Inspired Entertainment, Inc. 10-K

ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS. Our business is subject to a high degree of risk. You should carefully read and assess our discussion of the risk factors facing our business, below. Any of these risks could materially and adversely affect our business, operating results, financial condition and prospects, and cause the value of our common stock to decline, which could cause investors in our common stock to lose all or part of their investments. Summary of Risk Factors Our business is subject to a number of risks, including risks that may prevent us from achieving our business objectives or may adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows, and prospects. These risks are discussed more fully below and include, but are not limited to, risks related to the following: ● The ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is adversely affecting our business. ● We rely on a relatively small number of customers for a significant portion of our sales, and the loss of, or material reduction in, sales to any of our top customers could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects. ● We are dependent on our relationships with key suppliers to obtain equipment and other supplies for our business on acceptable terms. ● The UK Government’s impending review of the Gambling Act, together with other rules that may be considered in the UK in response to recent consultations, could have a material negative impact on our business. ● Data privacy and security laws and regulations in the jurisdictions in which we do business could increase the cost of our operations and subject us to possible sanctions and other penalties. ● Our results of operations fluctuate due to seasonality and other factors and, therefore, our periodic operating results are not guarantees of future performance. ● Our industry is subject to strict government regulations that could limit our existing operations and have a negative impact on our ability to grow. ● Our industry is subject to regulations that set parameters for levels of gaming or wagering duty, tax, stake, prize and return to player. ● We may be adversely affected by disruptions to our transaction gaming and lottery systems, as well as disruptions to our internal enterprise and information technology systems. ● Our directors and key personnel are subject to the approval of certain regulatory authorities, which, if withheld, would require us to sever our relationship with non-approved individuals, which could adversely impact our operations. ● Licensing and gaming authorities have significant control over our operations and ownership and could cause us to redeem certain stockholders on potentially disadvantageous terms. ● Certain of our executive officers and directors are affiliated with entities engaged in business activities similar to those conducted by us (or may enter into similar business activities in the future) and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining whether a particular business opportunity should be presented to us or to another entity. ● We have operations in a variety of countries, which subjects us to additional risks. ● We may have future capital needs and may not be able to obtain additional financing on acceptable terms. 16 ● We may be unable to develop sufficient new products and product lines and integrate them into our existing business, which may adversely affect our ability to compete; our expansion into new sectors may present competitive and regulatory challenges that differ from current ones. ● We may be required to recognize impairment charges related to goodwill, identified intangible assets and property and equipment or to take write-downs or write-offs, restructuring or other charges that could have a significant negative effect on our financial condition, results of operations and stock price, which could have an adverse effect on your investment. ● Volatility or disruption in the financial markets could materially adversely affect our business and the trading price of our common stock. ● Global economic conditions could have an adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition. ● We face risks and uncertainty arising from the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union. Risks Relating to Our Business and Industry The ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is adversely affecting our business. Our business continues to be affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and future epidemics or pandemics could do the same. Our ability to offer land-based gaming generally has been affected by the closures (and reclosures), for an indeterminate period of time, of all venues that offer gaming in the jurisdictions in which we operate (including, but not limited to, the UK, Greece and Italy, from which we derive a substantial portion of our income). In addition, the economic impact of the pandemic may result in the permanent closure of certain venues and/or a decrease in the willingness or ability of consumers to engage in gambling activities or to be able to access land-based gaming to the same extent, both during and possibly after the pandemic. The pandemic may also adversely affect a broad range of our operations, including our ability to retain and recruit employees, obtain and ship our products, our ability to continue to develop new products and services as effectively when remote working as well as the ability of our customers to pay outstanding amounts due to us. The pandemic and the economic impact on employment may reduce the disposable incomes of players and may result in a decrease in the number of customers willing to visit retail locations. More information about the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business can be found in Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations. Disruption of our supply chain or distribution capabilities have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Our ability to manufacture and ship machines is critical to our success. We are subject to damage or disruption to supplies of parts or our manufacturing or distribution capabilities (in particular, to the extent that our parts are sourced globally) due to weather, including any potential effects of climate change, natural disaster, fire, terrorism, adverse changes in political conditions or political unrest, pandemic, strikes, labor shortages, freight transportation availability, disruption in logistics, import restrictions, or other factors that impair our ability to manufacture or sell our machines. Failure to take adequate steps to mitigate the likelihood or potential impact of such events, or to effectively manage such events if they occur, adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations, as well as require additional resources to restore our supply chain. Our results of operations could be adversely affected by labor shortages, turnover, and labor cost increases. Inflationary pressures, shortages in the labor market, and increased competition within and outside our industry for talented employees have increased our labor costs, which could negatively impact our profitability. Labor shortages or lack of skilled labor have led to increases in costs to meet demand as we roll out incremental programs to attract and retain talent. Labor shortages may also negatively impact us from servicing all demand that exists for our products or operating our service operations and manufacturing facilities efficiently. Further, we distribute our machines and receive parts through the freight transportation market, and reduced trucking capacity due to shortages of drivers has led to increased costs and reduced service levels due to lack of freight transportation availability. We operate in a highly competitive industry and our success depends upon our ability to effectively compete with numerous worldwide businesses. We face competition from a number of businesses, including worldwide businesses, many of which have substantially greater financial resources and operating scale than we do. Such competition could adversely affect our ability to win new contracts and sales and renew existing contracts. We operate in a period of intense price-based competition in some key sectors, which could affect the profitability of the contracts and sales we do win. In certain sectors, our businesses also face competition from suppliers, operators or licensees who offer products for internet gaming in illegal or unregulated sectors, but are still able or permitted to supply products and compete with us in regulated sectors. These competitors often have substantially greater financial resources and operating scale than we do. If we cannot successfully compete in our industry and business segments, our business, results, financial condition and prospects could suffer. 17 We are heavily dependent on our ability to renew our long-term contracts with our customers and we could lose substantial revenue if we are unable to renew certain of these contracts. Generally, customer contracts in our Gaming, Virtual Sports and Interactive business segments are for initial terms of three to five years, but longer in certain territories, with renewals at the customer’s option. Generally, our customer contracts within the Leisure business segment are for terms of four to six years (although in certain cases they are longer), but certain customers have options for early termination under certain circumstances or to reduce machines volumes in certain circumstances, and we may face pressure to renew or upgrade terminals during the lives of these contracts, which could adversely affect revenues or our return on capital and leave us with surplus terminals. At any given time, we have multiple substantial customer contracts that have years to run and others that may be nearing expiration or renewal, which we may lose if we cannot compete effectively to retain their business. There can be no assurance that current contracts will be extended or that we will be awarded contract extensions or new contracts as a result of competitive bidding processes or otherwise. The termination, expiration or failure to renew one or more of our contracts could cause us to lose substantial revenue. Changes in applicable gambling regulations or taxation regimes may affect the revenues or profits generated by the contracts we enter into with our customers. Many of the contracts we have with our customers are on revenue-sharing (net of gaming taxes) terms, and therefore changes which adversely affect our customers may also adversely affect us. In addition, any such changes may cause our customers to seek to renegotiate their contracts, may alter the terms on which such customers are prepared to renew their contracts and may affect their ability or willingness to renew their contracts. We rely on a relatively small number of customers for a significant portion of our sales, and the loss of, or material reduction in, sales to any of our top customers could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects. Certain key customers, including certain UK, Italian and Greek gaming terminal customers and certain Virtual Sports customers, make a significant contribution to our revenues and profitability. Our top ten customers generated approximately 60% of total revenues but no one customer generated more than 10% of total revenues in the year ended December 31, 2021. We expect that these customers will continue to represent a significant portion of our sales in the future. However, the loss of any of our top customers, whether through contract expiry and non-renewal, breach of contract or other adverse factors could materially adversely affect our revenues or return on capital and leave us with surplus terminals. Moreover, if any of these customers experience reduced revenue, such reduction could adversely affect any revenue-sharing arrangements we have with those customers, reduce our own revenues and adversely affect our financial results. We are dependent on our relationships with key suppliers to obtain equipment and other supplies for our business on acceptable terms. We have achieved significant cost savings through our centralization of equipment and non-equipment purchases. However, as a result, we are exposed to the credit and other risks of a group of key suppliers. While we make every effort to evaluate our counterparties prior to entering into long-term and other significant procurement contracts, we cannot predict the impact on our suppliers of the current economic environment and other developments in their respective businesses. Insolvency, financial difficulties, supply chain delays or other factors may result in our suppliers not being able to fulfill the terms of their agreements with us. Further, such factors may render suppliers unwilling to extend contracts that provide favorable terms to us, or may force them to seek to renegotiate existing contracts with us. In addition, our business has signed a number of significant contracts whose performance depends upon third party suppliers delivering equipment on schedule for us to meet its contract commitments. Failure of the suppliers to meet their delivery commitments could result in us being in breach of and subsequently losing those contracts. Although we believe we have alternative sources of supply for the equipment and other supplies used in our business, concentration in the number of our suppliers could lead to delays in the delivery of products or components, and possible resultant breaches of contracts that we have entered into with our customers; increases in the prices we must pay for products or components; problems with product quality or components coming to the end of their life; and other concerns. 