How would you describe your company’s recent participation at the Barcelona (Spain) event?
This year, we went to SBC Barcelona for the first time as an exhibitor and realized that it was the right decision made at the right time, since we really had something to show and surprise. Essentially, DS Virtual Gaming is the most technologically savvy provider of virtual sports and, naturally, this could not go unnoticed by our industry colleagues. We demonstrated all of our solutions (online and land-based, including Order Ticket Solution) and our complete games catalog, received a large number of positive reviews and have already begun to implement the integrations brought to us by this exhibition.
How has the industry been reacting to your latest products, such as RacingHarness, KickboxMania and the Order Ticket Solution (OTS)?
For us, the industry’s reaction to the changes was very much expected, since we know how subtly operators respond to each innovative product. If you pay attention to the content that we offer, you will notice that we, in principle, do not deal with games that are already presented on the markets by our colleagues from the segment. We just don’t understand the point of trying to make the product that brought them success, but ‘better.’ We strive to bring innovation to the industry and this is our mission and position. We expected that RacingHarness would not be an overnight success. This game should find its audience, the audience of horse racing fans. But KickboxMania and Order Ticket Solution (OTS) worked just as well as we expected. The fact is that KickboxMania itself fascinates with the purity of its graphics and content. The nature of the game is as close as possible to a sportsbook, since each game consists of 3 exciting rounds (and we have more than 14,000 pre-recorded videos for this) and, to determine the results, players must watch the broadcast fully. As for the Order Ticket Solution (OTS), it really makes life easier for everyone (players, operators, and cashiers), facilitating the transition of players from the betting shops to the online segment, and the ability to have all the games at the betshop without unnecessary TVs and equipment. The entire broadcast is now displayed on computers and phones, saving operators money and opening up the possibility of activating new segments.
Precisely, some of the advantages of these titles are their simplicity, frequency of rounds and quality, which makes them ideal for all types of players, including new generations looking for speed and ease of use. What is your opinion on this issue?
I have worked with virtual games as a platform provider, operator and as a direct provider of this segment. I can affirm with certainty that the audience for virtual games is very different. At the betting shops in diverse countries and continents, I watched both young people and the older generation play, and they all had one thing in common: their love for action. The requirements for virtual games have increased greatly. Players demand perfect mathematics, high odds, high RTP and high-quality pictures. And, of course, technological development cannot affect the convenience of betting when it comes to mobile devices, since over 80% of online bets come from mobile phones. We love demanding players, we listen to them and they help us grow.
In relation to LatAm markets, the Dominican Republic, for example, is one of those that have flourished the most over the last 5 years, considering the number of bets by players, revenue for operators, and tax amounts collected by the State. How do you evaluate the dynamics of the gaming sector in this territory? What has been your company’s development strategy there?
I’m glad you asked us about this market because, as the largest virtual gaming provider there, we likely have the most in-depth knowledge of the Dominican Republic. Our games can be seen in over 90% of the country’s betting shops (even if we take into consideration that there are many local providers of virtual games), but our path to success was difficult and thorny. We were not the first provider on the market, so we had to win our place in the sun. DS entered the Dominican Republic in 2018 and we literally trained players in our games. We had already achieved good results when the pandemic began and all the ticket offices closed instantly. It took us several months to get back to the pre-pandemic numbers, but our success is entirely based on the fact that we are constantly improving our system, our connection, while maintaining the core of the games that players have become accustomed to and love. Let me add some math to the above. Over the course of the year, we have undergone major changes in the technical component of the game, which are not visible at first glance, but they are felt by particularly ardent fans of our product. The game seemed to remain the same, but thanks to the changes, sales volume increased by 73% compared to the same period last year for the same operators. Now, we are introducing Order Ticket Solution into the market, which should increase sales by another 30%, while we did not touch the mathematical component of the game at all, so the margin remained the same. In principle, we still have ample opportunity to increase sales in the future, which is what we will do, since our partners are accustomed to constant growth in sales.
What will be the keys of DS Virtual Gaming’s growth in the future, including hiring more staff, expanding into new markets, and participating in different events of the industry?
The first and most important thing for DS Virtual Gaming is the technical component. Operators who have deep knowledge of games, and in particular IT, can immediately say that this is what characterizes our games: stability, consistency, high quality. We have crazy ideas on how we can expand our content and I assure you, what we are working on has never been seen before in the industry. Naturally, there is a significant amount of risk here, since we do not know how well this or that idea will be accepted by end users. Players at the betting shops are very conservative, but we want to bring more fun to them, heighten their sense of perception of the game. At the end of the day, we all work in the entertainment industry and recognize that people dedicate a portion of their lives to our product, so why not make this time as enjoyable as possible?