David Snook recalls the founding of InterGame in 1994 and the major milestones of the last 20 years.
WITH hindsight, there was nothing particularly clever about the success of InterGame. It has been a success justified by the company’s creation, establishment and subsequent expansion over a period of 20 years, an anniversary which arrives next month.
It was in September 1994 that the first edition of the new publication was distributed to an apparently appreciative audience, mostly from the coin-operated amusement machine business. Since then, the publication has gone on to become unquestionably the global leader in its field.
It has been supplemented by further publications, the split-off of the casino sector with its own dedicated publication, InterGaming; a similar division which saw the creation of InterPark; a number of annuals, specials, catalogues, a successful website and twice-weekly newsletter and, following the evolution of the industry, the launch of iNTERGAMINGi to chart the i-gaming business. The more recent addition to the stable of InterFun came only in 2013.
There was nothing clever about the lift-off in 1994; nor was there anything particularly clever about the rapid success of InterGame. That hindsight leads to the conclusion that it was very much down to three factors: being in the right place at the right time; a dedication to hard work; and knowing the market intimately.
It should be remembered that in the mid-1990s the industry was thriving – relatively – by today’s standards. Coin-op was doing well across the world, the ATEI trade show in London was a principal shop window, as was AMOA in the US and JAMMA in Tokyo. Casino gaming was just getting off the ground, in real terms, the ICE trade show was a little add-on to ATEI at Earls Court, the AWP machine business was bursting with success in the UK, the Netherlands and Spain, while Germany was suppressed by regulation and Italy was a hotbed of illegal machines.
It was against that background that we had started EuroSlot on behalf of our employers, World’s Fair Ltd, a couple of years earlier, with Christine Butterworth as editor and Neal Barrington as sales manager. I left the board of that company to find that Christine and Neal had decided to launch their own international title with myself as the unknowing partner. My split with the old company, without restrictions, meant we could form an alliance and start work on the first issue. InterGame Ltd was therefore incorporated in May of 1994 and we had a six-month preparation schedule through the ‘lean months’ of the summer, with a planned launch as the ‘season’ got under way in September.
Read the full article in the August issue of InterGame
