Novomatic CEO Franz Wohlfahrt believes online gaming poses no threat to the 1.5 million machine European AWP market.
Speaking at the World Gaming Executive Summit in Madrid on Wednesday, Wohlfahrt said that the AWP market is mainly concentrated in Germany, the UK, Spain and Italy and generates approximately 20bn euro in gross gaming revenue.
The growth in online gaming has long-been seen as a potential threat to casino gaming but the street market looks unlikely to be impacted by this trend.
"I’m confident that this market share will stay at this size or grow over the next couple of years through the substitution of old machines with the new generation," he said, "so we see no threats at all coming from online gaming."
"I see the positive side - I think that the next phase of operations, the AWP market will still have its presence."
Although this current generation of players may age, there is a great deal of interest from younger players to ensure that the market continues to thrive.
