Novomatic head office | |
Industry | Gambling |
---|---|
Founded | 1980 |
Headquarters | , Austria |
43 countries | |
Key people | Johann Graf, founder, owner and president |
Revenue | €5.0 billion (2018) |
€359 million (2012) | |
154,400,000 euro (2016) | |
Total assets | 3,668,200,000 euro (2016) |
23,849 (2016) | |
Subsidiaries | Admiral Talarius |
Novomatic is an international gambling company, founded by the billionaire Johann Graf in 1980.[1]
For the year 2018, total revenue was Euro 5.0 billion.[2] The company has offices in 43 countries and also operate casinos, including in locations such as Berlin and Santiago, Chile.[1] The Novomatic Group consists of a three holding companies.[3]
In June 2016, Novomatic bought the UK gambling company Talarius from the Australian Tatts Group.[4]
Instant win and digital scratchcard provider, Gamevy, formed a partnership with Novomatic subsidiary, Novomatic Lottery Solutions (NLS), in November 2016. The tie-up presents NLS with an opportunity to focus on 'the broader lottery demographic'.[5][6][7]
Worthington Austria. Worthington Cylinders GmbH Beim Flaschenwerk 1 Kienberg bei Gaming 3291 Austria. Austrian Gaming Industries Gmbh is an information technology and services company based out of 158Wr. Str., Gumpoldskirchen, Lower Austria, Austria. Bytedance’s revenue more than doubled to $37bn in 2020. Tencent’s highest valued investment in gaming during the year was the $1.5 billion acquisition of Leyou Technology.
Johann Graf initially partnered with Gerhard Brodnik in the 1970s to start Brodnik & Graf, a company that was importing pinball machines from Belgium. In 1980, Brodnik decided to quit, and Graf oriented towards producing gaming machines under the Admiral brand. A number of Admiral branded casinos were opened.[a] Novomatic expanded globally during the decade and vastly improved the technology. It was among the first gaming equipment manufacturers to use touch screen technology. Novomatic operates in over 80 countries and has more than 30,000 employees.[12]
In 2010, Novomatic expanded into online gaming business by acquiring controlling stake in London based Greentube studio. Greentube, in addition to their original content, is the main online publisher of already established Novomatic slot games.[13] Greentube then purchased Canadian based Bluebat Games studio in 2015 to further expand its online presence.[14]
In 2018 Novomatic completed the purchase of 52% of Australian gaming equipment maker Ainsworth Game Technology Limited for around 300 million Euros. That was Novomatic's largest acquisition since the acquisition of Greentube in 2010.[15]
Coordinates: 48°02′11″N16°17′39″E / 48.0364°N 16.2943°E
If anyone doubted the fact that Austria’s Novomatic Group of Companies, led by its slot manufacturing subsidiary Austrian Gaming Industries (AGI), is the dominant supplier in the European gaming market, a visit to its stand at last February’s ICE Totally Gaming show in London surely erased any doubt.
Novomatic’s stand was larger than many casinos. Subdivided into displays of the company’s scores of subsidiaries, the stand measured more than 30,000 square feet, the largest booth in the history of trade shows. Novomatic dominated the show.
No one would argue that Novomatic has conquered Europe in terms of gaming. In addition to being by far the largest slot supplier on the content, the company is a major casino operator—Novomatic Holdings and its Swiss sister company Admiral Casinos & Entertainment (ACE) operate more than 1,200 casinos, electronic casinos, and sports betting outlets.
For Novomatic, though, the past few years have not been about dominating Europe—they have been about branching out, to new markets in Asia and, in particular, the Americas.
New markets in the Americas were an important enough opportunity that Jens Halle, the longtime managing director of ATI, relocated to the U.S. and established a new subsidiary, Novomatic Americas Sales LLC, to service new markets in North and South America.
Halle says it was a matter of reversing his international commute—he was spending so much time in the Americas that it was easier to commute back to the company’s corporate headquarters in Austria when needed, and spend a majority of his time making sure the drive to establish market share in the Americas was going right.
