Exclusive Q&A with Ruben Loeches, CMO at R. Franco Group

After another ICE success and 2020 fully underway, we sat down with the R. Franco Group’s CMO, Rubén Loeches, to talk about the show, product highlights and key goals for Spain’s legendary gaming provider.

Now that ICE is firmly in the rear-view mirror, how would you sum up R. Franco’s targets for the show?

It was a pleasure catching up with existing and prospective clients to discuss our exciting plans for the year ahead. With our digital arm founded only a few years ago, we’re taking our five decades of excellence in land-based gaming and using it to stake our claim in the online sector.

Promoting our deeply knowledgeable and capable team was a key goal for the show as we are a company boasting some of the brightest tech talent around. These are the minds behind the state-of-the-art product offering we proudly displayed at the conference, and our key goal to show off their abilities was more than surpassed.

R. Franco’s stand was certainly impressive, any particular highlights from your product showcase? What were attendees most excited about?

Our burgeoning game development catalogue drew strong interest, with premium quality reel, video-poker, video-bingo, roulette, casino and mini-games. These are fully customisable for both the online and land-based markets using our RF OnMix terminal, a touch screen multi-game machine able to integrate different games and connect to different peripherals while setting networks with other gaming terminals.

Attendees were clearly excited by the rapidly growing Latin American market – with good reason. Another aspect of our portfolio that we were therefore particularly keen to highly was our digital flagship IRIS Open Omnichannel Platform, a crucial tool for companies looking to make their mark on the fast-growing Spanish and LatAm markets as it powers many of the region’s largest operators.

What’s R. Franco Digital’s plan for 2020?

We have an exciting and action-packed roadmap for the year ahead, with a target of releasing a new game each month in 2020 under Maltese, Spanish, Portuguese and Colombian regulatory approval.

International expansion is another critical aspect of our 2020 agenda. Malta in particular will be central to our plans, having recently established our presence on the island. The territory’s regulatory environment is conducive to innovation, with the recent change in framework an especially pleasing development.

Elsewhere, the LatAm market is evolving at an incredible pace, with a wealth of tier one operators flocking to take advantage of the region’s amazing growth. We have a bespoke product range ready to help partners take their Latin American offering to the next level, and we intend to continue doing so in the year ahead.

What’s R. Franco Digital’s outlook for the gaming industry in 2020? Any key strategies for the year?

Moving away from international expansion, one area we’re particularly excited about is our home market of Spain. Not only is it proving to be an exciting prospect for the industry, but we also anticipate the region becoming even more desirable in the year ahead and are well placed to help our partners there deliver. The market is still developing, and we expect to see a surge in activity during 2020, with operators showing a strong interest in spite of the advertising ban.

Of course, a new generation of punters bring a new generation of demands. For instance, almost 10% of the country’s population are passionate eSports fans, so Spain will be a valuable test ground for a young and fast-growing betting vertical that is full of potential.