BLOX talks Italy
BLOX Chief Commercial Officer Karl Grech discusses the company’s recent partnership with Pragmatic Play, and what it means for BLOX’s Italian player base.
GIO: What are the main media used in gaming in Italy – tablet, mobile, desktop, what’s the most popular with the end user, and how do you select games given the variance in how people view and play them?
KG: It’s a cliche to say it, but the future definitely is mobile. In fact, a very significant percentage of turnover in Italy already comes from players using mobile devices. Of course, it’s a balance because many people still prefer to play on computers or tablets, so for example, you can’t assume everyone wants vertically optimised games. This is one of the reasons we strive to offer such a wide variety of games, to allow operators to ensure players always have a massive choice, no matter what device they are using. The same omni-channel ethos is the heart of our platform too, because we know it’s not just players who use a variety of devices, but also our clients.
GIO: BLOX aims to give a great experience while reducing overheads – how does the business work? How do you make life easier for operators?
KG: Our user-friendly, flexible, module-based platform can be tailored to clients’ exact requirements, so they always have exactly what they need, but won’t find themselves stung by hidden charges for things they don’t want. We also understand that we operate in a rapidly evolving industry, and are continually improving and optimising our platform, based on feedback from clients and cues from emerging trends, to ensure that they have what they need to achieve the success they deserve.
Take our back-office platform. It really is geared to letting game providers focus on doing what they do best, ie. Developing games. Whilst it is extremely powerful, it is designed with ease of use and efficiency in mind, helping to take the stress out of day-to-day operations. Our message is basically, “focus on building market leading games and leave the rest to us.” This simple, but effective strategy has enabled us to greatly speed processes and is already bearing fruit, as can be seen from our latest announcements.
GIO: Where do you see growth in the Italian market in coming years?
KG: In addition to the growth in Live Casino and inexorable shift to mobile gaming, we see the community aspect of online gambling becoming ever more important. While new games are increasingly integrating innovative features with this in mind, we also see additional community-focused elements being added to existing titles, giving them a new lease of life, and boosting lifetime value.
You can read the rest of this interview here.
