(Greece, exclusive Yogonet.com).- Vasilis Zoupas, Vermantia Senior Product Manager of Virtual & Instant Games, lent his time to Yogonet.com for an interview in which he spoke about different issues of interest. He shared his views on the future of the gaming industry and emerging trends and also commented on the markets in which the Greek firm is operating. “We are very focused on the content management industry as we embrace all the new platforms. It’s the DNA of the company,” he said.
How do you see the future of the gaming industry and what trends are emerging?
In a general perspective, the future of the industry will be a convergence of technologies. So, in our opinion, traditional systems will gradually be replaced by other more effective systems, everything will be more online-based.
A very important trend that we witness a lot is the convergence of devices. We believe strongly in the fact that the experience is seamless regardless of where the content is being consumed. Generally, the whole industry tends to focus on one particular device, like the I-phone for example.
Which markets is Vermantia focusing on?
In terms of geography, logically, since we started in Europe, we have focused most of our attention there. We are currently active in Italy, the UK, Greece and several other countries. But in the near future however we plan turn our focus to China, where we are currently active developing business, and then I would say Latin America, where we are currently pursuing opportunities in Brazil and Colombia.
What are the main products that you have presented in Latin America?
We have a portfolio of around ten games. Most of them are already active and up and running but we have several games that are going to be active September 2014 onwards. Virtual games include: Football, Horse racing, Greyhound Racing, Trotting, Badminton, Table Tennis, Tennis, Cycling, Motor Racing (Nascar), Archery. Additionally, we are experimenting with new, innovative types of games that will subsequently attract different types of audience.
The brand in which we present the virtual games is 360Virtual, which is very important for us because it shows our end-to-end capability, meaning that we facilitate the whole processing cycle of the games, from the creation of the content until the delivery to the customers. Hence, because of our know-how in distribution, we can also undertake any kind of delivery mechanism like satellite or any other medium of distribution as chosen by the customer.
Is the 360Virtual brand present worldwide?
Apart from expanding in Europe, we are focusing a lot in Latin America. We want to expand there because we think the betting culture of the people will fit well with our virtual games. Additionally, China and Africa are the other two territories where we are expanding our brand awareness.
What would be your differentiation point regarding Virtual Games?
What we consider to be a differentiation, first of all, is the quality of our 3D animation. The second major point is that we focus a lot on the customer, so, as we are still a flexible and small team, we can pay attention to the customer’s needs and therefore provide our customers much service and support than other competitors. Thirdly, we have a very good focus on localization. For example we have created a lot of specific content for the Chinese market, like Badminton and table tennis. In other words, we create games for the markets that we enter; not the other way around. Badminton and table tennis are an example of how we create content that is specific to the culture that we are operating in. The last point I would like to add is that we are also open to creating custom content for important clients.
The company said that it strategically chose to be involved in the content management industry for new platforms. How is this sector evolving?
We must first understand that as content becomes disperse around different devices and consumed with different methods, different challenges and new questions are presented. Since Vermantia is an experienced player in the content management industry, we can approach these questions by offering the best solutions for customers. We are very focused on the content management industry as we embrace all the new platforms. It’s the DNA of the company.