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Celebrating six months of outstanding success: Interview with CEO Ivan Kravchuk

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Slot studio Evoplay has gone from strength to strength over the past six months with some fantastic new titles as well as celebrating its debut across MGA markets.

Ready for the World Cup and an exciting few months ahead for the company, we sat down with Evoplay CEO Ivan Kravchuk to talk through their CEE team’s perseverance, as well as overcoming the challenges that have made the studio such a standout brand today.  

Evoplay has performed fantastically so far this year expanding into multiple new markets – despite the challenges faced in Eastern Europe and Ukraine for your team, how have your team persevered?

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The beginning of the war wasn’t an easy time for us and our team, but we managed to overcome the difficulties and continue our story as an outstanding provider of some really fantastic games. In order to do that, we really needed to summon a lot of resources in order to quickly adapt our operations to quickly and ensure the safety of our employees.

Our people are what we value the most, and that is why our first measures were focused on relocating employees to a safe place. As part of our contingency plans, we relocated 15% of our staff to our main office in Cyprus, and opened a new office in a safer area part of the country – in Lviv, the west of Ukraine. Accommodation, transfer, and any other support were our main priorities as we wanted to provide our people with a helping hand at this difficult time.

I am very proud to work with such compassionate and courageous people as from the first days of the war, they have participated in many volunteering activities, and I believe we as a country will return from this stronger than ever.

 

Following on from an outstanding year of success in 2021, which saw you awarded with SBC Leader of the Year as well as the launch of Star Guardians, how has Evoplay built on its momentum during the first six months of this year?

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Star Guardians was presented to the iGaming industry at the end of 2021, so the first half of 2022 was also focused around entertaining players around the world with the release, with the futuristic title snagging two awards at this year’s CasinoBeats Game Developer Awards. As a revolutionary product, it’s received sos much positive attention not only from players and casino providers but also from our team. I should also mention Star Guardian’s artbook and comic book – which were both released this year – have become an unprecedented offering in the industry, and a fan favourite

Of course, Evoplay never wants to rest on its success, we have an ‘eternal engine’ which keeps pushing us to create something new, investing in innovations that other developers are afraid of. During the half-year period, we launched 12 products, supercharging our titles with Bonus Buy, Jackpot, and other gamified features that challenge the traditional concept of gaming. To illustrate this, our April release Goblin Run is an industry-first crash game that turns gameplay on its head to offer something fresh. We totally deviated from the classic crash-style game scenario, creating a fully-fledged storyline with a protagonist, antagonist, an opportunity to change skins, all played out with a very the impressive range of settings for a 3D game.

2022 has also been marked by entering into new partnerships with outstanding representatives of the iGaming business, while we also received a letter of recognition from the MGA and Italian certification for our 62 titles.

 

Looking to gaming trends – what’s in demand from players right now? What kind of gaming experiences are players looking for now that we’re truly post-pandemic?

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More traditional demographics still choose retro-styled slots, while new generations are thirsty for unconventional products and immersive gameplay. At the same time, even retro games fans can find a fresh gaming experience and innovation with retro slots – if they offer something new. That is why we take a new look at classic slots and reconceptualise them with additional features such as multiplayer modes, Bonus Buy, jackpots, etc.

I’m very proud of our team and I believe Evoplay’s uniqueness lies in its ability to deliver excellent, high-quality products for both categories. One of our most commercially successful games is Fruit Super Nova which delivers an old-school ambiance, while Star Guardians offers futuristic take, and both of these are spectacular examples of our diverse product offering. That, I believe is what is key to catering to player demand right now – it’s all about multiple themes that can engage and excite.

 

With the World Cup on the horizon, we no doubt expect Instant Games to again perform strongly with sports fans looking for additional entertainment. How is Evoplay looking to capitalise on this, given your heritage for Instant Games?

We are well-prepared for the World Cup as we already have an exciting package of titles dedicated to football on our teamsheet, all with a host of exciting features available that we’ve created to wow fans! Currently, we’re working on a new sports-themed title, which is set to win the audience of bettors and instant games fans who have always been our focus of interest. Not to give too much away, suffice to say, it will be a game delivering a multiplayer experience and a completely new level of betting excitement. We see it as the next all-time hit in the vertical of sports-themed games and we’re looking forward to seeing what sports fans make of it.

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Last but not least, one for our readers – with Star Guardians still proving to be a one-of-a-kind hit with players – what’s up next for Evoplay’s next flagship game?

