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A Nostalgic look at ICE London 2024 with DRGT CEO Jurgen De Munck, and Managing Directors Duncan Pollock, Andreas Duller and Christophe Van Quathem
Hello gentlemen, and as always, thanks for your time. Wow, a final ICE London. It’s sort of like the end of an era, isn’t it?
De Munck: I suppose so, but I am 100 percent convinced that ICE 2025 in Barcelona will be just as good, if not better than the Earl's Court and now ExCel events Clarion have been presenting for well over a decade.
Van Quathem: I've been with DRGT since almost Day One and was probably the company’s third employee after Jurgen and Michiel van Dam, 20 years ago. In 2020, we received our 10-year exhibitor award from Clarion and that to me was a surprise. I couldn't believe how time had flown. Granted, we missed the show in 2021 and 2022, and now it’s 2024. I guess what I’m trying to say is that, as an exhibitor, I have witnessed first-hand how this event has grown to become the biggest gaming exhibition on the planet. As such, I endorse Jurgen’s comments regarding its new location next year and the spectacle we can all look forward to in Barcelona.
Barcelona, though, is 12 months away. What can we look forward to at the final ICE in London from DRGT?
Pollock: Our two key exhibitions each year are Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas and ICE; with G2E primarily focused on our North and South American and Caribbean customers, and ICE our African and European partners. That said, as the world gets smaller and smaller, the wants and needs across many jurisdictions are getting more and more aligned. The competition becomes more and more fierce. What were once local experts are now becoming formidable, global service providers.
Duller: So true, but in my view that’s a good thing for everyone. It keeps us all on our toes and ensures we all remain focused on delivering relevant and cost-effective solutions that meet, and ideally also drive, player and operator wants and needs.
Understood, can you give me some examples?
Duller: Well at G2E we launched our new-look, Web-based drReportsBI software. That is something I am proud to say was developed out of our offices in Graz, Austria. Subsequent to that launch — following feedback from the Vegas show, and specifically our sister company Infiniti’s operations in Acapulco, as well as in Oostende and Dinant in Belgium — we have added some additional features, and tweaked the UI somewhat in an effort to offer an even better experience for operators. These changes will be on display at ExCel.
Van Quathem: Despite the fact that drReportsBI was launched in Las Vegas and has only been rolled out to a select few casinos, and I reference the ‘smaller and smaller’ world Duncan alluded to just now, our European customers have already been asking a lot of questions about it, and asking when they can get it. Key discussion points have already been its 100 percent responsiveness, the fact that it is accessible from any mobile device, and that there is really no need for any sort of technical assistance or know-how to install or operate it. It’s super intuitive, has some really easy search features, and even if I say so myself, it looks really good – you want to use it.
Jurgen, Christophe mentioned mobile devices. Your drApp was also a hit at G2E. It will be showing at ICE too, correct?
De Munck: Of course! Cashless, as you know, is our thing and our app is a piece of tech I am extremely proud of. In fact, if you ask our development team, they’d probably tell you a little too proud … and as a result too involved. [Laughs] Nonetheless, its Android and iOS functionality continues to grow. Due to what I guess you could refer to as a modular design, its various features can be activated or deactivated depending on relevant jurisdictional legislation. In addition, it has the ability for players to now connect their drApp to their electronic gaming machine via an ever-changing QR code.
Players can also effect fund transfers, check special offers and personalized jackpots, and thus do away with the need for a physical player card. The app now has functionality that allows players to top-up and cash out their casino wallet directly from and to their bank card. It’s a feature I know our South African customers will really appreciate.
Pollock: Without a doubt. SA legislation allows for it, and as such due to its pivotal role as a regulatory leader on the continent I have no doubt that it will create some significant opportunities for us. It really is an extremely player-centric solution and one our customers started enquiring about directly after its launch.
Let’s stick to Africa for a minute. There are some exciting growth opportunities in Botswana and South Africa at the moment, aren’t there?
Pollock: Yes, that’s quite correct. The Gauteng Gambling Board in South Africa issued a request for applications (RFA) for an additional nine bingo licenses last year, and we expect the results of their adjudication process and subsequent allocation of those licenses imminently. Similarly, the Botswana
Gambling Authority issued an RFA for betting licenses in June of last year, followed by a request for possible service providers for a central, electronic-monitoring system for limited payout machines (LPM), tote, and betting licenses, with their LPM timeline noting the awarding of licenses to successful candidates in early March this year.
Speaking of expansion, I read recently that you have secured a supplier license in France. Is that correct?
De Munck: Yes, correct. A lot of time and effort was spent assessing the opportunity, and then on obviously securing the license. We are extremely bullish at the prospect of servicing the French market. The key drivers of our positive sentiment are that several existing French operators are already our partners elsewhere in Europe and that our sister company Infiniti has operated Casino Dinant on the French border since 2014. I noted when we last chatted that we’ve grown our global installed base by around 15 percent over the last 24 months. We're now obviously looking forward to our efforts in France contributing to that number.
Let's stick to Europe. Andreas and Christophe, you’ve been working extensively on a player kiosk, and I know there were some rather special, new, reel bonus games launched in Ireland and Belgium of late. Can you tell me more?
Duller: We, as you know, probably offer the world's largest selection of jackpot-configuration options on the planet, with our jackpots operating across numerous casinos the world over, either as local or wide-area progressives. The bulk of our success and the driver of the extensive options we are able to offer operators, and in turn their players, is due to the fact that they are system driven. What that means is that casino operators are now able to interrogate the game play data generated by our system and then use it to define or select any number of parameters, and then literally develop — and design with the help of our drMedia Manager— their own jackpots. And they an do so on any machine as long as it runs SAS.
Van Quathem: It is off of this tech that we developed the reel bonus games you referred to. Once the reel bonus games are installed, players are automatically eligible for them as they play their favorite ‘primary game. Then, whilst playing their favorite primary game, our drScreenUltra player interface shows their progress towards qualifying for the reel bonus game. It’s really all quite interactive, providing just another way to excite, surprise and delight players. Then, once players have qualified, the actual reel bonus game itself is super fun and can be configured at the full discretion of the operator. They can set odds, manage the payable, select cash, loyalty points or raffle tickets of promotions credits as prizes, configure or present different games to different player tiers and finally — just as with our jackpots — use drMediaManager to design whatever theme they desire. We launched these in Ireland and then rolled out two Festive Season themes in Belgium in December. All of these have been really well received by players.
Duller: And so we get to the kiosk, where a player is then able to use the drApp or their player card to redeem their reel bonus game winnings, or any others, or their loyalty points for cash, raffle tickets, restaurant or bar vouchers, or any other prizes or reward options an operator may see fit.
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