Inside Asian Gaming

IAG JAPAN JAN 2019 52 revenue is also different to any other market I’ve dealt with before. So, I had to adjust my thinking a little bit. Probably one thing that struck me was the importance of having quality gaming systems, because you’re managing such high volumes, such a diversity of people, you need to have very good gaming systems to do that. OG: Where do you see yourself working in 10 years? Will you stay in gaming forever? MC: Yes, I think so. I mean, I’ve done 25 years now and I really love it. It offers challenges. Short answer? In five years I’ll still be in the industry. OG: What achievement are you most proud of? MC: When I moved into the national system sales role in Australia, we had 12 to 14 customers because it had not been an area that IGT had focused on, and we ignited that and then localized the product to fit the market. We took the best of the advanced system and we made it available to smaller operators, as well as growing our business with the larger operators. By the time I left that role we had over 200 customers. OG: What challenges will the gaming industry face in the next few years? MC: I think we need, as an industry, to continue to be mindful of our responsibility in working with regulators and governments of respective countries to ensure that our product is used sensibly. Probably more immediate is the fact that we can potentially access a gambling product on a mobile phone these days, depending on the jurisdiction, and the ability for people to wager on those. Also, what will our players like look like in 10 or 15 or 20 years? There will still be those traditional games but to broaden the customer base we need to be mindful INDUSTRY PROFILE