18 Our ability to bid on new contracts may be dependent upon our ability to fund any required up-front capital expenditures through our cash from operations, the incurrence of indebtedness or the raising of additional equity capital. Our Gaming and Leisure terminal contracts in the UK, Italy and Greece often require significant up-front capital expenditures for terminal assembly, software customization and implementation, systems and equipment installation and telecommunications configuration. Historically, we have funded these up-front costs through cash flows generated from operations and external borrowings. Our ability to continue to procure new contracts, including in new jurisdictions, will depend upon, among other things, our liquidity levels at the time or our ability to obtain additional debt or equity funding at commercially acceptable terms to finance the initial up-front costs. If we do not have adequate liquidity or are unable to obtain other funding for these up-front costs on favorable terms or at all, we may not be able to bid on certain contracts, which could restrict our ability to grow and have an adverse effect on our ability to retain existing contracts and therefore on future profitability. Certain contracts within the Leisure business segment also require injections of capital expenditure during the term for new or replacement hardware. The UK Government’s impending review of the Gambling Act, together with other rules that may be considered in the UK in response to recent consultations, could have a material negative impact on our business. In December 2020, DCMS announced that it is reviewing the Gambling Act, the consultation period for which closed on March 31, 2021 with the objective of (i) examining whether changes are needed to the system of gambling regulation in Great Britain to reflect changes to the gambling landscape since 2005, particularly due to technological advances (ii) ensuring there is an appropriate balance between consumer freedoms and choice on the one hand, and prevention of harm to vulnerable groups and wider communities on the other and (iii) making sure customers are suitably protected whenever and wherever they are gambling, and that there is an equitable approach to the regulation of the online and the land based industries. There have a been a number of similar consultations launched, including a DCMS consultation in relation to fees which closed on March 25, 2021 and a Gambling Commission consultation in relation to Remote Customer Interaction which closed on February 9, 2021. The potential outcomes of such reviews are not currently known but new legislation or regulations could adversely affect our business. A recent example of legislative change implemented by the UK Government which adversely affected our business was the reduction of maximum permitted bets from £100 to £2 on B2 Gaming Machines which became effective as of April 1, 2019. As a result of this change, a number of land-based operators commenced a rationalization of their retail operations, which among other measures led to the closure of certain land-based operator shops. Our business depends on our ability to prevent or mitigate the effects of a cybersecurity attack. Our information technology may be subject to cyber-attacks, security breaches or computer hacking, including a widespread ransomware attack encrypting corporate IT equipment, a directed motivated attack against us or a data breach or cyber incident happening to a third-party network and affecting us. Regardless of our efforts, there may still be a breach and the costs to eliminate, mitigate or address the aforementioned threats and vulnerabilities before or after a cyber incident could be significant. Any such breaches or attacks could result in interruptions, delays or cessation of service, and loss of existing or potential suppliers or customers. In addition, breaches of our security measures and the unauthorized dissemination of sensitive personal, proprietary or confidential information about the Company, our business partners or other third parties could expose us to significant potential liability and reputational harm. We could also be negatively impacted by existing and proposed laws and regulations, and government policies and practices related to cybersecurity, data privacy, data localization and data protection. The risk of cyber attacks may also increase owing to the current war in Ukraine. Our business depends upon the protection of our intellectual property and proprietary information. We believe that our success depends, in part, on protecting our intellectual property in the UK and in other countries. Our intellectual property includes certain trademarks relating to our systems, as well as certain patents and proprietary or confidential information that is not subject to patent or similar protection. Our intellectual property protects the integrity of our games, systems, products and services, which is a core value of the industries in which we operate. Protecting our intellectual property can be expensive and time-consuming, may not always be successful depending on local laws or other circumstances, and we also may choose not to pursue registrations in certain countries. Competitors may independently develop similar or superior products, software, systems or business models. In cases where our intellectual property is not protected by an enforceable patent, or other intellectual property protection, such independent development may result in a significant diminution in the value of our intellectual property. There can be no assurance that we will be able to protect our intellectual property. We enter into confidentiality or license agreements with our employees, vendors, consultants and, to the extent legally permissible, our customers, and generally control access to, and the distribution of, our game designs, systems and other software documentation and other proprietary information, as well as the designs, systems and other software documentation and other information we license from others. Despite our effort to protect these proprietary rights, parties may try to copy our gaming products, business models or systems, use certain of our confidential information to develop competing products, or independently develop or otherwise obtain and use our gaming products or technology, any of which could have an adverse effect on our business. Policing unauthorized use of our technology is difficult and expensive, particularly because of the global nature of our operations. The laws of some countries may not adequately protect our intellectual property. There can be no assurance that our business activities, games, products and systems will not infringe upon, misappropriate of otherwise violate the proprietary rights of others, or that other parties will not assert infringement or misappropriation claims against us. Any such claim and any resulting litigation, should it occur, could subject us to significant liability for costs and damages and could result in invalidation of our proprietary rights, distract management, and/or require us to enter into costly and burdensome royalty and licensing agreements. Such royalty and licensing agreements, if required, may not be available on terms acceptable to us, or may not be available at all. In the future, we may also need to file lawsuits to defend the validity of our intellectual property rights and trade secrets, or to determine the validity and scope of the proprietary rights of others. Such litigation, whether successful or unsuccessful, could result in substantial costs and diversion of resources. We also rely on certain products and technologies that we license from third parties. Proprietary licenses typically limit our use of intellectual property to specific uses and for specific time periods. There can be no assurance that these third-party licenses, or the support for such licenses, will continue to be available to us on commercially reasonable terms. In the event that we cannot renew and/or expand existing licenses, we may be required to discontinue or limit our use of the products that include, incorporate, or rely on licensed intellectual property. 19 Data privacy and security laws and regulations in the jurisdictions in which we do business could increase the cost of our operations and subject us to possible sanctions and other penalties. Our business is subject to a number of federal, state, local and foreign laws and regulations governing data privacy and security, including with respect to the collection, storage, use, transmission and protection of personal information. In particular, we are subject to the EU General Data Protection Regulation (the “EU GDPR”) where we are established in the EEA or where we are not established in the EEA but process personal data of individuals in the EEA in relation to the offering of goods or services to, or the monitoring the behavior of, individuals in the EEA. Following the end of the Brexit Transition Period on December 31, 2020, the EU GDPR has been implemented in the UK as the “UK GDPR”. The requirements of the UK GDPR are (for the time being) virtually identical to those of the EU GDPR. The EU GDPR and the UK GDPR (collectively the “GDPR”) set out a number of requirements that must be complied with when handling personal data including (amongst others): (i) accountability and transparency requirements, and enhanced requirements for obtaining valid consent; (ii) obligations to consider data protection as any new products or services are developed and to limit the amount of personal data processed; (iii) obligations to comply with data protection rights of data subjects; and (iv) reporting of personal data breaches to the supervisory authority without undue delay (and no later than 72 hours where feasible). The GDPR also prohibits the international transfer of personal data from the EEA/UK to countries outside of the EEA/UK unless made to a country deemed to have adequate data privacy laws by the European Commission or UK Government or a data transfer mechanism has been put in place. In July 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) in its Schrems II ruling invalidated the EU-US Privacy Shield framework, a self-certification mechanism that facilitated the lawful transfer of personal data from the EEA/UK to the United States, with