Gilbert Wong, AGTech

Gilbert Wong, AGTech: Expanding lottery business in China and beyond

In supplying 200 games to over 45 million users so far in 2020, Paytm First Games has become a leading gaming destination in India, headlined by games dedicated to Fantasy cricket, Rummy and Trivia.

Paytm First Games is a joint venture (JV) in India between One97 Communications, which offers services including payments to mobile consumers under the Paytm brand, and AGTech – a technology and content provider for both the lottery and mobile games markets.

We caught up with AGTech Vice President Gilbert Wong (pictured above at Betting on Sports 2019) for an update on the JV, but first he discusses his company’s “keywords” for 2019 and increasing its lottery presence in China, as well as record performance for its in-store virtual sports lottery game that simulates real football matches.

SBC: How will you reflect AGTech’s keyword of business in 2019?

GW: Looking back at 2019, it has been a year of continuity to our internal and external business, so I would like to use “evolving” as the keyword to represent. 

Lottery technology and services will continue to be AGTech’s expertise, as we leverage our industry experience and innovation to support lottery authorities in mainland China such as our blockchain application project and augmented reality (AR) driven marketing campaigns, which are aimed at promoting sports lottery products and expand its reach to various customer base.

SBC: We also saw that AGTech extended its hardware business in China last December; could you tell us more about this?

GW: AGTech’s Lottery Hardware division supplies the Sports Lottery and the Welfare Lottery by introducing innovative products to the market. Last year, we accounted for over 32% of the sports lottery terminals across China, and we did especially well in new android sports lottery terminals as well.

We continue to see mass potential in our hardware and terminals, and as China enters the era of 5G and the Internet of Things, we will explore opportunities to implement and utilize smart technology applications to other retail sectors outside of lottery as well.

SBC: And what about the breakthrough in your lottery games in mainland China?

GW: We were pleased to learn that accumulated sales of one of our virtual sports lottery games, and one of the first in China, had exceeded RMB10 billion since launch in 2013. We will continue to work closely with the local provincial team to ensure smooth operations and promote responsible lottery to the community. 

SBC: What are the company’s plans for 2020 in terms of product?

GW: Looking forward to 2020, we will be launching our full suite of lottery solutions, including our SaaS lottery delivery platform – a fully integrated digital platform tailored to business and customers to complement all aspects of user experience. 

Under the new retail strategy, our platform will further enhance synergies, open up distribution channels, and shape a potential new business model by integrating hardware, software and data.

From an expansion angle, our games and entertainment division will continue to develop and roll out engagement games and sports solutions as a service provider.

SBC: And finally, looking specifically at your JV with Paytm, what is your goal both as an investor and the tech service provider of sporting content?

GW: Paytm First Games, our mobile gaming joint venture in India, will continue to be our primary focus and driver from a collaboration and investment point of view. It has been very successful in terms of identifying the right product fit, as it has now gained over 45 million users and recorded over 72.5 core games played by users.

Given the success of the fantasy sports products during the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup, we will continue to support the platform as a technology service provider. Skill games are very popular in India and we firmly believe in Paytm First Games’ potential to become a market leader in India.

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