Page 67 - Public Gaming International September/October 2017

six to nine months. Following this, Finland Steve Rogers: and so for recreational gamers, the likelihood
will have Inspired’s full best-in-class Virtual We do present statistics about the players and of winning is far higher in random-based
Sports events and we are very excited to be the teams and how they performed against games where everyone has an equal chance.
working with Veikkaus on this deal. each other in the past, along with other The overwhelming portion of the winnings
interesting data but in truth is this informa- in Daily Fantasy Sports and online poker, for
And you just signed with Michigan Lottery. tion has zero bearing on the outcome. Rather instance, flow over to a very small percentage
like “dice have no memory”, the outcomes of the players.
Steve Rogers: are RNG which, by definition, means that
Our first contract in the North American nothing that happens prior has an influence One of the most unique features of Virtual
market will see Inspired installing Virtual or bearing on future outcomes and the prod- Sports is that they offer something for every-
Sports into the portfolio of products avail- uct contains clear disclaimers stating that one. The graphics are striking and visually
able on the Michigan website. the information has no bearing on the result. arresting because of the colors and the real-
Inspired Virtual Sports have a place in both istic action. The end result is virtual, but the
the sports-betting venues and the markets Having said that, the statistics make the investment to make everything so realistic
where real-life sports-betting is not allowed. choosing of teams and players and all that and engaging to the player is very real!
It complies with the fundamental RNG of much more fun and entertaining. All the
Lottery and we anticipate that it will, there- horses have names, the teams have colors, Tell us about American football which is your
fore, be adopted by other U.S. lotteries. We and numbers have different symbolic mean- new product that will launch at G2E.
now have around 16 venues in Las Vegas ing for everyone; the players enjoy this
serving the same purpose that Inspired interactive element even though they know Steve Rogers:
started with fifteen years ago – offering the result is totally RNG. It is a big project to create a new game with a
virtual horseracing as a supplemental prod- whole range of motion data required; build-
uct to their live sports and we’re are also soon And the player does decide which risk-reward ing the player models with different heights
to go live in New Jersey. model that want to play - for example, 10-1 and weights and running speeds and body
odds for higher probability of winning a dynamics and countless other details. The
Virtual Sports is a relatively new form of smaller amount or 100-1 odds for lower team kits, logos, and stadium are all built
gaming. Do regulatory frameworks typically probability of winning a larger amount. into a 3-D environment. The full American
have provisions that address Virtual Sports? football game does not fit into our regular
The play-style of the sports-better is different 90-second frame, so we are dropping the
Steve Rogers: from the lottery player. Virtual Sports would player into the middle of the game with a
They do not. It took three years to get seem to bridge the gap. score and game-play history and stats. The
approved in Italy and four years to get player then places a bet on what is going to
approved by the Ministry of Finance in Steve Rogers: happen in the next number of plays.
China. I’m pleased to say that this is chang- We think it does. In Italy, for instance,
ing given virtual sports’ track-record of we found there were people who play slot We’re looking forward to again showcasing
performance in the market-place and how machines and there were people who bet our product portfolio at NASPL in Portland.
easily it folds into regulatory structures on sports, and there were very few people We are very excited and committed to the
and objectives. In the beginning, regula- that played both. The lottery player and U.S. Lottery market and to helping lotteries
tors wanted to classify Virtual Sports as the slot player typically does not want to develop new game concepts. Virtual Sports
sports-betting products and it wasn’t easy spend the time to compete with others in has the potential to have dramatic impact on
to explain the nuances of the RNG which a category where the well-informed and the U.S. lottery market, and to contribute
makes Virtual Sports more like Lottery even experienced will beat the less knowledgeable, to the mission of increasing funds for good
though you are watching a sporting event. recreational player. Virtual Sports enables causes.
Thankfully regulators are now understand- the recreational player to enjoy much of the
ing the position of this product; in Michigan, excitement and entertainment of sports- I would think a market that is under-served
for instance, Virtual Sports is classified as betting without the burden of competing in the sport-betting category, like the U.S.,
a draw-game but could just as easily be with more competent players. would have the most positive response to the
classified as keno-style game. But it is most Virtual Sports offer. But you started in the
definitely not sports-betting! It seems like people are figuring out that the most mature and sophisticated betting market
larger the element of skill, the more likely it is in the world, and continue to do well in there
Do you try to create a playing experience that that you’ll lose because you’re competing with in the UK.
is similar to sports-betting? For instance, are professionals.
statistics and performance history of the players Steve Rogers:
displayed along with the odds? Steve Rogers: Even after all these years, the UK continues
Not surprisingly, skill-based gaming prod- to be a very strong growth area for us. It’s over
ucts do attract a professional class of player, fifteen years ago that we started in the UK,
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