immediate effect. The CJEU upheld the validity of standard contractual clauses (“SCCs”) as a legal mechanism to transfer personal data but companies relying on SCCs will need to carry out a transfer privacy impact assessment, which among other things, assesses laws governing access to personal data in the recipient country and considers whether supplementary measures that provide privacy protections additional to those provided under SCCs will need to be implemented to ensure an essentially equivalent level of data protection to that afforded in the EU. This may have implications for our cross-border data flows and may result in compliance costs. In addition, Brexit has implications for transfers of personal data between the UK and the EU and vice versa. Transfers of personal data from the UK to the EU are unrestricted and do not require additional safeguards as the UK has approved the adequacy of the EU and all 12 nations deemed adequate by the EU. As regards transfers of personal data from the EEA to the UK, under the terms of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement agreed between the EU and UK on December 24, 2020, such data flows remain unrestricted as the European Commission granted the UK an “adequacy decision” meaning transfers of personal data from the EEA to the UK may continue unrestricted and would not require any additional safeguards. Compliance with the GDPR will incur compliance and operational costs. In addition, a data supervisory authority may find our data processing practices and compliance steps to be inconsistent with the GDPR’s application in their respective jurisdiction. Data supervisory authorities also have the power to issue fines for non-compliance of the GDPR of up to 4% of an organization’s annual worldwide turnover or €20m (£17.5 million under the UK GDPR), whichever is higher. Data subjects also have a right to compensation as a result of an organization’s breach of the GDPR that has affected them, for financial or non-financial losses (e.g., distress). Our results of operations fluctuate due to seasonality and other factors and, therefore, our periodic operating results are not guarantees of future performance. Our revenues are subject to a number of variations. Equipment sales and software license revenues usually reflect a limited number of large transactions, which may not recur on an annual basis. Consequently, revenues and operating results can vary substantially from period to period as a result of the timing of equipment sales and software licensing. In addition, revenues may vary depending on the timing of contract awards and renewals, changes in customer budgets and general economic conditions. A proportion of our revenues are subject to regular seasonal variations of the sort often related to seasonal consumer behavior, income from the Leisure business segment is generally strongest in the spring and summer, predominantly in Leisure parks, and in Italy and Greece we experience reductions in revenue in the summer. Our industry is subject to strict government regulations that could limit our existing operations and have a negative impact on our ability to grow. In certain jurisdictions, forms of wagering, betting and lottery may be expressly authorized and governed by law and in other jurisdictions forms of wagering, betting and lottery may be expressly prohibited by law. If expressly authorized, such activities are typically subject to extensive and evolving governmental regulation. Gaming regulatory requirements vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Therefore, we are subject to a wide range of complex gaming laws, rules and regulations in the jurisdictions in which we are licensed or may seek to be licensed. Most jurisdictions require that we are licensed or authorized, that our key personnel and certain of our security holders are found to be suitable or are licensed, and that our products are reviewed, tested and certified or approved before placement. If a license, approval, certification or finding of suitability is required by a regulatory or national authority and we fail to seek or do not receive the necessary approval, license, certification or finding of suitability, or if it is revoked, then we may be prohibited from distributing our products for use in the respective jurisdiction. Additionally, such prohibition could trigger reviews of our Company by regulatory bodies in other jurisdictions and adversely affect our ability to obtain or retain the required licenses and approvals in those jurisdictions. 20 The regulatory environment in any particular jurisdiction may change in the future, and any such change could have an adverse effect on our results of operations or business in general. Moreover, there can be no assurance that the operation of Server Based Gaming terminals, Video Lottery Terminals or other Terminals, Virtual Sports betting, betting online, lottery or other forms of wagering systems will be approved, certified or found suitable by additional jurisdictions or that those jurisdictions in which these activities are currently permitted will continue to permit such activities in their existing forms (stricter regulations, including regulation relating to age verification, could come into force which could have adverse impacts on the Company) or at all. While we believe that we have the means to continue to develop procedures and policies designed to comply with and monitor the requirements of evolving laws, there can be no assurance that law enforcement agencies, governmental agencies or gaming regulatory authorities, whether in existing or new jurisdictions, will not seek to restrict our business or otherwise institute enforcement proceedings or other legal claims against the Company. Moreover, in addition to the risk of such enforcement actions or claims, we are also at risk from loss of business reputation in the event of any potential legal or regulatory investigation whether or not we are ultimately accused of or found to have committed any violations. We supply our products to operators of gaming venues, platforms and websites who typically must themselves be licensed by gaming regulators. If any one of these operators fails to maintain its gaming licenses, or violates gaming laws or regulations, our business may suffer, due to our loss of a viable customer and, in instances where we have a revenue-sharing arrangement with the operator, due to our loss of our shares of the revenue generated by that operator’s business. We supply certain of our products to operators who operate gaming websites. Some of those operators may take bets from customers in sectors where no gaming laws or regulations exist and where the provision of online gaming is effectively unregulated. Although the Company seeks to ensure that its customers only take bets in sectors where online gaming is legal, if any of those operators is subjected to investigatory or enforcement action for acting otherwise, this could result in the operator suffering interventions ranging from special conditions being applied to its licenses, license suspension or license loss, or the operator otherwise withdrawing from or curtailing its activities in its sector. Any such developments could adversely affect such operator’s revenues and in turn adversely affect our earnings from such operator. The Company may itself be subject to investigatory or enforcement action (if and to the extent that local laws or the laws of other jurisdictions in which the Company operates impose liability on suppliers for the activities of the customers that they supply or for receiving funds that are deemed to be illegal because of such activities). We seek to protect ourselves against any such liability for the activities of the operators that we supply, including by contractually requiring those operators not to operate in certain territories and only supplying operators who we have reviewed to determine whether they uphold the requisite standards of regulatory and legal compliance. Nonetheless, there is a risk that we may fail to undertake sufficient due diligence, fail to receive accurate information on which to conduct due diligence, or become subject to investigatory or enforcement action should we or any of our customers be accused of breaching any regulations or laws. Any such action may adversely affect our standing with gaming regulators and our ability to obtain and retain required licenses and other approvals in other jurisdictions. We may be required to obtain and maintain licenses and certifications from various state and local jurisdictions in order to operate certain aspects of our business and we and our key personnel and certain security holders may be subject to extensive background investigations and suitability standards. We may also become subject to regulation in any other jurisdiction where our customers are permitted to operate in the future. Licenses and ongoing regulatory compliance can be costly. There can be no assurance that we will be able to obtain new licenses or renew any of our existing licenses, and the loss, denial or non-renewal of any of our licenses could have an adverse effect on our business. Generally, regulatory authorities have broad discretion when granting, renewing or revoking approvals and licenses. Our failure, or the failure of any of our key personnel, systems or machines, in obtaining or retaining a required license or approval in one jurisdiction could have a negative impact on our ability (or the ability of any of our key personnel, systems or gaming machines) to obtain or retain required licenses and approvals in other jurisdictions. The failure to obtain or retain a required license or approval in any jurisdiction would decrease the geographic area where we may operate and generate revenues, decrease our share in the gaming marketplace and put us at a disadvantage compared with our competitors. In addition, the levy of substantial fines or forfeiture of assets could significantly harm our business, financial condition and results of operations. Some jurisdictions also require extensive personal and financial disclosure and background checks from persons and entities beneficially owning a specified percentage of equity securities of licensed or regulated businesses. The failure of beneficial owners of our common stock to submit to such background checks and provide required disclosure could jeopardize our business. In light of these regulations and the potential impact on our business, our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides for the prohibition of stock ownership by persons or entities who fail to comply with informational or other regulatory requirements under applicable gaming law, who are found unsuitable to hold our stock by gaming authorities or whose stock ownership adversely affects our ability to obtain, maintain, renew or qualify for a license, contract, franchise or other regulatory approval from a gaming authority. The licensing procedures and background investigations of the authorities that regulate our businesses and the proposed amendment may inhibit potential investors from becoming significant stockholders or inhibit existing stockholders from retaining or increasing their ownership. 