Our current flagship game, Star Guardians, is still among ours and ours players’ favourites, so we keep giving it attention, fleshing out its promotional activities and enhancing the gameplay in real-time with user feedback. It’s a launch that has meant to us, and we’re here to keep evolving the game to entertain players even more.

On to the next big news, I’m sure plenty will be delighted to hear that our team has already started developing a conceptual idea for our next flagship game, and we can’t wait to see the result, so stay tuned! We also have several ambitious games in the pipeline, aimed at targeting a real variety of players. One of our primary goals is to extend our audience reach with sports bettors and Esports fans, as we know exactly what kind of exciting fast-action gameplay they’re looking for, being players ourselves. Our job is now to create that for the gaming world!

 

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Eastern Europe

Totogaming Joins Cernica Pantelimon RunFest: Not Just Present, But Fully Participating

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“We weren’t just present — we were participants of Runfest. And that’s one of the most important aspects,” said Artak Ashkhatoyan, Deputy CEO of Totogaming.

On July 6, Totogaming joined the Cernica Pantelimon Runfest in Romania, once again emphasizing the importance of promoting amateur sports and a healthy lifestyle.

“Supporting such initiatives is a priority for TotoGaming. First, 50% of the proceeds from RunFest will be donated to the CLOVES Romania Foundation, supporting children affected by CLOVES Syndrome. And second, we’ve always believed in showing our passion for sports through actions, not just words. Have you noticed how we’re constantly rushing through life, yet when we look back, it often feels like we haven’t moved at all? It’s important for us to lead by example and show the importance of participation. This is exactly the message we’re promoting through our team’s active involvement in the marathon. After all, there can never be too much sport in our lives,” said TotoGaming’s Deputy CEO, Artak Ashkhatoyan.

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A Simple Concept, a Powerful Impact

The concept of this sports event is straightforward: choose a distance between 1 to 21 kilometers and run. The goal? Make sport an integral part of everyday life. The crowd certainly embraced that, gathering as early as 8:30 a.m. — on a Sunday morning.

Totogaming contributed in two distinct capacities: as an official sponsor and as an active participant. A dedicated team of 13 employees represented the company at the Cernica Pantelimon RunFest, with 7 of them proudly taking part as runners.

More Than Just a Run

It wasn’t an easy challenge — especially because among Totogaming’s runners were people for whom running isn’t a daily habit, or even part of their life at all. Yet they couldn’t miss the opportunity, not least from the perspective of corporate responsibility.

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“We just finished the 7.5-kilometer race!” shared Petrut-Adrian Toea from the Totogaming team.

“It was amazing, honestly. Around the 2-kilometer mark, I had this little battle with myself — I told myself I had to finish the race, no matter what. And I did it! I came in around 60th place out of over 100 runners, which for me is a really good result.”

“I see my participation as a small contribution toward promoting a healthy lifestyle. In my close circle, everyone knows I’m not exactly the sporty type. I’m not athletic, and I usually prefer having fun in other ways. But showing up here, early in the morning, in this intense heat, and completing almost 8 kilometers with just one short break — I think it set a good example.”

“I hope seeing someone like me finish this challenge motivates my friends to try something similar for their own health. I believe that’s a meaningful contribution”, – added Petrut-Andrea.

Totogaming also made it possible for every attendee to bring sport into their lives — quite literally. At the Totogaming tent, participants could ride stationary bikes and receive prizes based on the number of points they earned through their efforts.

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Whether they were running, cycling, or simply cheering for friends, the goal for everyone was the same: to reach the destination of champions — by bringing sport into everyday life.

The post Totogaming Joins Cernica Pantelimon RunFest: Not Just Present, But Fully Participating appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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Africa

QTech Games hires Ekaterina Mayorova as sales lead for Africa & Eastern Europe

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Leading distributor for emerging markets announces the appointment of its new business lead to drive African sales

QTech Games, the leading game aggregator for all emerging markets, has appointed Ekaterina Mayorova to the new role of Sales & Account Manager for Africa & Eastern Europe, as it bids to consolidate its existing presence across Europe and, in particular, drive new revenue streams across Africa’s evolving landscape.

Ekaterina arrives at QTech Games after successful stints at Trustly and, most recently, PandaScore where she respectively proved herself in both account management and senior business development roles. Now Ekaterina brings those talents to bear at the industry’s leading aggregator for developing markets, where she will be responsible for managing QTech’s existing partners in Africa and Eastern Europe – spearheading that progressive expansion into Africa’s diverse patchwork quilt of territories.

