Digitain

The casino and sports betting platform provider has recruited Simon Westbury as its head of international business development, bringing a wealth of experience to the role.

Expressing delight to be joining the firm as well as excitement at “ambitious expansion plans,” Westbury’s most recent role was as CCO of VSoftCo where he was responsible for growing the firm’s customer base, strengthening relationships with partners and elevating the brand to become a stand-alone leading supplier within the virtual sports space. 

Suren Khachatryan, CCO at Digitain, said of the appointment: “His proven ability to work with a wide range of commercial stakeholders, as well as his deep understanding of global markets, makes him a perfect fit for us. I’m very confident that he will play a major role in helping us achieve our growth targets and contribute to our success for many years to come.” 

Svenska Spel

Eva Stoppel is to take up the role of CFO at Swedish state-owned gambling operator Svenska Spel, and will formally assume the position on Sunday September 1, 2019.

Forming a part of group management and reporting to the CEO, Stoppel joins from Swedbank after a long career in the Bonnier Group that included being investment director at Bonnier AB, and CFO of Bonnier News, Daily News and Scribona Sverige.

Patrik Hofbauer, president and CEO at Svenska Spel, commented: “I am very happy to welcome Eva Stoppel to Svenska Spel. In addition to her extensive experience as CFO she has valuable expertise in business development and change management. 

“She also has knowledge of digital transformation, something that will be a great asset for us. With Eva, we get a CFO who has all these key elements and who also knows how it is to work in regulated and highly competitive industries”

Of the appointment Stoppel added: “I am very pleased to be entrusted with responsibility for the finance and business support function for Svenska Spel. I hope to contribute with my experience in charge of management and digital transformation in other competitive industries”

Helio Gaming

Lottery games provider Helio Gaming has strengthened its operational arm, with the appointment of Keith Galea as chief operating officer.

Bringing a “demonstrable track record of operational success,” Galea joins Helio from Bit8 where he occupied the chief product officer position, but despite the new role will maintain his position of managing director at his consultancy firm Consult Labs.

Richard Mifsud, CEO at Helio Gaming, stated: “We’re delighted to announce the appointment of Keith as COO. Having invested in Helio Gaming, he understands how we work, and the experience he offers will take us to the next level.

“The addition of Keith will play a major role in helping us achieve our growth targets, and be an important member of the team for many years to come.

Okto Group

Okto Group, the financial technology provider, has appointed Simon Dorsen as director of gaming as it strives to consolidate its presence and drive its growth in the industry.

Set to be supported by “a growing team of gaming experts,” Dorsen joins as the firm sets a vision to gamify the payment experience, and establishing Okto “as the true player’s wallet”.

Filippos Antonopoulos, co-founder of Okto, said of the appointment: “Simon is an industry veteran with a gamer’s heart and the entrepreneurial spirit to drive growth and positive disruption in our industry. We welcome him with delight.

“We have been tailoring our market-leading payments and financial ecosystem to the gaming industry to provide a full-service payments and fintech model. Simon’s proven ability across a wide range of well-known gaming suppliers and operators, as well as his deep understanding of the technology behind it, makes him a perfect fit.

“I firmly believe that he will play a major role in successfully growing our gaming business.”

Bringing 16 years experience across the gaming and payment sectors, Dorsen has previously held senior roles with Trustly, GTech and IGT, where he is credited with establishing the company’s first omni-channel sales team.

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VSoftCo offers a wide selection of virtual sports products for retail and online customers , including the popular virtual football game Fantastic League.

The deal is Pragmatic Play’s second significant acquisition, after purchasing live casino provider Extreme Live Gaming from Novomatic Group last year for an undisclosed sum.

Yossi Barzely, chief business development officer at Pragmatic Play, said: “We are very pleased to have completed this acquisition, an agreement that broadens our multi-product strategy and underlines our position as one of the igaming industry’s premier and most forward-thinking providers.

“VSoftCo’s premier suite of virtual sports content speaks for itself, delivering a hugely popular array of products to operators all over the world, and we look forward to enhancing our offering to operators with their games and expertise via one single API.”

The VSoftCo deal continues a period of intense growth for Pragmatic Play, with the developer’s casino content having recently gone live in Sweden‘s re-launched regulated igaming market. Games from the supplier are now available to licensed operators in the country and already live with leading brands such as PokerStars and Svenska Spel.

