“Italy is a mature, regulated market,” noted Tamas Kusztos, head of sales and account management at Kalamba Games, who explained the reasoning behind the company’s recent venture into the Italian market.
At the beginning of this month, Kalamba secured a deal with igaming platform provider Blox, a partnership which saw the online casino content developer make its first appearance in Italy.
As SBC Digital Italy gets underway today, we caught up with Kusztos as we delved into the appeal of the Italian market, what to expect within the next 12 months and Kalamba’s involvement with the digital event.
Noting why the deal with Blox was described as a ‘natural fit’, Kusztos said: “Italy is a mature, regulated market and we’re making good on our promise to bring the best of social to real money gaming, which makes us a really good fit for such territories.
“Certainly, Italian gamers can expect the rock-solid performance, slick user interface and compelling themes we’ve become known for.”
When pressed on what made the Italian market an ideal destination for Kalamba, he pinpointed that much of the online market within the country has a background in the land-based sector, given that many online operators run betting shops.
He added: “This will give us a good insight into what this slightly different player segment likes to play. The breadth and depth of the Kalamba portfolio – our 50th game is coming this year – means that we really can cater for all demographics, starting with our first batch of titles.”
“It’s an idea that has long been toyed with but we’ve yet to see anyone execute it at significant scale”
As part of the agreement with Blox, Kalamba’s ever growing portfolio of titles, including Sky Hunters, Joker Max, Beers on Reels, Wild Mine and Temple of Heroes, will be added to Blox’s igaming platform and made available to the provider’s network in Italy.
Furthermore, the agreement enables Kalamba to further develop Bullseye, its own RGS platform, globally. This provides partners, such as Blox, with access to the group’s range of promotional tools, along with direct access to key parts of its catalogue of games.
Commenting on Bullseye, Kusztos explained: “At Kalamba we always like to innovate, so Bullseye is a real opportunity for us to develop our range of promo tools so that players can get even more out of our games.
“For example, coming soon is Jackpots, which will be our own unique take on a classic gaming feature. Over time, the vision is for it to become the go-to for the industry both in slot content and gamification tools.”
Casting its eye towards the next 12 months for the Italian market, Kusztos highlight that, with the recent acquisition between Evolution Gaming and NetEnt, he is ‘sure’ that live and slot crossovers will be an area that will be ‘interesting’ to watch and could ‘push’ slot innovations forward.
He continued: “It’s an idea that has long been toyed with but we’ve yet to see anyone execute it at significant scale. Given the ban on above-the-line advertising in Italy, this kind of activity is really one to watch.”
When asked what the company is looking forward to the most at SBC Digital Italy, Kusztos concluded: “We’re obviously really looking forward to connecting with the key players of the slots industry in Italy, to explore and share information with each other and as ever, you can expect the same engaging and disruptive innovations in slots that we do here at Kalamba.”
