Austrian leader Novomatic is "quite happy" with the position it holds in the Italian market, it was stated at the Spring ENADA in Rimini last week.
The company is working with no less than nine of the 10 VLT concessionaires and estimates that it has around 48 per cent market share. "We entered the market at the same time as everyone else so we believe our good market share is due to the fact that the games we use are from our successful international range," said the company’s Susanne Zimmerl.
"We have adapted the games to fit in with Italian legislation, but they are still the games that have been successful all over the world. There are only certain games that can be adapted, but where we can do this, we have."
The best performing VLT game in Italy for Novomatic is Book of Ra.
"We entered the market last year and we hope to bring more products to the market this year for distribution through the concessionaires. There are 10 of these with licences to connect machines and we are working with nine of them.
"The roll out has been slow, but there are several reasons for that. The homologation process takes time and there is also a licence needed from the local authority. Some of these authorities move quickly but many of them do not. Also, the necessary telephone connections are difficult to get. These three factors have been responsible for slowing down the process."
Apart from VLT,s the Comma 6 AWP market is also important to the company. "We came to this show last year with the first multigame platform for Italy, the nine-game Novostar X and the Italian players have taken to it very well."