Pragmatic has seen significant growth in regulated markets in recent times, signing content deals with operators including PokerStars, Kindred Group, Casumo and ComeOn, while it was also granted a B2B supplier licence in Gibraltar in November.

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The newly-built studio will be fully licensed to offer both online and land-based operators a number of fully compliant products from Pragmatic Play.

Yossi Barzely, Chief Business Development Officer at Pragmatic Play, commented: “We are pleased to have been granted this licence to operate our cutting-edge studio, an important step as we build the industry’s first-choice live casino solution.

“It features a solid and reliable platform, the most advanced technology and an artistic, cinematic approach, all managed by a team of professionals with extensive experience in the field.

“Pragmatic Play’s Live Casino vertical is a new landmark for our company. We enter this extremely competitive market with an outstanding multi-channel solution that gives us every confidence we can reach and surpass the highest industry standards.”

The new licence is yet another addition to the series of milestone commercial agreements in a number of regulated markets brokered by Pragmatic Play in the last 12 months. The content provider has established new partnerships with operators including PokerStars, Kindred and Casumo.

The new casino studio will offer players a wide array of Pragmatic Play’s games such as Live Roulette, Live Blackjack and Live Baccarat, with the popular Live Speed Roulette, Live Auto Roulette and Live Baccarat Super Six already on the roadmap.  

Pragmatic Play has recently strengthened  ts multi-product approach, following the acquisition of virtual sports supplier VSoftCo in January 2019.

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Under the terms of the new deal, the inclusion of video slots Wolf Gold, Chilli Heat and Mustang Gold are to be rolled out on further brands, following the launch of the first brand on its proprietary multi brand platform, operating under the collective name ‘Brands of Leo.’

“We are delighted to have boosted our offering with the addition of Pragmatic Play’s games to brands such as Pinkcasino.co.uk, 21.co.uk and BetUK.com,” stated James Ford, head of casino at LeoVegas.

Pragmatic Play recently strengthened its multi-product approach in January 2019, after completing the acquisition of specialist virtual sports supplier VSoftCo.

Melissa Summerfield, chief commercial officer at Pragmatic Play, added: “This agreement marks a big step in the right direction for us as we continue to bring defining experiences to players.

“We hope to continue to enjoy a long and rewarding relationship with LeoVegas as we continue to outperform the competition.”

CasinoBeats recently spoke to Yossi Barzely, Pragmatic Play’s chief business development officer, who addressed recent acquisitions and the importance of developing a multi-product strategy: “The industry has perceived us as a slot provider, and this is the first show (ICE London) where we have actually put that multi-product message out there.

“Thus, we have acquired Extreme Live Gaming, and we’ve developed our UK studio and built a new one, so we had to upgrade to new state of the art technology dealers. Now we added bingo and we have just acquired VSoftCo, a virtual sports developer.

“Why did we do this? First, to add variety and diversification for the operators and for the players. The slots have been popular with them for years, and our USP there is that we provide everything by a single API. So now that they already have the slots up and running, it’s easy to add live casino, just a switch and nothing else is needed.”

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This began with last year’s purchase of Extreme Live Gaming from Novomatic, enabling the Malta-based online gaming company to announce the launch of live casino products last
month.

In late January, Pragmatic followed this up with the acquisition of virtual sports supplier
VSoftCo, about which the company’s chief business development officer Yossi Barzely stated: “This broadens our multi-product strategy and underlines our position as one of the igaming industry’s premier and most forward-thinking providers”.

Addressing strategy, which has become of integral importance to the company, Barzely
explained: “The industry has perceived us as a slot provider, and this is the first show (ICE
London) where we have actually put that multi-product message out there.

“Thus, we have acquired Extreme Live Gaming, and we’ve developed our UK studio and built a new one, so we had to upgrade to new state of the art technology dealers. Now we added bingo and we have just acquired VSoftCo, a virtual sports developer.

“Why did we do this? First, to add variety and diversification for the operators and for the
players. The slots have been popular with them for years, and our USP there is that we
provide everything by a single API. So now that they already have the slots up and running, it’s easy to add live casino, just a switch and nothing else is needed.”

“We feel we get a competitive edge, now that we are live in 15 regulated markets”

Further strategic moves have seen Pragmatic embark on expansion across Europe,
including Sweden’s re-regulated entry, which began on the first day of this year.

Regarding operations within European jurisdictions, there’s an ever-increasing emphasis
placed upon regulations. Barzely stated: “I think it’s great that the more regulated [the
industry becomes], the more I enjoy my life, because, for us, regulation is very important. It has to do with player protection and responsible gambling.

