A number of findings have caused Platipus to slightly alter its strategy to make waves in the Brazilian market, said CBDO Vladyslav Garanko, while Chile and Peru are firmly on the radar for potential expansion across the wider Latin American region.
These comments came on the showfloor at the recent SBC Summit Rio, and form the basis of the culminating chapter of a two-part CasinoBeats special alongside the igaming developer.
Following an array of issues being tackled, such as the white and black markets and possible complications that could impact Brazil as regulation seemingly looms on the horizon, Garanko switches focus to look at how best to appeal to players across the country.
A lack of localised content
During a recent finale in London’s ExCeL, Garanko briefly touched upon a perceived lack of Spanish speaking content in gambling, in addition to questioning whether there is a demand for such titles and if these could indeed perform if, and when, live with an operator.
In short, Garanko voiced resounding agreement when quizzed on if findings received by the Platipus backs up these previous comments, with the group’s Brazilian roadmap potentially altered as a result.
“Yes, there is a certain lack of Spanish speaking content,” he began. “It is not as great as we thought it would be. But there is still a significant gap that we can squeeze in.
“It is going to impact our portfolio and roadmap as we will focus on the new types of games to achieve a market fit.”
Citing the popularity of pachinkos in Japan, Garanko moved on to suggest there is a specific type of land-based gaming content that is prevalent across the LatAm ecosystem that Platipus is looking to utilise within the digital environment.
“It appears that we will have to adjust some themes that we have initially planned for,” he noted.
“Let’s just say that the classical themes that we developed for LatAm originally do not seem to be as popular as we anticipated.”
Player preferences
As is customary with any potential new market entry, a series of tests and research is crucial to ensure that those initial steps have the desired impact, and ensure a solid foundation from which to build.
Despite acknowledging that the group has taken an educated guess on what themes and mechanics would be interesting to players within the nation, a series of findings have thrown up some surprises for Platipus.
“For example, we were looking at carnivals and other music/party related themes” Garanko continued. “Now, interestingly, as we run our short surveys and talked to local experts, it turned out that out guess was somewhat off the mark.
“Instead, what we found was that players preferred, among other things, our older games with temples or the Amazonian rainforest.”
Despite acknowledging that further changes are expected to the Platipus roadmap, Garanko reiterated the importance of being on site to gain an indication of current trends, rather than aiming to gain an understanding from back in Europe.
“We are changing approximately 15 per cent of the roadmap that was created,” he said. “If that doesn’t sound like a lot, that’s just a misconception because it actually is. Despite most adjustments will only focus on graphic it will still take a considerable effort to put into works.
“That was unexpected. Very unexpected. But that is why we are here. We are here to test the theories, we are here to acquire knowledge and we are here to adjust our roadmap.”
LatAm: A new dawn
Despite adopting a one country approach during an extensive conversation on the Rio De Janeiro show floor, the discussion drew to a close with a net being cast across the wider area.
“We have a number of points of entry” Garanko concluded, with it recognised that “there is really a lot of money here” with gambling “essentially being part of the lifestyle”. In the immediate future, a pair of jurisdictions form the primary targets for the supplier.
“First of all, we are looking at Chile,” he concluded. “That is going to be a quite interesting market. Then Peru definitely showed some strong growth, so it’s the next one in sight. These are the main points of entry.
“The Latin market is very unusual. Granted, most markets are unique, still it has a very particular feature. There is money in the system, but you need to find it. Individual players are not as lucrative as they are in other regions, but on the whole, the market is very profitable.”
Adding: “We have a number of partners who are helping us with that. It’s still going to take a considerable effort to expand into this particular market.”