Macau’s GameSource is looking to prove that local is the way of the future.
To all who live in or visit Macau, it’s easy to see the rich cultural compendium that comprises Asia’s gaming hub. A vast collaboration of countless communities and cultures populate a diverse ecosystem that has been nurturing the gaming industry with an array of skills and technologies that have been key to the SAR’s rapid development.
Yet much of this has come with a heavy reliance on foreign assets and expertize. Sensitive to such evidence, there is a new generation of locals looking to turn the situation on its head – none moreso than Macau-born technology firm GameSource.
“The challenge is there for local companies,” explains Anthony Ip, CEO of GameSource. “Are you willing to be a copycat? Will you just follow what is already mature or do you want a fresh start?
“GameSource chose the difficult way. It’s a difficult, but exciting way. As a technologist or as a technology company, I always do things for this belief. If I can’t be number one, I would rather not do it.
“I guess we want to be an example to local people, including all the talents who are living in this territory. We can go beyond. We can export as well. It’s just a matter of the framework we are introducing to the gaming industry – whether it can help the industry go to another level.
“We believe it can and that’s why we work hard on that. It’s tough, difficult, because if I follow somebody else’s framework it would be much easier, but then I won’t have my uniqueness.”
The uniqueness GameSource’s CEO refers to promises to deliver a revolution in the way the gaming industry relates to computing technologies.
“The internet changed our world,” Ip continues. “We use technology to enable and give our business partners the chance of success by creating something new, a new gaming experience, something that the old technology framework cannot enable.”
GameSource is working on developing a platform that essentially opens up the market by acting as a central hub for everyone, from game developers to casino operators and even regulators. By creating their games using GameSource, developers have access to an array of compliance-approved modules such as RNGs, anti-money laundering safeguards and digital wallets all aimed at achieving regulatory compliance. On the other hand, GameSource is also a cloud-based gaming app store providing operators with a quick and easy way to access games.
“Macau people have learned a lot about the industry, but if we talk about the Macau economy, you always have a cap in terms of gaming business,” Ip says.
“We can just continue doing a supporting role or operational role in the casinos or we can do something different in the whole supply chain.”
However, storming the traditional grounds of the gaming industry is not an easy task and part of what GameSource is developing relates to changing the perception of the technology they are bringing in.
Subsequently, it took serious scrutiny from Macau’s regulators before GameSource was given the thumbs up.
“One thing we had to prove to the government is that we are setting a high standard,” Ip says. “And more important was changing their mindset for two things: first, Macau people can make it happen, and second, we can create a new standard by deploying new technologies.
“I think we have successfully changed their mindset a bit so they now accept this new technology is actually helping everyone.
“The train is not waiting for Macau, it is a global change. Technology is changing the world and helping everybody’s life, whether you like it or not.
“Do you want to make it happen in Macau? It’s a chance for local ventures, for local people. If you do nothing, somebody outside will do it instead.”