21 Our businesses are subject to a number of federal, state, local and foreign laws and regulations governing data privacy and security, including with respect to the collection, storage, use, transmission and protection of personal information and other consumer data. In particular, the EU has adopted strict data privacy regulations. Following recent developments such as the European Court of Justice’s 2015 ruling that the transfer of personal data from the EU to the U.S. under the EU/U.S. Safe Harbor was an invalid mechanism of personal data transfer, the adoption of the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield as a replacement for the Safe Harbor (which has since been declared invalid by Schrems II), and coming into effect of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation, data privacy and security compliance in the EU are increasingly complex and challenging. The scope of data privacy and security regulations continues to evolve, and we believe that the adoption of increasingly restrictive regulations in this area is likely within the U.S. and other jurisdictions. Compliance with data privacy and security restrictions could increase the cost of our operations and failure to comply with such restrictions could subject us to criminal and civil sanctions as well as other penalties. We are subject to the provisions of the UK Bribery Act 2010, the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and other anti-corruption laws. The UK Bribery Act generally prohibits giving a financial or other advantage to another person with the intention of inducing that person to improperly perform a relevant function or activity. The U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act generally prohibits U.S. persons and companies and their agents from offering, promising, authorizing or making improper payments to foreign government officials for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business. Certain of these anti-corruption laws also contain provisions that require accurate record keeping and further require companies to devise and maintain an adequate system of internal accounting controls. Because a significant percentage of our revenue derives from foreign sources, and our business activities involve continuing relationships with governmental regulators, there exists a risk that certain provisions of these anti-corruption laws may be breached. We are also subject to anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing laws and regulations, and to economic and trade sanctions programs administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in the United States relating to our ability to engage in transactions with entities that are domiciled in countries or territories subject to comprehensive OFAC trade sanctions (currently, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, and Crimea), or that are included on OFAC’s list of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons. Although we have policies and controls in place that are designed to ensure compliance with these laws, if those controls are ineffective or an employee or intermediary fails to comply with the applicable regulations, we may be subject to criminal and civil sanctions as well as other penalties. Any such violation could disrupt our business and adversely affect our reputation, results of operations, cash flows and financial condition. We review and develop our internal compliance programs in an effort to ensure that we comply with legal requirements imposed in connection with our business activities. The compliance program is run on a day-to-day basis by our in-house legal department with compliance and technical advice provided by our compliance manager and outside professionals. There can be no assurance that such steps will prevent the violation of one or more laws or regulations, or that a violation by us or an employee will not result in the imposition of administrative, civil and even criminal sanctions, monetary fines or suspension or revocation of one or more of our licenses. Our industry is subject to regulations that set parameters for levels of gaming or wagering duty, tax, stake, prize and return to player. In most jurisdictions in which we operate or expect to seek to operate, the level of duty or taxation, the stake, prize and return to player of wagering, betting and lottery games and the speed at which players can participate in gaming are defined in government regulations which are subject to change. Those regulations may also affect the premises in which gaming activities may take place (i.e., by limiting the number of gaming machines which may be housed in a licensed gaming location, or by restricting the locations in which licensed gaming premises may be situated). Once authorized, such parameters are subject to extensive and evolving governmental regulation. Moreover, such gaming regulatory requirements vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Therefore, we are subject to a wide range of complex gaming parameters in the jurisdictions in which we are licensed. If a key parameter is changed, such as the level of taxation or duty or the maximum stake or prize or return to player of a game, then it may be to the detriment of our business, financial condition, results and prospects or we may be unable to distribute our products profitably. Our business is subject to evolving technology. The sectors for our products are affected by changing technology, new regulations and evolving industry standards. Our ability to anticipate or respond to such changes and to develop and introduce new and enhanced products and services on a timely basis will be a significant factor in our ability to expand, remain competitive, attract new customers and retain existing contracts. For example, some of our contracts with customers require that the technology being licensed by the customer remain compliant with applicable regulations. Because regulatory changes cannot always be foreseen, such contractual requirements can from time-to-time result in us having to incur unforeseen costs to adapt our technology to changes in regulation. Generally, there can be no assurance that we will achieve the necessary technological advances, have the financial resources, introduce new products or services on a timely basis or otherwise have the ability to compete effectively on a technological basis in the sectors we serve. 22 Our business competes on the basis of the stability, security and integrity of our software, networks, systems, games and products. We believe that our success depends, in significant part, on providing secure products and systems to our vendors and customers with high levels of uptime, quality and availability. Attempts to penetrate security measures may come from various combinations of customers, retailers, vendors, players, employees and others. Our ability to monitor and ensure quality of our products is continually reviewed and enhanced. There can be no assurance that our business might not be affected by a security breach, virus, Denial of Service attack, or technical error, failure or lapse which could have an adverse impact on our business. Additionally, we maintain a large number of games and terminals and jackpot systems, which rely on algorithms and software designed to pay out winnings to players at certain ratios. Our systems, testing and processes to monitor and ensure the payout of games are continually reviewed and enhanced, and are additionally reviewed and tested by third-party expert test houses. There can be no assurance that our business might not be affected by a malicious or unintentional breach or technical error, failure or lapse which could have an adverse impact on payout ratios which would consequently have an adverse effect on our business in the form of lost revenues or penalty payments to players or customers. Gaming regulators may take enforcement action against us (including the imposition of significant fines) where the payout ratios fall below the ratios advertised to customers, or our software, networks, systems, games and/or products otherwise suffer from technical error, failure or lapse. We may be adversely affected by disruptions to our transaction gaming and lottery systems, as well as disruptions to our internal enterprise and information technology systems. Our operations are dependent upon our transactional gaming, lottery and information technology systems. We rely upon such systems to manage customer systems on a timely basis, to coordinate our sales and installation activities across all of our locations and to manage invoicing. A substantial disruption in our transactional gaming, lottery and information technology systems for any prolonged time period (arising from, for example, system capacity limits from unexpected increases in our volume of business, outages, computer viruses, unauthorized access or delays in its service) could result in delays in serving our customers, which could adversely affect our reputation and customer relationships and could result in monetary penalties pursuant to the terms of customer contracts. Our systems might be damaged or interrupted by natural or man-made events or by computer viruses, physical or electronic break-ins, or similar disruptions affecting the Internet and our disaster recovery plan may be ineffective at mitigating the effects of these risks. Such delays, problems or costs could have an adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. Gaming opponents persist in their efforts to curtail legalized gaming, which, if successful, could limit our existing operations. Legalized gaming is subject to opposition from gaming opponents, including in the UK, Italy and other sectors where we are active. There can be no assurance that this opposition will not succeed in either preventing the legalization of gaming in jurisdictions where these activities are presently prohibited or prohibiting or limiting the expansion or continuance of gaming where it is currently permitted, in either case to the detriment of our business, financial condition, results and prospects. Our directors and key personnel are subject to the approval of certain regulatory authorities, which, if withheld, would require us to sever our relationship with non-approved individuals, which could adversely impact our operations. Our members, managers, directors, officers and key employees must be approved by certain government and state regulatory authorities. If such regulatory authorities were to find a person occupying any such position unsuitable, we would be required to sever our relationship with that person. We may thereby lose key personnel which would have a negative effect on our operations. Certain public and private issuances of securities and certain other transactions by us also require the approval of certain state regulatory authorities. Further, our gaming regulators can require us to disassociate ourselves from suppliers or business partners found unsuitable by the regulators. The regulatory environment in any particular jurisdiction may change in the future and any such change could have an adverse effect on our results of operations. In addition, we are subject to various gaming taxes, which are subject to increase at any time. 23 Licensing and gaming authorities have significant control over our operations and ownership, and could cause us to redeem certain stockholders on potentially disadvantageous terms. Regulatory authorities have broad powers to request detailed financial and other information, to limit, condition, suspend or revoke a registration, gaming license or related approval and to approve changes in our operations. Some jurisdictions also require extensive personal and financial disclosure and background checks from persons and entities beneficially owning a specified percentage of equity securities of licensed or regulated businesses. For example, in the UK, an entity holding a gambling license must notify the Gambling Commission of the identity of any stockholder holding, directly or indirectly, 3% or more of its equity or voting rights, and must apply for permission to continue to rely on its operating license whenever a new person acquires, directly or indirectly, 10% or more of its equity or voting rights. The failure of beneficial owners of our common stock to submit to such background checks and provide required disclosure could jeopardize our business. Our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that, to the extent required by the gaming authority making the determination of unsuitability or to the extent the board of directors determines, in its sole discretion, that a person is likely to jeopardize the Company’s or any affiliate’s application for, receipt of, approval for, right to the use of, or entitlement to, any gaming license, shares of our capital stock that are owned or controlled by an