“Moreover, it comes with a price, it’s not cheap to work with the developers and the test labs, and not all providers have either the available resources to comply, or the vision of how important it is to do so. And for us, we feel we get a competitive edge, now that we are live in 15 regulated markets.”

Despite the expansion into a new verticals, slots still remain a key part of Pragmatic Play’s
portfolio, with Barzely sharing insights into what 2019 could hold for the market: “I think in
general, every day you see a new provider come to market, which is fine. It’s about consistency, you need to provide a good product and great service, and then you are going to be OK,” he said.

“If it comes with poor service, then the product fails to bring value”

“It doesn’t matter what everybody else is doing. It’s nice to look at your competition, you can get inspired by it. But at the end of the day, it’s not just about the other providers, but also about our clients. The operators listen to their feedback and learn how to improve their
products and services. This is the key, not what everybody else is doing.”

Adding: “It’s not just about having the product. I mean the product is the core, for sure, but it doesn’t matter if you have the best product in the world, if it comes with poor service, then the product fails to bring value.”

To conclude, Barzely stressed that this is just the beginning for Pragmatic Play, and that the
company could well be one to watch during the upcoming twelve months: “2019 is going to
be a very interesting year for us, because we have gained a lot of knowledge and expertise
over the years. I think it’s going to be very interesting to see how this year will unfold. This is definitely a truly exciting time.”

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Under the terms of the deal Pragmatic’s suite of content is now available for the operator, allowing its consumers to gain access to titles including Great Rhino, Da Vinci’s Treasure and the multi-award-winning Wolf Gold.

Jonas Nygren, head of casino at Svenska Spel Sport & Casino, explained delight at the new deal: “Pragmatic Play has a portfolio of high quality, innovative games, and we are delighted to offer these products to our customers.

“We are looking forward to a successful and exciting partnership going forward.”

Marking the first year that the state operator can offer casino games, this deal makes Pragmatic “one of the first providers to roll out its slot games with Svenska Spel”.

Melissa Summerfield, chief commercial officer at Pragmatic Play, praised the organisation’s most recent deal, following a successful 12 months of expansion alongside the like of PokerStars and Kindred: “We are looking to continue with the commercial momentum we generated in 2018, and to cooperate with such a reputable operator in a regulated market is exciting for us.

“Swedish players are renowned for enjoying engaging, entertaining slots, and we look forward to supplying Svenska Spel Sport & Casino with content their players will love.”

This follows a further strand of expansion made by Pragmatic, as the company extended its portfolio with the acquisition of virtual sports supplier VSoftCo.

The deal is Pragmatic Play’s second significant acquisition, after purchasing live casino provider Extreme Live Gaming from Novomatic Group last year for an undisclosed sum.

Yossi Barzely, chief business development officer at Pragmatic Play, said: “We are very pleased to have completed this acquisition, an agreement that broadens our multi-product strategy and underlines our position as one of the igaming industry’s premier and most forward-thinking providers.

“VSoftCo’s premier suite of virtual sports content speaks for itself, delivering a hugely popular array of products to operators all over the world, and we look forward to enhancing our offering to operators with their games and expertise via one single API.”

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Under the terms of the deal Wazdan content, including video poker, table games and more than 100 video slots such as Wild Guns and Dracula’s Castle, are to be made available to Twelve40’s partners.

Nigel Renouf, business development director at Twelve40, commented: “Elevating the services that we offer to our platform partners is a key consideration for Twelve40, and bringing on board Wazdan’s premium collection of top performing slot titles and casino games is a big step in the right direction.

“We have been impressed by the consistency and quality of their delivery, and we look forward to enjoying a long and productive relationship.”

The partnership is to also see Twelve40 provided with access to Wazdan’s portfolio of added value video slot features, including Volatility Level, Double Screen Mode, Unique Gamble Feature and Energy Saving Mode.

Lauryn Duncan, sales and business development manager at Wazdan, said: “We are delighted to be bringing our growing collection of engaging video slots to Twelve40’s partners, a real marker of our progress as we grow our global footprint.

“With a perfect combination of entertaining themes and exhilarating bonus features, they are sure to boost acquisition and retention in markets all over the world.”

This latest agreement continues the extension of Twelve40’s platform, having recently integrated Spiffx sports betting games and VSoftCo virtuals.

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