22 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2025 SUPPORTING THE GLOBAL DIGITAL EVOLUTION OF LOTTERIES: NEOGAMES TRANSITION TO ARISTOCRAT INTERACTIVE Chris Shaban, Managing Director of iLottery, Aristocrat Interactive PGRI INTERVIEWS Paul Jason: It is exciting to see the seamless transition from NeoGames to Aristocrat Interactive. Good for your clients who depend on your world-class iLottery platform and service, good for the players who love your games, and good for Aristocrat. Chris Shaban: As you mentioned, NeoGames was founded almost twenty years ago in Europe to create groundbreaking content and - later - an IT platform for online lotteries. Around ten years ago, NeoGames formed a joint venture with Pollard Banknote to create NeoPollard Interactive (“NPi”) to provide the iLottery platform, games, and services for the Michigan Lottery, which was soon followed by other lottery customers. The Michigan Lottery truly revolutionized iLottery in North America with an incredibly successful launch and sustainable growth. We are immensely proud of the fact that it is the NeoGames (now Aristocrat Interactive) technology and the NeoGames GameStudio content that continues to support the Michigan Lottery, and other successful iLottery programs operated by our customers in Alberta Canada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Viginia, and now West Virginia. Now, as Aristocrat Interactive, we are applying all the assets of NeoGames technology and the NeoGames Studio combined with the resources, technological breadth and depth, and product extensions of the broader Aristocrat group, a global entertainment and gaming content creation business that spans regulated land-based gaming, mobile games publishing and regulated online real money gaming. In what ways have the iLottery sector been reshaped by NeoGames/Aristocrat technology and manner and methods? C. Shaban: One of the things that makes the Aristocrat Interactive platform for iLottery unique is that all results are abbreviated to a single code. What that means is instead of waiting three or four months (or more) for a technical upgrade to be deployed, Aristocrat Interactive customers receive it seamlessly in a single batch of technical changes, innovations, and upgrades implemented to all our customers each month. The single code enables the smallest change or largest technical upgrade to be deployed PGRI Introduction: Over the course of twenty years following its inception in 2004, NeoGames(TM) built a reputation as a worldclass, technology-driven provider of end-to-end iLottery and iGaming solutions, including a complete platform, online marketing and operational services, as well as cutting-edge game content. NeoGames was acquired in April 2024 by Aristocrat Leisure Limited (ASX:ALL), a global entertainment and content creation company that spans regulated land-based gaming, mobile games publishing and regulated online real money gaming. Aristocrat Interactive (TM) was formed in 2024, with the combination of the NeoGames businesses and Anaxi, Aristocrat’s existing online real money gaming business. The business is an industry leader in content and technology solutions for online RMG, with a full-service offering that includes content, proprietary technology platforms and a range of value-added services across iLottery, iGaming, Online Sports Betting (OSB), and Gaming Systems. Along with their industry-leading platform and turnkey services, the NeoGames Studio is the game development arm of Aristocrat Interactive which has retained its brand name because of its recognized expertise, experience, innovation, and ongoing performance. The NeoGames Studio has produced award-winning eInstant content for lotteries worldwide for over seventeen years and is rapidly expanding its global presence. In North America, the Studio’s industry-leading games are live in Michigan, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Atlantic Canada, and Alberta Canada. Launches in British Colombia, Kentucky and Pennsylvania are scheduled for later in 2025, further expanding the Studio’s presence in North America.
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