unsuitable person or its affiliates are subject to mandatory redemption by us. The redemption price may be paid in cash, by promissory note, or both, as required, and pursuant to the terms established by, the applicable gaming authority and, if not, as we elect. Such a redemption could occur on terms or at a time that a stockholder believes to be disadvantageous. Changes in laws or regulations, or a failure to comply with, or liabilities under, any laws and regulations, may adversely affect our business, investments and results of operations. We are subject to laws and regulations enacted by national, regional, state and local governments, including non-U.S. governments. Compliance with, and monitoring of, applicable laws and regulations may be difficult, time consuming and costly. Those laws and regulations and their interpretation and application may also change from time to time and those changes could have an adverse effect on our business, investments and results of operations. In addition, a failure to comply with applicable laws or regulations, as interpreted and applied, or liabilities thereunder, could have an adverse effect on our business and results of operations. Certain of our executive officers and directors may become affiliated with entities engaged in business activities similar to those conducted by us (or may enter into similar business activities in the future) and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining whether a particular business opportunity should be presented to us or to another entity. Certain of our executive officers and directors may become affiliated with entities that are engaged in businesses similar to the ones we operate (or may enter into similar business activities in the future). As a result, any of them may become aware of business opportunities which may be appropriate for presentation to us and to other entities to which they owe certain fiduciary or contractual duties. Accordingly, they may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented — to us or to another entity. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential business opportunity may be presented to another entity prior to its presentation to us. Our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our Company and such opportunity is one that we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue. We are a holding company and conduct all of our operations through our subsidiaries. We are a holding company and derive all of our operating income from our subsidiaries. Other than any cash we retain, all of our assets are held by our direct and indirect subsidiaries. We rely on the earnings and cash flows of our subsidiaries, which are paid to us by our subsidiaries, if and only to the extent available, in the form of dividends and other payments or distributions, to meet our debt service obligations. The ability of our subsidiaries to pay dividends or make other payments or distributions to us will depend upon their respective operating results and may be restricted by, among other things, the laws of their jurisdiction of organization (which may limit the amount of funds available for the payment of dividends and other distributions to us), the terms of existing and future indebtedness and other agreements of our subsidiaries and the covenants of any future outstanding indebtedness we or our subsidiaries incur. 24 Our inability to complete future acquisitions of gaming and related businesses we acquire in the future could limit our future growth, if any. We continue to pursue expansion and acquisition opportunities in gaming and related businesses. There can be no assurance that acquisition opportunities will be available on acceptable terms or at all or that we will be able to obtain necessary financing or regulatory approvals to complete potential acquisitions. Our ability to succeed in implementing our strategy will depend upon the ability of our management to identify, complete and successfully integrate commercially viable acquisitions. Acquisition transactions may disrupt our ongoing business and distract management from other responsibilities. Any future acquisition transactions involving the use of company stock would dilute our existing stockholders and earnings per share. Our business may be affected by changes in general and local economic and political conditions. The demand for our services is sensitive to general and local economic conditions over which we have no control, including changes in the levels of consumer disposable income and geographic exposure to macro-economic trends and taxation. In addition, the economic stability of certain Eurozone countries where we conduct or intend to conduct business may become affected by sovereign debt crises or other general and local economic and political conditions. Adverse changes in economic conditions may affect our business generally or may be more prevalent or concentrated in particular sectors in which we operate. Any deterioration in economic conditions or the continuation of uncertain economic conditions could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. Other economic risks which may adversely affect our performance include high interest rates, inflation and volatile foreign exchange markets, and effects arising from Great Britain’s exit from the European Union (“Brexit”). The performance of our business may also be subject to political risks in certain jurisdictions where we operate, including change of government, political unrest, war or terrorism. Our revenues can vary substantially from period to period and you should not rely upon our periodic operating results as indications of future performance. Our revenues are subject to variations. Wagering equipment sales and software license revenues usually reflect a limited number of large transactions, which may not recur on an annual basis. Consequently, revenues and operating results can vary substantially from period to period as a result of the timing of major equipment sales and software license revenue. In addition, revenues may vary depending on the timing of contract awards and renewals, changes in customer budgets and general economic conditions. Revenues may also vary based on adverse sequences of payouts of prizes, unusual jackpot wins, and other variations in game margin. Our business could also be affected by natural or man-made disasters such as floods, storms or terrorist attacks. We have taken steps to have disaster recovery plans in place but there can be no assurance that such an event would not have a significant adverse impact on our business. We have operations in a variety of countries, which subjects us to additional risks. We are a global business and derived substantially all of our revenue outside the United States during the year ended December 31, 2021. In the year ended December 31, 2021, we earned approximately 71% of our revenue from our operations in the UK, 9% of our revenue from our operations in Greece, and 20% of our revenue from our operations in the rest of the world. Our business in foreign markets subjects us to risks customarily associated with such operations, including: ● foreign withholding taxes on, or bank regulatory restrictions on expatriating, our subsidiaries’ earnings that could reduce cash flow available to meet our required debt service and other obligations; ● the complexity of foreign laws, regulations and markets; ● the impact of foreign labor laws and disputes; ● potential risks relating to our ability to manage our foreign operations, monitor our customers’ activities or our partners’ activities which may subject us to risks involving such other entities’ financial condition or to inconsistent interests or goals; ● recent gaming tax increases in Italy; 25 ● other economic, tax and regulatory policies of foreign governments; and ● the ability to attract and retain key personnel in foreign jurisdictions. Our consolidated financial results are significantly affected by foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations. Foreign currency exchange rate exposures arise from current transactions and anticipated transactions denominated in currencies other than U.S. Dollars, and from the translation of foreign currency balance sheet accounts into GBP-denominated or USD-denominated balance sheet accounts. Exposure to currency exchange rate fluctuations exists and will continue because a significant portion of our revenues are denominated in currencies other than the USD, particularly GBP and the Euro. Exchange rate fluctuations have in the past adversely affected operating results and cash flows and may continue to adversely affect our results of operations and cash flows and the value of assets. As a result of the geographic concentration of our operations in the UK, Italy and Greece, our operating results and cash flow depend significantly on economic conditions and the other factors listed above in these sector areas. There can be no assurance that we will be able to operate on a continuing successful basis in these sectors or in any combination of different geographical sectors. Our business could be negatively affected by ownership changes and consolidation in the gaming industry. Because a substantial part of our revenue is recurring in nature, our medium to long term results of operations, cash flows and financial condition could be negatively affected if any of our customers were sold to or merged with other customers, or if consolidation in the gaming industry were otherwise effected. Consolidation among gaming operators could result in our customers using more products and services of our competitors or reducing their spending on our products, or could otherwise cause downward pricing pressures, any of which outcomes could negatively affect our business. We may not be able to capitalize on the expansion of interactive gaming or other trends and changes in the gaming and lottery industries, including due to laws and regulations governing these industries, and other factors. We participate in new and evolving aspects of the interactive gaming and lottery industries. Part of our strategy is to take advantage of the liberalization of regulations covering these industries on a global basis. These industries involve significant risks and uncertainties, including legal, business and financial risks. The fast-changing environment in these industries can make it difficult to plan strategically and can provide opportunities for competitors to grow their businesses at our expense. Consequently, our future results of operations, cash flows and financial condition are difficult to predict and may not grow at the rates we expect. Laws relating to interactive gaming are evolving. To varying degrees, governments have taken steps to change the regulation of interactive wagering through the implementation of new or revised licensing and taxation regimes, including the possible imposition of sanctions on unlicensed providers. We cannot predict the timing, scope or terms of the implementation or revision of any such state, federal or foreign laws or regulations, or the extent to which any such laws and regulations may facilitate or hinder our strategy. In jurisdictions that authorize interactive gaming, we cannot assure that we will be successful in offering our technology, content and services to interactive gaming operators, because we expect to face intense competition from our traditional competitors in the gaming and lottery industries as well as a number of other domestic and foreign competitors (and, in some cases, the operators themselves), many of which have substantially greater financial resources or experience in this area than we do. Know-your-customer and geo-location programs and technologies supplied by third parties are an important aspect of certain interactive gaming products and services, because they can confirm certain information with respect to players and prospective players, such as age, identity and location. Payment processing programs and technologies, typically provided by third parties, are also a necessary feature of interactive wagering products and services. These programs and technologies are costly, and our use of them may have an adverse impact on our results of operations, cash flows and financial condition. Additionally, we cannot assure that products or services containing these programs and technologies will be available to us on commercially reasonable terms, if at all, or that they will perform accurately or otherwise in accordance with required specifications. 