GGRAsia – ETGs rapid growth segment in Asia: Interblock Michael Hu

ETGs rapid growth segment in Asia: Interblock Michael Hu

Jun 06, 2023 Newsdesk G2E Asia 2023: Singapore, Latest News, Top of the deck

Electronic table games (ETGs) supplier Interblock dd is seeing growing demand for its products across the Asia-Pacific region, even as markets recover after the Covid-19 pandemic. The health crisis had sparked casino-operator interest in deploying ETGs, and the trend is continuing, says Michael Hu (pictured), Interblock’s president for the Asia-Pacific region.

“I think the gaming sector has a huge potential in coming years. The situation around the pandemic drew a lot of attention from the casino operators to the ETG segment,” said Mr Hu in an interview with GGRAsia.

The Slovenia-based gaming supplier showed its product portfolio at the three-day Global Gaming Expo (G2E) Asia 2023 Special Edition: Singapore, which took place last week.

Mr Hu said: “Following the pandemic years, operators have been focusing more on ETGs, for several reasons: more efficiency in managing their manpower; applying social-distancing measures; and providing more privacy to their patrons.”

He added: “We feel very confident that, even after Covid-19, our business will continue to grow.”

On top of that, the retreat of casino-junket business in Asia has left room for further development of the mass-market segment, noted the executive. “For companies that produce ETGs, this has a lot of potential,” he stated.

Mr Hu mentioned Interblock was increasing its share of business in regional jurisdictions including Vietnam, not only in large-scale casino properties but also among smaller venues. “We have likely a 90-percent share of the ETG market in Vietnam,” he said.

Cambodia is also a growing market for the gaming supplier, as well as the Philippines. The company has a modest presence in Macau, but Mr Hu said the firm prefers to look at other, emerging markets to continue to expand its business.

“Of course, we also engage with large casino operators, but we always look at smaller operators and venues. There’s a lot of potential there, and when you combine all these smaller operations, the business volume is huge,” said the executive. He stated that markets such as Nepal, India, and Sri Lanka represented untapped opportunities for suppliers.

“We installed 100 machines in Nepal last year, and we were surprised by the feedback we received and additional interest in our products,” noted Mr Hu. “We prefer to diversify our operations and revenue streams, because there’s a lot of demand across the region.”

For the past five years, Interblock revolved around three primary categories: stadium technology, standalone products, and “Universal”-branded cabinets. In October last year, the company launched a fourth product category, its live electronic table game pits.

The firm said its live ETG pits help “reduce labour costs and payout errors, accumulate supplemental revenue, and enhance security on existing live pits”. The offer features the games of craps, roulette, blackjack, and baccarat in multiple variations, managed by a live dealer.

Interblock’s new standalone product, “Bonus Wheel Roulette”, has also “remained a customer-favourite” since its debut in October of 2022, said the firm. The product incorporates the traditional roulette with the opportunity for players to win payouts up to 250 to 1 with a dual wheel bonus system. According to the company, the bonus round occurs approximately one in every 10 spins, and payouts are more than “seven times higher” than that of a traditional roulette wheel.

Mr Hu said the group’s Universal cabinet also continued to be one of the highlights, with high performance numbers in various markets across Asia. “The cabinet allows operators to change the toppers and adapt the games as they see fit,” he stated.