Charles Seo, IGT’s Senior Director of Commercial Strategy – Asia, discusses his unique career journey and why he sees himself working in the gaming industry for decades to come.
Ben Blaschke (BB): Thanks for speaking with IAG, Charles. Can you tell us about growing up and your memories of childhood?
Charles Seo (CS): I was born in Korea but my family migrated to Australia in the 1980s and I’ve called Australia home ever since. Our first footprint in Australia was Sydney, although due to my parents’ work we ended up calling Canberra the base.
For people that don’t know, Canberra is the capital of Australia – not Sydney or Melbourne – and I spent a big bulk of my childhood, including my late studies, in Canberra. That’s where I grew up.
I had a fantastic childhood – riding bikes and things like that. There were no mobile phones back then so it was going to the oval and kicking the ball, playing outdoors, going to the local tuck shop for a minimum order of hot chips with extra chicken salt, sitting in the oval with some bread and tomato sauce. That was my childhood.
Through my university studies I relocated to Sydney and ever since then I’ve called Sydney home.
BB: What did you study, and did you have a particular career path in mind at that stage?
CS: I was a lost child. I took a lot of gap years, trying to figure out what I really wanted to do. I tried a lot of things. I was an apprentice electrician for three or four months. I applied for the AFP (Australian Federal Police) and ADFA (Australian Defence Force Academy) as well, so I tried a lot of things outside of university because I really didn’t think university was my path.
As I continued my gap years and felt what it was like working winters as an electrical apprentice in Canberra, I thought, “This is not for me!” That’s when I decided to go back to university, where I studied business law and graduated from Macquarie University.
It was while I was at university, through friends of friends, that I was first introduced to gaming. I remember being at Chelsea Hotel in Chatswood (a suburb of Sydney), playing “Where’s the Gold”, “More Chilli” and “Big Red 2”, and if we won, that was a night out. If we didn’t win, it was Yummy noodles for a couple of nights!
BB: So how did gaming become a career option for you?
CS: That’s a very good question. My first job out of university wasn’t gaming – I was a business consultant. But I had a very, very good friend of mine who was working at Aristocrat by the name of Edgar Pau, who did “5 Dragons”, and he said one day out of the blue, “Hey, you should join gaming.” I told him I wasn’t interested but he said, “Look, you play [slot machines] enough, you know the games more than most of the people that I work with – I think it might be a good opportunity because I see the passion.”
So, I applied and before I knew it I had my first job in the industry with Aristocrat! I started off as a sales cadet – didn’t last long – but I guess my potential was recognized from elsewhere in the business and I moved to Go to Market for ANZ. I was with Aristocrat for five or six years.
BB: Were you drawn to the industry straight away once you were in it?
CS: Absolutely, it was love at first sight. I love the emotions that come with gaming and what makes someone play the games that they do. It was also the sound back then – people still used coins at the time – so the sound of machines and coins coming out of them. The jackpots back then weren’t AU$50,000 or AU$60,000, I remember them being more like AU$1,000 and AU$1,200, but it was just so fun. And it was a social thing.
It was very much about going to the pub or the club or the casino with your friends and having a good time, a good night out. And I fell in love with it.
Plus, in what other industry can you travel the world while seeing all these new products come out every six months? It’s a fast-moving goods industry, I believe. Although it’s a technology industry, I still believe it’s a fast-moving goods industry because the churn is very quick. And the amount of people you meet across all these regions and countries is far beyond what I could imagine.
BB: Was your perception of the industry from the inside different to how you had previously seen it from the outside?
CS: Yes and no. I used to think there was someone inside the machine telling it what to pay! I thought everything was scripted. As a player playing the games, I thought I could tell what the future was going to bring and when a machine was going to pay out. Like everyone says, “It’s due!”
But being on the inside, you realize how regulated it is and the testing and the amount of coding and mathematics that are involved in creating a game. So, you quickly realize there’s no such thing as being scripted or due and that was an eye-opener to me – to find out it is a highly regulated industry.
BB: How did you end up at IGT?