26 Our business is capital intensive and our ability to retain customers may be influenced by our ability to deploy additional capital. Customers of our server based gaming products may request us to incur capital expenditures to provide gaming terminals to support their land-based operations. While we seek to obtain what we believe to be satisfactory rates of return on such investments, these capital expenditures can be meaningful and may be concentrated within short periods of time. To the extent that we have insufficient access to capital or liquidity at the time that a customer, or prospective customer, makes such a request, we may be at a competitive disadvantage in retaining or attracting such customer. Such a circumstance could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or prospects. We may be subject to claims arising from the operations of our various businesses for periods prior to the dates we acquired them. We may be subject to claims or liabilities arising from the ownership or operation businesses we have acquired for the periods prior to our acquisition of them, including environmental, employee-related and other liabilities and claims not covered by insurance. Our success depends upon our key personnel. Our business results depend largely upon the continued contributions of various members of our management team, as well as certain key technical specialists, game designers, operational experts and other developers and operators of key intellectual property and processes. If we lose the services of one or more members of our management team or key employees, our business, financial condition and results of operations, as well as the market price of our securities, could be adversely affected. The long-term performance of our business relies on our ability to attract, develop and retain talented personnel and our labor force while controlling our labor costs. To be successful, we must attract, develop and retain highly qualified and talented personnel who have the experience, knowledge and expertise to successfully implement our key business strategies. We also must attract, develop and retain our labor force while maintaining labor costs. We compete for employees, including sales people, regional management, executive officers and others, with a broad range of employers in many different industries, including large multinational firms, and we invest significant resources in recruiting, developing, motivating and retaining them. The failure to attract and retain key employees, or to develop effective succession planning to assure smooth transitions of those employees and the knowledge, customer relationships and expertise they possess, could negatively affect our competitive position and our operating results. Further, if we are unable to cost-effectively recruit, train and retain sufficient skilled personnel, we may not be able to adequately satisfy increased demand for our products and services, which could adversely affect our operating results. Restrictions in our existing borrowings, including covenants set forth in our existing debt facilities, or any other indebtedness we may incur in the future, could adversely affect our business, financial condition, or results of operations, and our ability to make distributions to stockholders and the value of our common stock. Our existing borrowings, and any other indebtedness we may enter into, may limit our ability to, among other things: ● incur or guarantee additional debt; ● make distributions or dividends on or redeem or repurchase shares of common stock; ● make certain investments and acquisitions; ● make capital expenditures; ● incur certain liens or permit them to exist; ● enter into certain types of transactions with affiliates; ● acquire, merge or consolidate with another company; and ● transfer, sell or otherwise dispose of all or substantially all of our assets. 27 The provisions of our existing borrowings may affect our ability to obtain future financing and pursue attractive business opportunities and our flexibility in planning for, and reacting to, changes in business conditions. As of December 31, 2021, our senior debt consisted of an aggregate of £235.0 million ($316.7 million) of Senior Secured Notes (carrying an interest rate of 7.875% per annum, and maturing on June 1, 2026), and we had £20.0 million ($27.0 million) of credit facility borrowings available under the RCF Agreement (see Note 13). The Indenture governing the Senior Secured Notes contains incurrence covenants that limit the ability of the Company and the Company’s restricted subsidiaries to, among other things, (i) incur or guarantee additional debt and issue certain preferred stock of restricted subsidiaries; (ii) create or incur certain liens; (iii) make restricted payments, including dividends or distributions to the Company’s stockholders or repurchase the Company’s stock; (iv) prepay or redeem subordinated debt; (v) make certain investments, including participating joint ventures; (vi) create encumbrances or restrictions on the payment of dividends or other distributions by restricted subsidiaries; (vii) sell assets, or consolidate or merge with or into other companies; (viii) sell or transfer all or substantially all of the Company’s assets or those of the Company’s subsidiaries on a consolidated basis; (ix) engage in certain transactions with affiliates; and (x) create unrestricted subsidiaries. Certain of these covenants will be suspended if and for so long as the Senior Secured Notes have investment grade ratings from any two of Moody’s Investors Service, Inc., Standard & Poor’s Investors Ratings Services and Fitch Ratings, Inc. These covenants are subject to exceptions and qualifications as set forth in the Indenture. The RCF Agreement governing credit facility borrowings contains various covenants (which include restrictions regarding the incurrence of liens, the incurrence of indebtedness by the Company’s subsidiaries and fundamental changes, subject in each case to certain exceptions), representations, warranties, limitations and events of default (which include non-payment, breach of obligations under the financing documents, cross-default, insolvency and litigation) customary for similar facilities for similarly rated borrowers and subject to customary carve-outs and grace periods. Following the occurrence of an event of default which has not been waived or remedied, the Lenders who represent more than 66.67% of total commitments under the RCF may, subject to the terms of an intercreditor agreement (which governs the relationship between the Lenders and the holders of the Senior Secured Notes), instruct the agent to (i) accelerate the RCF Loans, (ii) instruct the security agent to enforce the transaction security and/or (iii) exercise any other remedies available to the Lenders. The RCF Agreement requires that the Company maintain a maximum consolidated senior secured net leverage ratio of 6.25x on the test date for the relevant period ending June 30, 2021, stepping down to 6.0x on March 31, 2022, 5.75x on March 31, 2023 and 5.50x from March 31, 2024 and thereafter (the “RCF Financial Covenant”). The RCF Financial Covenant is calculated as the ratio of consolidated senior secured net debt to consolidated pro forma EBITDA (defined as net loss excluding depreciation and amortization, interest expense, interest income and income tax expense) for the 12-month period preceding the relevant quarterly testing date and is tested quarterly on a rolling basis, subject to the Initial Facility (as defined in the RCF Agreement) being drawn on the relevant test date. The RCF Agreement does not include a minimum interest coverage ratio or other financial covenants. We may have future capital needs and may not be able to obtain additional financing on acceptable terms. Economic and credit market conditions, the performance of the gaming industry and our financial performance, as well as other factors, may constrain our financing abilities. Our ability to secure additional financing, if available, and to satisfy our financial obligations under indebtedness outstanding from time to time will depend upon our future operating performance, the availability of credit, economic conditions and financial, business and other factors, many of which are beyond our control. We may require additional financing to fund our operations and growth. The failure to secure additional financing could have an adverse effect on our continued development or growth. None of our officers, directors or stockholders is required to provide any financing to us. 28 We may be unable to identify and develop sufficient new products and product lines and integrate them into our existing business, which may adversely affect our ability to compete; our expansion into new sectors may present competitive and regulatory challenges that differ from current ones. Our business depends in part on our ability to identify and develop future products and product lines that complement existing products and product lines and that respond to our customers’ and players’ needs. We may not be able to compete effectively unless our product selection keeps up with trends in the sectors in which it competes or trends in new products. If our new products and product lines do not meet our customers’ and players’ expectations, or if they are not brought to market in a timely and effective manner, our revenue (especially our revenue under revenue participation-based contracts) and financial performance will be negatively affected. In addition to market factors, our ability to develop new products and their ability to achieve commercial success will depend on a number of factors, including our ability to: ● effectively market our games to our customers and to existing and new players; ● adapt to changing customer needs and player preferences; ● adapt to new technologies; ● adapt game features and contents for an increasingly diverse set of devices and specifications; ● minimize launch delays and cost overruns on the development of new products and features; ● expand and enhance games and content after their initial release; ● attract, retain and motivate talented and experienced game designers, product managers and engineers; ● achieve and maintain player engagement; ● develop games that can build upon or become franchise games; ● maintain quality content and game experience; ● compete successfully against a large and growing number of market participants; ● integrate new products and product lines into our existing business; and ● minimize and quickly resolve bugs or outages. In addition, if new technologies are protected by the intellectual property rights of others, including our competitors, we may be prevented from introducing new products and product lines based on these technologies or expanding into sectors created by these technologies. Even if we are able to develop new products and product lines that achieve success, it is possible that these products and product lines could divert players of our other games without growing our overall user base, which could harm our operating results. Furthermore, the success of new products and product lines will depend upon market demand and there is a risk that new products and product lines will not deliver expected results, which could adversely affect our future sales and results of operations. It is difficult to know whether we will succeed in continuing to develop successful new products and product lines. Our expansion into new sectors may present competitive, distribution and regulatory challenges that differ from current ones. We may be less familiar with new product categories and may face different or additional risks, as well as increased or unexpected costs, compared to existing operations. Changes in customer and player preferences could adversely affect our results of operations. Competition in the gaming industry is intense and subject to rapid change, including changes from evolving customer and player preferences. Accordingly, our success in the gaming industry is dependent on our ability to offer attractive products to our customers and players. In the markets in which we operate, we compete with various other gaming vendors and our customers and players now have access to many other forms of recreational and leisure activities. Our participation-based revenue will depend on the appeal of our gaming offerings to our customers and players relative to our competitors. If we are not able to anticipate and react to changes in customer and player preferences, our competitive and financial position may be adversely affected. In addition, our future success will also depend on the success of the gaming industry as a whole in attracting and retaining players. Gaming may lose popularity as new leisure activities arise or as other leisure activities become more popular. Alternatively, changes in social mores and demographics could result in reduced acceptance of gaming as a leisure activity. If the popularity of gaming declines for any reason, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected. 