Stian Enger: "Regulated iGaming in Peru looks to be just as, if not more competitive than Brazil"

What opportunities and challenges does the Peruvian online casino sector present to EveryMatrix after regulation?

Regulated iGaming in Peru looks to be just as, if not more competitive than Brazil so we fully expect the opportunity to be significant. Within 30 days of the enabling laws, 145 operators pitched for a license according to the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism (Mincetur).

Mincetur has projected that approximately PEN3.8 billion (€1 billion) in bets was placed in 2022 with online gaming and sports betting estimated to produce Sol162m (€40.6 million) a year for the state.

We already have two customers ready to go live, we're just awaiting further regulatory approvals. The key is that we're always ready for regulation, we've proven this across more than 68 countries already, becoming one of the first to be accredited in each territory and enabling our customers to gain early market share.

Peru and wider LatAm market customers will have access to our entire range of proven, modular revenue-generating technology products. This includes an online casino and sportsbook platforms, player account management, and sports and esports odds/data feeds. Our clients can also select from affiliate management and optimization software and services, gamification, bonus and loyalty features, localized content and aggregation, and bespoke safer gambling tools.

We've conducted extensive research, particularly in casinos within our SlotMatrix aggregation network – the largest in the industry – and we know that Peruvian players like to bet big and often.

Across a 90-day period in the early part of 2024, we found there are 9.5 average sessions per player across the top 20 games in our SlotMatrix network, with 136 bets per session. Activity in Peru also outstrips activity in Colombia (3.63 sessions and 75 bets per session) and Brazil (5.11 and 49.59).

They're also big spenders compared to their regional LatAm neighbors. The average bet size comes to €1.94 and a fifth of the top 20 titles on SlotMatrix have an average bet of more than €3.

We found that while free spins are the most common bonus feature within 75% of the games we monitor Buy Bonus features – found in 55% of titles – boost average bets by 70%.

EveryMatrix recently received authorization from the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism of Peru (Mincetur) to operate in this market, making the company one of the first technology providers to receive this accreditation. What advantages will this license provide to the company and its clients?

We were delighted to be among the first technology providers to be given accreditation so we can instantly power our customers to gain valuable, early market share.

This is a vital step in further increasing our footprint in LatAm, both as Peru and the wider region continue to regulate. We see huge opportunities across all our product areas including turnkey partnerships that involve multiple EveryMatrix products and services coming together to launch or relaunch operator offerings.

We've proven we can deliver large-scale tier-1 technology projects in Europe and are excited at the prospect of replicating this success in Latin America. It's no secret the LatAm market is gathering speed and we're determined to be at the forefront of that growth in the months and years ahead.

How will the company take advantage of the experience acquired through different European projects in a flourishing market like the Peruvian one?

We have many case studies where we have successfully navigated, adapted to, and launched major tier-1 customers. Our two most recent, and our two largest turnkey launches came last year with bet-at-home in Germany and globally, and the Hungarian Lottery (SZRT).

Germany, for example, has been described as one of the most restrictive markets in the world including a catalog of lengthy license conditions, restrictions on sports betting with no esports or bets on friendly football matches, and multiple complex regulations such as on advertising, with some politicians there calling for even tougher measures. Our teams have worked tirelessly to both adhere to every regulation and monitor the constantly changing landscape, while also building bespoke products that fall into line with these rules and that benefit our customers and their players.

Many of our tech stack, product roll out and integration processes were custom-built for both clients with almost every EveryMatrix team joining forces to ensure the successful launch of our OddsMatrix sportsbook, at the core of both projects, and wide-ranging turnkey solutions. This also included our casino platform, player management, payments module, and affiliate software – all designed to further enhance the bet-at-home.de operation driving both revenues and efficiencies.

Our work with SZRT was one of our most complex integrations to date involving multiple teams including GamMatrix, EveryMatrix's platform unit. GamMatrix purpose-built a range of project-critical operational and safer gambling features including rapid, multi-step registration and a comprehensive array of self-exclusion functionality in line with specific SZRT and regulatory requirements.

Since launch, both brands have experienced record growth, record increases in player volumes, and bet levels and GGR are consistently rising which has meant that our sportsbook product has risen to the top of the sports platform rankings and experienced record growth and profitability.

LatAm brands, including WLA-member lotteries, are taking serious notice of the results we're generating for brands elsewhere in the world and we're confident we can replicate this success in the region.

After addressing Brazil and Colombia, this series of reports has decided to analyze the Peruvian market. Although each of these countries has its peculiarities, mentioned in these reports, do you think there are some common points among Latin American players when interacting with online slots?