“This year at ICE was extremely special for Zitro”

What are you exhibiting in this edition of ICE?

This year at ICE was extremely special for us, as for the first time we have presented ourselves as a true global supplier for the gaming industry. It is only a bit over 2 years ago when we announced that we would transform Zitro from being the world leader in Video Bingo, to a leading global gaming supplier, with the introduction of our Bryke Video slot products, and I could not be more proud as to how far we have come today.

This year at ICE we have shown the most complete product portfolio that Zitro has been offering so far, and, in addition, we have demonstrated high performance for over 2 years in the market with Bryke.  The combination of an incredible and deep product portfolio, together with proven performance, is what gives the operator the guarantee that investing in Zitro product is a secure bet.

On our booth, customers have been able to see the world’s best slot product, Link King, with an enhanced version including 2 additional titles in the game selection, as well as the debut of Link Shock and Hit me Up! Dynamite. Two local area progressive banks with surprising features and unique new games. Additionally, we have showcased new versions of Blazing Pearls, Guns & Gold and a variety of our standalone multigame, as we understand that in order to keep up with performance we have to not only create new and diverse experiences, but also make the existing ones better. We also presented new Video Bingo products as well as our recently launched free to play social Casino Let’s Winup!

What are the expectations and goals with which you come to the London show each year?

As mentioned before, Zitro has experienced an important transformation process in the last couple of years, and thus the goals have been different every year. This year though, our expectations where super-high as we can now proudly state that with Bryke, we are part of the must-have suppliers on any casino floor world-wide. With thousands of Bryke machines already installed and performing, and by now also in the most prestigious casinos in Europe, we expected that operators, especially from Europe, would come and show their interest, and so it was. Our commercial team went back after the show and has been busy following up and closing all the generated leads. But again, even though our expectations were high, it has been a tremendous show for us.

How important is it for the company to exhibit here?

There are couple of trade shows during the year that you can’t miss if you are a global gaming supplier. ICE is definitely one of them and, as it is at the beginning of the year, the perfect timing for operators to look at the new offering and plan the investments of the year.

How do you see this year's edition?

I have been very positively surprised about the improvements that the organization has made in regards to a better organization of the whole event, as well as the introduction of measures that are very much needed, such as the environment protection related initiatives. We have seen the event busier than any year before which is great news, not only for us as exhibitors, but for the industry as a whole as well as the related services to a trade show of this magnitude.

How did you close 2018 and what are their goals for 2019?

2018 has been the year that has taken us from being a company, leader in Video Bingo and willing to compete in the Video Slot market, to a proven global supplier that has received the recognition of the operators worldwide. Our goal in 2019 is to continue to grow in the markets where we are already established, as well as open new markets to increase our market share globally.

The online games are being strengthened thanks to the fact that several countries continue to regulate. Do you think it can be a competition or complement to the land based casino?

Online gaming is another form of entertainment and therefore we like to look at it as a complement to land-based, just as other forms of entertainment. We do offer our content for online operators, but no operator has stopped placing machines from us, because they have our content online. At ICE we have launched our new free to play social casino Let’s Winup! This type of game is targeted to a different type of player that is more interested in the gamification side of the application than the actual slot or bingo game. We do learn a lot through the online channels about the different tastes and requirements, especially of the younger generations, which we than take back and use also for new concept of land based products.