29 Our financial success is dependent on our customers’ ability to attract and maintain players. We have a participation-driven business model, whereby a significant amount of our revenues are generated from the gaming revenue of our customers, typically as a percentage of gross revenue. Accordingly, our results of operation and financial condition have been and are expected to continue to be influenced by the ability of our customers to attract and maintain players. The ability of our customers to attract and maintain players depends on a number of factors, including player gaming preferences, marketing of our products and player perceptions of our customers. If we are unable to provide our customers with products that players find engaging or fail to perform our obligations in maintaining the products we provide to our customers, players may reduce the amount they spend with our customers, which in turn may have an adverse effect on our results of operations (see “— We may be unable to identify and develop sufficient new products and product lines and integrate them into our existing business, which may adversely affect our ability to compete; our expansion into new sectors may present competitive and regulatory challenges that differ from current ones .”). Under most of our contracts, our customers are under no obligation to market our products and therefore we are dependent on our customers in promoting our products to maintain and attract players. Failure by our customers to effectively market our products may result in decreased gaming revenue for our customers from our products, which may have an adverse effect on our results of operations. Player perception of our customers may also impact the willingness of players to engage with our customers, which in turn may have an adverse effect on our results of operation. Risks Relating to Our Status as a Public Company and Ownership of Our Common Stock We may be required to recognize impairment charges related to goodwill, identified intangible assets and property and equipment or to take write-downs or write-offs, restructuring or other charges that could have a significant negative effect on our financial condition, results of operations and stock price, which could have an adverse effect on our common stock and your investment. We are required to test goodwill and any other intangible asset with an indefinite life for possible impairment on the same date each year and on an interim basis if there are indicators of a possible impairment. We are also required to evaluate amortizable intangible assets and property and equipment for impairment if there are indicators of a possible impairment. There is significant judgment required in the analysis of a potential impairment of goodwill, identified intangible assets and property and equipment. If, as a result of a general economic slowdown, deterioration in one or more of the sectors in which we operate or impairment in our financial performance and/or future outlook, the estimated fair value of our long-lived assets decreases, we may determine that one or more of our long-lived assets is impaired. An impairment charge would be determined based on the estimated fair value of the assets and any such impairment charge could have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. Even though these charges may be non-cash items and would not have an immediate impact on our liquidity, the fact that we report charges of this nature could contribute to negative market perceptions about the Company or our securities. In addition, charges of this nature may cause us to be unable to obtain future financing on favorable terms or at all. The liquidity of the trading markets for our securities and other factors may adversely affect the price of our securities. The price of our securities may be affected by the light volume of the trading markets for our securities as well as a variety of other factors including due to general economic conditions and forecasts, our general business condition and the release of our financial reports. If our results do not meet the expectations of investors or securities analysts, the market price of our securities may decline. In addition, fluctuations in the price of our securities could contribute to the loss of all or part of your investment. Any of the factors listed below could have an adverse effect on the price of our securities, and our securities may trade at prices significantly below the price you paid for them. In such circumstances, the trading price of our securities may not recover and may experience a further decline. Factors affecting the trading price of the Company’s securities may include: ● market conditions affecting the gaming industry; ● quarterly variations in our results of operations; ● changes in government regulations; ● the announcement of acquisitions by us or our competitors; ● changes in general economic and political conditions; ● volatility in the financial markets; ● results of our operations and the operations of others in our industry; ● changes in interest rates; ● threatened or actual litigation and government investigations; ● the addition or departure of key personnel; ● actions taken by our stockholders, including the sale or disposition of their shares of our common stock; and ● differences between our actual financial and operating results and those expected by investors and analysts and changes in analysts’ recommendations or projections. Broad market and industry factors may materially harm the market price of our securities irrespective of our operating performance. The stock market in general, and NASDAQ in particular, have experienced price and volume fluctuations that have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of the particular companies affected. The trading prices and valuations of these stocks, and of our securities, may not be predictable. A loss of investor confidence in the market for retail stocks or the stocks of other companies which investors perceive to be similar to the Company could depress our stock price regardless of our business, prospects, financial condition or results of operations. A decline in the market price of our securities also could adversely affect our ability to issue additional securities and our ability to obtain additional financing in the future. Depending on the number of shares you hold and other factors, you may not be able to sell your shares at the times you prefer at desirable market prices. 30 We do not currently intend to pay dividends on our common stock. We do not currently expect to pay cash dividends on our common stock and have not paid cash dividends on our common stock to date. Any future dividend payments are within the absolute discretion of our board of directors and will depend upon, among other things, our results of operations, working capital requirements, capital expenditure requirements, financial condition, level of indebtedness, contractual restrictions with respect to payment of dividends, business opportunities, anticipated cash needs, provisions of applicable law and other factors that our board of directors may deem relevant. Our business and stock price may suffer if securities or industry analysts do not publish or cease publishing research or reports about the Company, our business, or our sector, or if they change their recommendations regarding our common stock adversely, the price and trading volume of our common stock could decline. The trading market for our common stock will be influenced by the research and reports that industry or securities analysts may publish about us, our business, our sector, or our competitors. If securities or industry analysts do not continue to cover the Company, our stock price and trading volume would likely be negatively affected. If any of the analysts who may cover the Company change their recommendation regarding our stock adversely, or provide more favorable relative recommendations about our competitors, the price of our common stock would likely decline. If any analyst who may cover the Company were to cease coverage of the Company or fail to regularly publish reports on the Company, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline. We may issue a significant number of shares of our common stock or other securities from time to time. We may issue shares of our common stock or other securities from time to time as consideration for, or to finance, future acquisitions and investments or for other capital needs. We cannot predict the size of future issuances of our shares or the effect, if any, that future sales and issuances of shares would have on the market price of our common stock. If any such acquisition or investment is significant, the number of shares of common stock or the number or aggregate principal amount, as the case may be, of other securities that we may issue may in turn be substantial and may result in additional dilution to our stockholders. We may also grant registration rights covering shares of our common stock or other securities that we may issue in connection with any such acquisitions and investments. On February 16, 2021, the company filed a registration statement pursuant to which the Company may offer and sell from time to time, in one or more series, any one of the following securities of our company, for total gross proceeds up to $300,000,000: ● common stock; ● preferred stock; ● secured or unsecured debt securities consisting of notes, debentures or other evidences of indebtedness which may be senior debt securities, senior subordinated debt securities or subordinated debt securities, each of which may be convertible into equity securities; ● warrants to purchase our securities; ● rights to purchase any of the foregoing securities; or ● units comprised of, or other combinations of, the foregoing securities. 