Exclusive Interview with SlotoGate’s CEO about Future Prospects and Current Achievements

SlotoGate is giving a word about the first half of 2022 year and is keeping the readers in the loop about the current achievements and the future targets for the second half of the year. Keep reading to find out more details in the interview of Amanda Greyfield from The New York Weekly with SlotoGate’s CEO Simon Coulson.

Simon Coulson, CEO at SlotoGate, has a vast experience in the gambling market: from social casinos to real cash casinos. Being a gambler himself, the man also knows how it all looks from the player’s aspect. Before co-founding SlotoGate, the man served as Small Business Advisor, Business Development Manager, and has a degree in the related industries.

He admits that 2022 started with some significant updates, such as new categories on the website, even more news of the online gambling world, blog posting, and new languages added to the website. So, how far will the company go this year?

Good day, Mr. Coulson! First of all we’d like to thank you for your time and this opportunity to interview.

My pleasure, Amanda.

We know that this half year decade you have extremely active and intense period since you started new vectors of the development of your project, which we have already highlighted. I would like to start with the short summary of the first half of 2022. What goals did SlotoGate set in 2022 and were you able to achieve them by now?

Hello everyone. Yes, the company set a goal to strengthen its position in a competitive environment, as well as to expand its market presence. The competition is getting harsher with each new year as new market players appear. The only way to compete fairly is to impress users with new exciting titles and cooperate with qualified field experts.

Thus, yes, we have already achieved some of the short-term goals. For instance, we managed to strengthen our team with qualified personnel to provide more useful content for our visitors, and this is a good start. We also prolonged our cooperation with some time-tested partners and acquainted a couple of new ones, but let it remain a secret until the end of the year.

SlotoGate is a website that reviews licensed online casinos, and as believed it is another reason for your success. Do you feel any special responsibility in this regard?

Both responsibility and a kind of excitement, I should say. I want SlotoGate to be the first not only in terms of dealing with secure gambling platforms, but also in terms of success and implementation of a new approach to the organization of gambling in the regions where we operate. Our company promotes a more responsible and more conscious approach to gamblers.

You have rather ambitious goals, and their implementation requires solid experience. Do you believe you possess it?

I have extensive experience in IT, marketing, and PR. For a while, I worked with social casino projects. These are mobile games that simulate a casino, but the game is played without real money bets and payouts. Since then, I became interested in the field of gambling in general. Over the next few years, I studied how the industry works abroad — in Europe, the UK, and the US. I studied how local gambling authorities work and what they expect from both land-based and online casinos. When the process of legalization began in Canada, I was sure I would try my hand at this market. Gambling is not taboo in the West. It is simply an alternative to other types of entertainment, such as video, computer, and mobile games. Our goal is to show that such an attitude towards online casinos is not only possible, but also more productive for the health of society than a complete ban on the gambling business.

Didn’t you think it was too risky having no sufficient experience by that time?

Well, after working as a Small Business Advisor and Business Development Manager, I am pretty much sure I can handle this. For me, this is more than just a business – it is an opportunity to become a pioneer, set the vector of industry development, and introduce the principles of responsible gaming into the gambling culture in Canada and other countries.

Such things are not done randomly and spontaneously, of course. The whole process took a lot of time for us: registering the company, searching for a brand, preparing documentation, etc. We didn’t get the license the first time. During all this time, I never had a single doubt about the correctness of my decision, and here we go! The thing is not to give up!

How does your company work today?

We are actively working on our expansion strategy as we embark on enlisting the collaboration of the Asian investors. That is why our platform will need plenty of casino, slot, and provider reviews. After all, except for the entertainment purpose, we also pursue some educational goals. People can find cool recommendations and start playing the games of their choice immediately. We never stop working on team formation and brand recognition as our staff is expanding all the time.

How would you recommend to cope with piracy in online gambling?

As for us, we collect a database of pirate websites that illegally use well-known brands and seek their closure or removal from search engines. At least, we let our partners and users know if such things happen. The problem is that the list of such fakes is not that small. It may take several weeks or even months to fight a single fake while cyber pirates spend at most a few hours to create one new site, simply transferring their templates to new domains.

We do not regret the time spent on legal issues. After all, SlotoGate fully supports the idea of responsible gambling and fair play.

This is not the first time you have mentioned a responsible approach to gambling. What do you make of this concept?

Responsible gaming is a concept that has been at the heart of gambling in Canada and many other countries for ages. It’s based on a complex system that allows gambling operators to take an individual approach to each user, limit minors from gaming, and reduce the number of gambling addicts. When applying for the license, a casino should keep this idea in mind. One of our objectives is to introduce as many responsible gaming tools into our gambling culture as possible.

I am sure that this is the future of the entire industry. Our job is to provide people with emotions. For these emotions to be positive and people want to visit your site again and again, you need to prioritize the care of your client and their safety.

Are you a gambler? Do you play in the casino yourself?

