As an increasing number of organisations begin to cast more than admiring glances towards various markets across the Asian continent, what does it take to make it in the region?

CasinoBeats spoke to Markus Nasholm, QTech CEO, to discuss just that, as the Asian focused distributor gets set to launch its new support services division.

Discussing the inclination of those in the industry that feel the need to establish a footprint within Asia, Nasholm stressed that, while fathomable, why exactly QTech’s new operation could offer a helping hand: “We are witnessing an emerging trend whereby European operators feel a pressing urgency to establish a presence in Asia.

“However, understandable as this desire is, due to regulatory and business reasons, they cannot run their operation in Asia. Or, alternatively, they simply know they want to sample the market but lack the know-how.

“It appears Asian operators don’t really care if you have the ‘traditional’ game provider”

“Outsourcing customer service and admin has been a staple in all other industries for the past 20 years or more, and QTech Games are now applying it to igaming. With our extensive industry experience and knowledge, we have been running a progressively successful platform business in Asia for years, from an established and well-resourced headquarters in the Philippines.

“As an eloquent case in point, QTech Games have recently signed the first operator partner to whom we will offer customer service and administration around their legal-entity structure in Asia, aimed for now at servicing the Japanese wing of the business.”

Working on a mantra of ‘one integration for all the emerging and growth markets,’ Nasholm goes on to address Europe’s busy environment, and alternative viewpoints that exist in Asia: “As Europe is getting more and more competitive, there is a need for one partner for all emerging markets, and naturally one of the key components for sustained success is to have all the right games and products readily at your disposal,” he says.

“It appears Asian operators don’t really care if you have the “traditional” game providers. That said, if you don’t have the Fish game in China, there’s a zero per cent chance of becoming successful.

“And it’s a similar story in other markets – just take the Andar Bahar card game in India, or the pachinko parlours that are ubiquitous across Japanese cityscapes, as instructive examples.

This tide is only rolling one way in the future, too. So you can either fight it, or ride it”

“In other news, you also need to possess a flexibility and rapidity of integration which can meet ramping or fluctuating demand – i.e. if one game suddenly becomes popular, capturing the zeitgeist, you must integrate within days to ensure that you retain your players, and acquire new ones from any rivals who can’t respond in similar fashion.”

In the midst of a rising tide for the continent, Nasholm was quick to remind of the possibilities that could still lie ahead: “I have said it for many years, but it bears repeating: If you are not present in fast-growing markets such as China, India, Japan and Africa, you will not survive.

“The volumes here are megalithic and seems to keep on growing in double-digit (even triple-digit) increments year-on-year. This tide is only rolling one way in the future, too. So you can either fight it, or ride it.”