CS: My good looks and my charm! No really, from Aristocrat I was fortunate enough to move across to Konami for a few years looking after product and marketing for APAC. I spent a few years there and then I had a call from IGT. It was fortunate for me that my soon-to-be boss missed his flight from Graz (in Austria) to the US which gave us a chance to have a good chat for about two hours. I learnt a lot just from that conversation and I thought, “That’s someone I want to work for”. That was ultimately my reason for coming across to IGT.
BB: It seems to have been a good fit?
CS: Yeah, 100%, because eight or nine years later I’m still here. I guess my role has evolved quite a bit. I was originally working for product for Asia, then had an opportunity as head of product for APAC, and now I’m looking after the P&L and all the commercial strategy for Asia. So, I’ve been very fortunate to meet the people that I’ve met but also for the opportunity I’ve had within IGT to grow as an individual in my career.
BB: In your time with IGT, how would you view how the industry has changed and evolved?
CS: COVID. Who would have thought we would have a lockdown that would last for two, three years? I mean, Macau was locked down – no-one could get in or out for two years – and that changed the landscape a lot. It really impacted how operators operate and customers behave. I’m sure you remember there were Perspex screens between tables and machines and there was a big thing about sanitizing buttons and panels. It wasn’t about the enjoyment of the game, it was more about how we kept everyone hygienically safe, so that changed a lot of things.
And from a regulatory perspective I’ve seen things change a lot. You know, the capping of machines in Macau, the opening of iGaming in the Philippines, closing of POGO. I would have thought Japan would have opened a long time ago but it’s still in the process, and now we’re talking about Thailand and the UAE. So, a lot has changed.
As I said earlier, it’s never the same. Six months can go by and it’s not the same landscape anymore. Australia, for example, is a very different landscape to what it once was.
BB: What does a typical working day in the life of Charles Seo look like?
CS: The beauty of my role, being in a multinational, multi-time zone company and industry, is that in the morning you’ve got the US and in the afternoon you’ve got EMEA, so you’re always on the clock.
I don’t think there is a typical day. A typical day can be 8am to 5pm or it can be 5am to midnight. Every day is different. From a Macau perspective, when I’m there I wake up, go to the gym, walk the dog, get to the office, pump out some emails, come back home, walk the dog, spend some time with the wife and do it all over again. Sort of cut and paste. In Australia, I guess I try to spend more time outdoors than when I am in Macau, enjoying the outdoor activities and the lifestyle.
BB: What part of your job do you get the most satisfaction from?
CS: Interaction with people. Like I said before, the amount of people that you meet that I would never in my wildest dreams have ever imagined I would meet is amazing. And I really enjoy learning their story of how they got to where they are and what they’re currently doing. That brings so much excitement but also makes me want to strive to achieve as much as some of these people, because some of them are legends of the industry. They are the big needle movers, and to be around that and associated with people like that is amazing.
BB: You obviously travel around the region extensively. Do you have a favorite destination either for work or just relaxation?
CS: No, because every region is so different. We have spoken about Australia and, being Korean, I love the food when I go there. Vegas is the city of lights, I love the food and nightlife in Vietnam as well – every city is different. Now, I love going back to Korea because that’s where I was born, where I was made, so I love being there and having the opportunity to get back to my original roots. I met my wife in Korea as well, so if I had to pick one place, well, it would probably be two places – my two hometowns of Korea and Australia.
BB: Where do you see yourself in five years’ time?
CS: Continuing to do what I’m doing. I’m fortunate enough to have the opportunity that I’ve had at such a young age, or at least younger than most people, and I’d like to take advantage of that. And I’d like to learn and absorb as much as I can not only within Asia but globally.
I want to stay within the industry as long as I can because I think it’s one of those few industries where you can work until you’re 70 or 80 and still love what you do. So, do I see myself retired in five years? No.
BB: When you do get a break, what do you like to do to relax?
CS: I try to play golf. It’s one of those interesting sports where you think you know what you’re doing but every round is different.
You can have a cracker of a round one day and the next round could be the worst round of your life. I love that aspect of golf. I wouldn’t necessarily call it pleasure, because it is quite stressful emotionally at times, but to relax it’s either try to get on the golf course or go fishing in Australia. Also spending some quality time with the family, with my wife, so it’s probably out of those three.