Naturally, like many other people I met in my life, I am a gambler. Excitement, like any other emotion, can both bring pleasure and destroy any person if it develops into addiction. There is nothing wrong if a person gets a pleasant emotion from eating an apple, but when a person already has an addiction to apples and is ready to eat ten or more fruits per day, this is already a harmful addiction with all the ensuing consequences.

We can say the same about gambling. It’s all about self-control and discipline.

What do you think makes SlotoGate successful?

I can list a lot of things regarding all our features, unique solutions, how good and unique we are, etc., trying to use this dialogue for advertising, but all this will be ridiculous.

Quite simply, our success is built on the principles of Jim Collins’ bestselling book Good to Great, one of which reads FIRST WHO, THEN WHAT.

Our team, that is, WHO, makes our company successful. We do not just work – we want to change the world of online casinos for better. Naturally, a difficult path is accompanied by mistakes, criticism, and all types of experience. Easier said than done, but for us it is only an incentive. We have to test many online casinos ourselves before writing an objective review and helping others find the best gambling solution. We do not simply copy reviews from other platforms. Our experience is the key.

In offline casinos, players like the lack of verifications and instant cash. How is it going with online casinos?

Undoubtedly, the lack of verification is convenient and fast, but, more importantly, it has certain risks both for the player and for all other users without verification.

SlotoGate recommends passing this procedure as it guarantees confidentiality and protection of personal data. Most casinos we cooperate with carefully check all verification requests. Persons of the age category below 21+ are blocked immediately upon detection. Incapacitated and/or partially capable login owners, financial fraudsters, any manifestations of multi-accounting, and many other accounts that violate the legislation in the field of the gambling industry are blocked with the same efficiency. These measures make our casino 100% safe.

How do you assess your position relative to other online platforms that review casinos offering original games from global providers?

The main and most objective assessment of any platform is given by those who use the services and gamble online. From our side, we can say that SlotoGate provides reviews of exclusively certified and licensed games with an honest RTP and volatility from the developer.

We support a certified, licensed casino market. SlotoGate provides reviews only for platforms with fair retention and quality games, as well as a high level of responsibility, so we boldly invite players to use SlotoGate while choosing the best casino or slot on the web. As for the list of games, it is constantly growing with us – old games are constantly being finalized and new ones are added, many new products are waiting for our users in the near future.

What can we expect from SlotoGate in the near future? What tasks does SlotoGate set for itself for 2023?

In SlotoGate, we perfectly understand where we are now, and where we want to be. We are obliged to offer relevant reviews and news. Fortunately, the team has the resources and creativity.

The cornerstone, or the highest priority for us, is our user. All our development plans are built on the safe and responsible use of gambling while obtaining entertainment, pleasant recreation, and pastime of the highest level and quality. At the moment, a large number of short-term and long-term tournaments are already being prepared or held. Our mission is to guarantee a pleasant and colorful pastime of every gambler.

We’re thinking about our distinctive features among competitors, the introduction of new titles and sections, the way content is presented, and the visual design of our resource. As for our more detailed future plans, we prefer to keep good news secret until the introduction of innovations to avoid possible plagiarism. I can only say I really appreciate the latest company’s reformative policies and hope for the better!

How have player preferences changed in recent years?

We did not conduct special opinion polls in this regard, therefore we do not claim the absolute reliability of the statement. However, one thing is clear for sure – preferences are definitely changing. More and more users understand the advantages of licensed online casinos.

Our audience is smart enough and gradually comes to understanding that it is a licensed product that provides the best protection of confidential data, ease of use in terms of personal space and versatility in choosing a place to play, competent technical support, authentic and original games from the developer, speed and purity of transactions and some other things. Users today are looking for casinos with expanded payment methods (e.g., Bitcoin). They also rely on some famous providers more than newbies. Of course, they are always interested in all types of bonuses and loyalty programs. By adding special events, exclusive prizes for VIP clients, regular tournaments and races, the casino has more chances to attract new players today.

In terms of the industry as a whole, what do you think should we expect in the next 5-10 years?

There is a tendency to increase the share of live casinos and crypto casinos. There was a reasonable request for responsible gaming. In addition, there has been a trend towards the legalization of many jurisdictions around the world. My opinion is that the above trends will continue.

Unfortunately, the future is associated with some risks as well. The market is full of bright and colorful fake casinos and one-day websites that pretend to be the original licensed resources and promise unrealistic and incredible results. I guess gambling authorities and industry reps like us should keep on fighting illegal activities and prevent threats to our clients and potential clients. That is why we do what we do – review online casinos, games, and software providers.

What would you like to say to your regular readers and players who have just joined?

I am very grateful to you for your questions and the opportunity to share the views and the official position of our platform with your readers.

If a person is thirsty and there is a choice of what water to drink – from a puddle, from a tap or from an artesian well – a sane person will choose the purest water from the source. It works the same in the casino world. If you want to get a pure emotion of excitement instead of cheating, play in licensed and reliable casinos, and we will help you find them based on your preferences and goals!

In terms of business purpose you may reach Simon Coulson on his social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn) or hit him up on his business email – simoncoulson.ceo@slotogate.com.