Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING MARCH 2018 42 knowledge of what is going on in the land-based sector. We will educate them and we will bring them to our meetings with the operators so that they are in synch with how they should develop their products. IAG: What sort of reaction have you had from operators that you’ve explained TGG’s open-source platform to for the first time? AY: I’ve only been with the company for two or three months but I have traveled around Asia a little bit prior to ICE – primarily the Philippines, Malaysia and Macau. A lot of casinos have shown interest and we actually have some contracts on the table. In Europe we invited a number of operators to come and see us at ICE to learn what we’re doing face to face. It’s not just meeting with casinos only, I’ve also met with a couple of game developers from Europe who are very interested in bringing their content to land-based, so it’s bit of a chain reaction. IAG: Where will TGG be focusing its energies in 2018? AY: This year our focus is Asia – because we are a company from Hong Kong – and Europe. Europe is an area where we plan to expand very rapidly, very quickly and very aggressively. From 2019 onwards the US will be one of the major markets that we’re targeting along with other jurisdictions. One thing I want to stress is that there are not many manufacturers, in terms of land-based slots, from China or Hong Kong. The big players obviously have a lot of game developers in their teams that are Chinese but there is not one brand that is Chinese-based or is from a Chinese background. We have a genuine interest in heading in that direction. IAG: You see that as a significant advantage for TGG? AY: Yeah for sure. Considering the economy of China, the population and the overwhelming interest in gaming, how come there isn’t one company that represents China? There should be one and we’re helping some of them try to become that one. IAG: What sort of growth do you see TGG achieving in 2018? AY: Well aside from focusing on Asia and Europe, we’re also just trying to bring our name out more to the market. To a lot of operators, TGG is not yet a household name. Nobody knows what we have done, but through press, through conferences, through exhibitions, through face to face meetings and all of that we have tried to bring more attention to what TGG is doing, how we can help game studios by providing a land-based casino sales channel and how we can help land-based casinos attract more customers. I think this is a very good business model. IAG: Are people starting to recognize TGG more? AY: Right now, other than spreading our brand through media, exhibitions and word of mouth, our main markets have been Cambodia, Korea, Singapore and we’re moving into Macau this year. We already have deployment in Mexico and South America. People will start to recognize there are some TGG products out on the casino floors and that will help in terms of floor presence. That will be very important for us, so we will be aggressively deploying our machines in Europe and Asia this year. IAG: And in terms of Asia, Macau will be an important market long-term? AY: Macau will be the center of our attention. Obviously the Philippines is on the rise and their casinos are doing well, Singapore is doing well, Malaysia has one IR but it is a dominant one in that sense. Korea has more casinos opening too but at the end of the day Macau is the most important market so we need to have a presence in Macau. It is not an easy market to get into but it will be well worth it for us to explain to the upstream or downstream that we have a presence in Macau. INSIGHTS “People will start to recognize there are some TGG products out on the casino floors and that will help in terms of floor presence. That will be very important for us, so we will be aggressively deploying our machines in Europe and Asia this year.”