation of the player is no longer what it was even five years ago. Now, suppliers, including Interblock, have to work very diligently to make sure what we’re developing is applicable to where the industry is trending. If you don’t keep your eye on the ball, you can fall behind very quickly, now more than ever.
Do you expect to see more consolidation efforts around the gaming industry?
I think we’re going to continue to see consolidation over the next 36 months at least; you can already see it now. There are more transactions and more companies on the market than we’ve seen in quite some time. Part of that ties back to your previous question: the industry is evolving quickly and if you’re unable to keep up, many companies want to sell before they become obsolete. It seems as if they believe they might as well sell while there’s still value left inside the organization. Perhaps someone would want to acquire them, because if they wait too long, it really could get to a point where it’s not even feasible for another company to acquire them.
That’s why you’re seeing the number of transactions currently going on, both on the supply and operator side of the business, because the market is just evolving so rapidly. Some people are getting caught off guard and they’re falling so far behind; they have no choice but to sell – and I don’t know if that will necessarily change anytime soon.
Did any of those recent transactions take you by surprise at all?
I’m surprised every day, but the ones that I’m more focused on are the ones that Interblock has done. I’ll announce another acquisition before G2E this year and another couple of companies along with that announcement. I’ll always be keeping an eye out for opportunities in that regard. On the supply side, some of the more notable ones lately were IGT’s acquisition of Everi, and on the operator side, you have MGM divesting itself from a few of its properties to reconstruct its approach as an operator and what it sees itself as in the future. I think more strategic decisions will be coming in the next few years, as operators and suppliers alike redefine where they want to be in the next chapter. Driving that is the fact that there’s an integration of the omnichannel discussion between the online space and the traditional gaming space. It’s impacting everybody, and people are trying to understand how to navigate that correctly.
Is there anything regarding the remainder of 2024 that we can look forward to from Interblock?
We always try to surprise the industry through innovation but, this year, we hope, will be one that the industry will take notice of at G2E 2024 especially. Our focus now is integrating the most recent acquisitions we’ve made and then introducing those to the global gaming sector, presenting the next generation of innovation at Interblock. I call it leapfrogging technology and I really think it’s going to take the industry to a whole new level when it thinks of ETGs. I can’t wait to hear the response.