“As you know, Novomatic now has many subsidiaries throughout South America,” Halle says. “To better and more efficiently support and coordinate the efforts of those companies, we last year established a presence in the U.S., in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to create a ‘hub’ for our business throughout all of the Americas.
“That has been a tremendous success, as it allows better and more efficient logistics when those companies communicate with Novomatic Group headquarters in Austria. We set the hub up to give an added value to our customers across Central and South America, and we can see that the results have been extremely positive.”
To more effectively branch out into U.S. markets, Novomatic enlisted a partner in Ft. Lauderdale, Reel Games, Inc. Reel Games, a 12-year-old manufacturer and distributor of slots to several U.S. states, the Caribbean and cruise lines, imports Novomatic products and assembles them for sales to 60 U.S. jurisdictions in which it is licensed.
“We started our move into North American markets with one huge advantage: the reputation for excellence and quality that Novomatic enjoys worldwide,” Halle says. “We moved, as Novomatic always does, cautiously and in a logical, step-by-step manner, but we have been extremely gratified by the reception that we have had thus far from American operators.
“The necessary licensing and approvals procedures will take time, of course, but we are well on track to achieve our initial objectives and thus be able to move forward with confidence.”
It is the repeat of a common practice in Novomatic’s history when entering a new market—choose the most efficient means possible to get Novomatic games in front of players.
“The Novomatic approach is to undertake market research and to use the most efficient logistical route to market,” Halle explains. “As is widely known, our preference is to have subsidiary companies in place when we enter new markets but, for various reasons, that is not always either practical or possible. So, wherever we are in the world, Novomatic will move to ensure the standards of service and support that our customers have every right to expect.”
Reel Games has had sales success with a number of Novomatic product groups. It groups Novomatic’s Premium-V+ Gaminator slot group in four different product mixes to cover a wide range of preferences. “Wild Nights,” a mystery progressive jackpot available for the Novo Line VLT/GDS and Coolfire II cabinets, has been a success for the company as well.
Of course, taking products to the Global Gaming Expo is a particularly efficient way of spreading the word about Novomatic in American markets, and the company plans to take advantage of that fact with gems from each of its diverse product groups.
The Dominator
At the heart of G2E display will be AGI’s latest cabinet, “The Dominator.” The show will provide the U.S. premier of the cabinet, which incorporates five video screens including a touch-pad button panel, a topper and three main screens.
The cabinet will be accompanied by a wide range of single games and multi-game mixes based on the server-based-ready Novo Line Interactive platform, as well as a selection of single-player games from subsidiary Octavian.
The machines will be connected to the “Amazeland” community jackpot, as well as the mystery progressive “Magic Joker Jackpot.”
The Super-V+ Gaminator and Premium V+ Gaminator platforms will be well-represented with U.S. market-specific multi-game mixes, together with Novomatic’s “Reel Tournament” controller.
Other Novomatic progressive jackpot systems include the dinosaur-themed “Ancient Giants”—housing the games “Ancient Wilds” and “Ancient Treasures”—the “Marilyn” series featuring Marilyn Monroe, and a new “Elvis” mystery progressive jackpot.
Other cabinet styles to be displayed include the Novostar SL slant-top and the Super-V Gaminator III, with more multi-game lineups designed for American markets, and single games based on the Coolfire II platform.
Among Novomatic’s other new products launched last February include a new range of signage called “Absolute Vision,” in which operators can distribute content to a variety of video screens simultaneously.
“Novomatic continues to inspire through innovation,” says Halle. “To make that innovation possible, we have arguably the best R&D teams in today’s global gaming industry.
“It has always been a key element of Novomatic’s business philosophy to invest heavily—far more than the industry standard—in R&D, and that sits perfectly alongside Novomatic’s position of business duality, as both a manufacturer and a highly successful operator. The knowledge gained from our operations is a key driver in our product development.”