Peter Nolte has been involved with the gaming industry in LATAM for over 20 years. Previous roles have included General Manager for Cirsa and IGT in LATAM, and more recently developing the
AutogameSYS online gaming platform for regulated markets. But what exactly are the unique considerations for a LATAM market?
“Most operators tend to look at LATAM as one market, one strategy, one UX, but in reality LATAM is completely different from the traditional markets in Europe and Asia,” explains Nolte. “And even within LATAM itself there is a huge difference between one country and the other, different languages, cultures, economics, and regulations. Take Brazil for example, it has nothing in common with the other Spanish speaking countries. Even Spanish speaking countries are very different from each other. Every country is different and must be approached accordingly with a unique localized UX and strategy.”
Interest in this region is easy to understand: LATAM has a population of 630 million people, and the market is estimated to be worth between 3 to 6 billion with growth potential of 10% year-on-year. “It is one of the last untapped markets in the world,” explains Nolte, “there is huge potential once it becomes regulated. Countries like Mexico, Colombia and now Peru are already regulated, and we are sure that many more will regulate online gaming over the coming years.”
Regulation is key for the LATAM market; AutogameSYS has certified the gaming platform in Mexico and is now the provider for Big Bola Casinos, www.onlinebigbola.mx, authorised and regulated by the Mexican Gaming authorities. “We are in the process of certifying the AutogameSYS platform in Colombia and any other country that regulates online gaming. Other considerations relate to localisation, meaning offering a unique local user experience, local payment processing solutions, local content and a personalised customer service.”
Another key local partnership for AutogameSYS is with Zitro: “The Zitro deal is important for our Mexican clients; they are popular in the Mexican land based casinos. Again, it is all about localisation.”
I ask if Peter thinks it’s possible to be successful in LATAM without those local partnerships: “The key is localisation, meaning you must understand your market. The difficulty is that each and every country is different and gaining local know-how is difficult to come by if you don’t have local partnerships in place.”
AutogameSYS’s immediate targets are Mexico, Colombia, Peru… “and Brazil once it becomes regulated. We will also be certifying our platform in Colombia and will launch three more clients in the region.”
And what of the next few years? “We believe that most countries will have regulations in place for online gaming,” says Nolte, “and AutogameSYS will be certified in each of the regulated countries. AutogameSYS is a technology provider and it is strict company policy that the gaming platform service is only available for licensed operators.”