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QTech Games CEO, Philip Doftvik, said: “We’re delighted to now have Ekaterina at QTech Games where she has hit the ground running and proved herself a quick study. Her extensive experience and network in our targeted territories is already serving us well, especially as we broaden our existing influence across Africa.

“She’ll be a true asset to both QTech and all our clients, as we grow in Africa to make it a substantial part of our total revenue mix. We have high growth hopes for the region in the coming years and we want to dominate by building a strong brand in the region.”

Ekaterina Mayorova added: “I’m thrilled to be underway at QTech Games, a company with the most customizable content suite and focus on emerging markets. Beyond that, I’ve already found a cohesive and collaborative structure with an organisational culture to match – I think the team is fantastic!

“Having worked across iGaming, esports, and fintech, I’m thrilled to take on this new opportunity—bringing innovative gaming solutions to some of the most dynamic and fast-growing markets. Africa holds a special place in my career journey, and I’m looking forward to deepening partnerships, driving growth, and collaborating with forward-thinking operators and platforms in the region.”

QTech Hybrid – join Ekaterina and the team in Ghana to find out more!
QTech Hybrid will next be showcased at the upcoming SBWA+ show in Ghana in August, where QTech Games delegates will be on site to unpack its breakout technology and salient applications for joining up the retail and digital-mobile experience.

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QTech Hybrid is a software service that joins up QTech Games’ AI-powered casino lobby (a leading game-personalisation engine known as QTech Play) to a land-based (retail) management system and a state-of-the-art integrated AMS (Agent Management System) to manage both retail outlets and agents. This allows operators to scale their brick-and-mortar operation online. QTech Hybrid simplifies transactions by enabling deposits, withdrawals, and gameplay while allowing access to players both in-store and on personal devices.

For the player, the net result is that they can now enjoy all the games from the comfort of their own home, or on the move. For the operator, there is no need for expensive terminals, as QTech Hybrid runs on cost-effective computers/tablets. In short, it’s ideal for operators looking to extend their reach across multiple platforms, providing the flexibility to operate both land-based and online through the AMS.

The post QTech Games hires Ekaterina Mayorova as sales lead for Africa & Eastern Europe appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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Eastern Europe

GGBET UA became the title sponsor of FC Dynamo Kyiv

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The partnership was announced on 25 June at the Dynamo 3.0 media event held in Kyiv, Ukraine. GG.BET is the first betting brand in the club’s history to be given title sponsor status. 

Kyiv was the venue of a press conference with the leadership of UPL team FC Dynamo, who were celebrating another special occasion: 30 titles in the club’s history. CEO Dmytro Brif, team captain Vitaliy Buyalskyi, and midfielders Oleksandr Karavayev and Andriy Yarmolenko spoke about their journey to this latest achievement and future plans for the football club.

At the event, they presented a new title sponsor: the GGBET UA will be a partner of FC Dynamo Kyiv for three years. Plans include continuing to bring the fans and the team closer together, opening up new sides of Dynamo to supporters through joint projects, custom content, and special offers.

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During the announcement, GGBET UA CEO Sergii Mishchenko revealed the symbolism of the name: “Dynamo 3.0 isn’t just about the thirty titles, although of course this is a momentous and historic event. It’s also about a new era for Dynamo and GGBET UA. It’s a totally new level of collaboration, with a status that no betting company has ever been awarded by the Kyiv club, and involving lots of time and possibilities for carrying out special projects. For us, this is an opportunity to work even more closely with football fans, to increase brand awareness, and to achieve both our own business objectives and those we can work towards with the club. So, I’m confident that during three years of collaboration, we’ll be able to impress both our users and Dynamo fans”.

”Keeping the bar high and working with the best – that’s the dream of every club. This is a very inspiring period for Dynamo. We have thirty incredible successes under our belt. We’re entering the new season as reigning champions. We’re being supported by a partner who can significantly boost our media presence and help us to organize a range of activities that will surprise even the most demanding football fans. We’ll do everything we can to make sure that this season, the quality of our football and the ideas we embody with GGBET UA shine as brightly as the stars on our new emblem,” commented FC Dynamo’s CEO Dmytro Brif.

Previously, GGBET UA had been the official sponsor of FC Dynamo Kyiv for European cup matches, as well as the sponsor of its winter training camp in Turkey.

The post GGBET UA became the title sponsor of FC Dynamo Kyiv appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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