31 Anti-takeover provisions contained in our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws, as well as provisions of Delaware law, could impair a takeover attempt. Our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws contain provisions that could have the effect of delaying or preventing changes in control or changes in our management without the consent of our board of directors. These provisions include: ● no cumulative voting in the election of directors, which limits the ability of minority stockholders to elect director candidates; ● the exclusive right of our board of directors to elect a director to fill a vacancy created by the expansion of the board of directors or the resignation, death, or removal of a director with or without cause by stockholders, which prevents stockholders from being able to fill vacancies on our board of directors; ● the ability of our board of directors to determine whether to issue shares of our preferred stock and to determine the price and other terms of those shares, including preferences and voting rights, without stockholder approval, which could be used to significantly dilute the ownership of a hostile acquirer; ● limiting the liability of, and providing indemnification to, our directors and officers; ● designating the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware as the exclusive forum for adjudication of disputes; ● controlling the procedures for the conduct and scheduling of stockholder meetings; and ● advance notice procedures that stockholders must comply with in order to nominate candidates to our board of directors or to propose matters to be acted upon at a stockholders’ meeting, which may discourage or deter a potential acquirer from conducting a solicitation of proxies to elect the acquirer’s own slate of directors or otherwise attempting to obtain control of the Company. These provisions, alone or together, could delay hostile takeovers and changes in control of the Company or changes in our board of directors and management. As a Delaware corporation, we are also subject to provisions of Delaware law, including Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which prevents some stockholders holding more than 15% of our outstanding common stock from engaging in certain business combinations without approval of the holders of substantially all of our outstanding common stock. Any provision of our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation or bylaws, or Delaware law that has the effect of delaying or deterring a change in control could limit the opportunity for our stockholders to receive a premium for their shares of our common stock and could also affect the price that some investors are willing to pay for our common stock. Risks Relating to Economic and Political Conditions Volatility or disruption in the financial markets could materially adversely affect our business and the trading price of our common stock. Our business relies on stable and efficient financial markets. Any disruption in the credit and capital markets could adversely impact our ability to obtain financing on acceptable terms. Volatility in the financial markets could also result in difficulties for financial institutions and other parties that we do business with, which could potentially affect the ability to access financing under existing arrangements. We are exposed to the impact of any global or domestic economic disruption, including any potential impact of the decision by the United Kingdom to exit the EU and the sovereign debt crises in certain Eurozone countries where we do business. Our ability to continue to fund operating expenses, capital expenditures and other cash requirements over the long term may require access to additional sources of funds, including equity and debt capital markets, and market volatility and general economic conditions may adversely affect our ability to access capital markets. In addition, the inability of our vendors to access capital and liquidity with which to maintain their inventory, production levels and product quality and to operate their businesses, or the insolvency of our vendors, could lead to their failure to deliver merchandise. If we are unable to purchase products when needed, our sales could be materially adversely affected. Accordingly, volatility or disruption in the financial markets could impair our ability to execute our growth strategy and could have an adverse effect on the trading price of our common stock. 32 Currency exchange rate fluctuations could result in lower revenues, higher costs and decreased margins and earnings. We conduct purchase and sale transactions in various currencies, which increases our exposure to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates globally. Additionally, there has been, and may continue to be, volatility in currency exchange rates as a result of the United Kingdom’s June 23, 2016 referendum in which voters approved Brexit and subsequent entry into and ratification of a withdrawal agreement as of January 29, 2020 followed by an agreement of the terms of a trade and cooperation agreement effective as of December 31, 2020. It is possible that sovereign debt crises in certain Eurozone countries could lead to the abandonment of the Euro and the reintroduction of national currencies in those countries. International revenues and expenses generally are derived from sales and operations in various foreign currencies, and these revenues and expenses could be affected by currency fluctuations, specifically amounts recorded in foreign currencies and translated into USD for consolidated financial reporting, as weakening of foreign currencies relative to the USD will adversely affect the USD value of the Company’s foreign currency-denominated sales and earnings. Currency exchange rate fluctuations could also disrupt the business of the independent manufacturers that produce our products by making their purchases of raw materials more expensive and more difficult to finance. Foreign currency fluctuations could have an adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition. We may hedge other foreign currency exposures to lessen and delay, but not to completely eliminate, the effects of foreign currency fluctuations on our financial results. Since the hedging activities are designed to lessen volatility, they not only reduce the negative impact of a stronger USD or other trading currency, but they also reduce the positive impact of a weaker USD or other trading currency. Our future financial results could be significantly affected by the value of the USD in relation to the foreign currencies in which we conduct business. The degree to which our financial results are affected for any given time period will depend in part upon our hedging activities, and there can be no assurance that our hedging activities will be effective. Global economic conditions could have an adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition. The uncertain state of the global economy continues to affect businesses around the world, most acutely in emerging markets and developing economies. If global economic and financial market conditions do not improve or deteriorate, the following factors could have an adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition: ● Slower consumer spending may result in reduced demand for our products, reduced orders from retailers for our products, order cancellations, lower revenues, higher discounts, increased inventories and lower gross margins; ● In the future, we may be unable to access financing in the credit and capital markets at reasonable rates in the event we find it desirable to do so; ● We conduct transactions in various currencies, which increases our exposure to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates relative to the USD. Continued volatility in the markets and exchange rates for foreign currencies and contracts in foreign currencies could have a significant impact on our reported operating results and financial condition; ● Continued volatility in the availability and prices for commodities and raw materials we use in our products and in our supply chain could have an adverse effect on our costs, gross margins and profitability; ● If operators or distributors of our products experience declining revenues or experience difficulty obtaining financing in the capital and credit markets to purchase our products, this could result in reduced orders for our products, order cancellations, late retailer payments, extended payment terms, higher accounts receivable, reduced cash flows, greater expense associated with collection efforts and increased bad debt expense; ● If operators or distributors of our products experience severe financial difficulty, some may become insolvent and cease business operations, which could negatively affect the sale of our products to consumers; and ● If contract manufacturers of our products or other participants in our supply chain experience difficulty obtaining financing in the capital and credit markets to purchase raw materials or to finance capital equipment and other general working capital needs, it may result in delays or non-delivery of shipments of our products. 33 International hostilities, terrorist or cyber-terrorist activities, natural disasters, pandemics, and infrastructure disruptions could prevent us from effectively serving our customers and thus adversely affect our results of operations. Acts of terrorist violence, cyber-terrorism, political unrest, armed regional and international hostilities and international responses to these hostilities, natural disasters, including hurricanes or floods, global health risks or pandemics or the threat of or perceived potential for these events could have a negative impact on us. These events could adversely affect our customers’ levels of business activity and precipitate sudden significant changes in regional and global economic conditions and cycles. These events also pose significant risks to our employees and our physical facilities and operations around the world, whether the facilities are ours or those of our third-party service providers or customers. By disrupting communications and travel and increasing the difficulty of obtaining and retaining highly skilled and qualified personnel, these events could make it difficult or impossible for us to deliver products and services to our customers. Extended disruptions of electricity, other public utilities or network services at our facilities, as well as system failures at our facilities or otherwise, could also adversely affect our ability to serve our customers. We may be unable to protect our employees, facilities and systems against all such occurrences. We generally do not have insurance for losses and interruptions caused by terrorist attacks, conflicts and wars. If these disruptions prevent us from effectively serving our customers, our results of operations could be adversely affected. We face risks and uncertainty arising from the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union. Following from the United Kingdom’s public referendum vote to exit from the European Union in June 2016, a withdrawal agreement was signed by both the United Kingdom and European Union and formally ratified as of January 29, 2020. In accordance with the terms of the agreement, the terms of a trade and cooperation agreement were agreed between officials from the European Union and United Kingdom on December 31, 2020. As with other businesses operating in the UK and Europe, the measures could potentially have corporate structural consequences, adversely affect manufacturing and other costs, adversely change tax benefits or liabilities in these or other jurisdictions and could disrupt some of the markets and jurisdictions in which we operate. In addition, Brexit could lead to legal uncertainty and potentially divergent national laws and regulations as the United Kingdom determines which European Union laws to replace or replicate. In addition, the announcement of Brexit has caused significant volatility in global stock markets and currency exchange rate fluctuations, including the strengthening of the USD against some foreign currencies, and the Brexit negotiations may continue to cause significant volatility. The outcomes of these provisional and further trade deal negotiations also may create global economic uncertainty, which may cause customers and potential customers to monitor their costs and reduce their budgets for products and services. Any of these effects of Brexit, among others, could materially adversely affect the business, business opportunities, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows of our Company. ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS. None. 34