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Pariplay appoints Joey Hurtado as new Managing Director of Games

Published

5 years ago

September 15, 2021

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Aspire Global’s Pariplay Ltd, the leading aggregator and content provider, has announced that Joey Hurtado has been appointed as Managing Director of its Games division.

Experienced iGaming professional Hurtado, who has spent the last two years as Head of Product Operations at Gamesys, is tasked with leading the strategic development of Pariplay’s in-house games studio and proprietary content, with a strong emphasis on empowering this division as a distinctive business unit and delivering greater value to the company’s partners.

Hurtado’s decade spent in the industry also includes roles at 888 Holdings, Unibet Group, GVC and Betsson, where he was Managing Director of operator brands including Casino Euro, Norges Automaten and Suomiarvat.

He joins Pariplay at an exciting juncture in the company’s development, as it continues to make major inroads into regulated markets globally. In recent months, Pariplay has enhanced its Fusion platform by adding titles from a wide range of studios, signed deals to add its proprietary games to new platforms worldwide and gained supplier licences for Greece and West Virginia.

Pariplay’s proprietary portfolio of slots includes a wide range of 120+ innovative and entertaining titles, with 25 new games added in the last year amid strong, steady increases in revenue. Pariplay has invested heavily in licensing and jurisdictional compliance as a competitive edge, enabling the company’s games portfolio to go live in new markets easily and more quickly than ever before.

Pariplay games are now live and certified for more than 15 regulated jurisdictions, including: New Jersey, UK, Spain, Colombia, Sweden, Bulgaria, Italy, Portugal, Denmark, Romania, Switzerland and Germany. The company also holds B2B licenses in New Jersey, West Virginia, UK, Malta, Gibraltar, Romania and Greece.

Joey Hurtado, Managing Director of Gaming at Pariplay, said: “It is a privilege to be joining a company with a well-earned reputation for excellence in both aggregation and the production of its own high-quality in-house content. My goal now is to use my own industry experience to drive forward Pariplay’s games development strategy so that we can put our titles in front of as many eyes as possible around the world.”

Adrian Bailey, Managing Director at Pariplay, said: “Joey brings the sort of experience and deep industry knowledge that will prove invaluable as we implement our growth strategy for proprietary games content. I look forward to working together as we continue to make rapid progress in an ever-increasing number of regulated markets.”

Alona Shevtsova

Sends CEO Alona Shevtsova moderates Global Gaming Expansion panel in Riyadh

Published

5 hours ago

June 25, 2026

Wladimir P.

sends-ceo-alona-shevtsova-moderates-global-gaming-expansion-panel-in-riyadh

Alona Shevtsova, CEO of Sends, will moderate a panel at The Blockchain show on 29^th June, bringing together experts from entertainment, location-based gaming, and content localisation to examine what it takes to build sustainable gaming ecosystems across emerging markets.

The panel, titled “Global Gaming Expansion: Lessons from Untapped Markets,” will structure its discussion across four themes: the growth dynamics reshaping emerging gaming markets; the role of localisation in creating experiences that genuinely connect with new audiences; the infrastructure and communities needed to build gaming ecosystems beyond the game itself; and the lessons and opportunities that will define successful expansion in the years ahead.

Alona Shevtsova plans to frame the discussion around the central challenge for companies looking to expand globally: entering a new market requires far more than bringing an existing product to a new audience. Understanding local cultures, building communities, adapting experiences, and creating ecosystems that allow gaming to grow sustainably are all as important as the product itself.

Alona Shevtsova, CEO of Sends, said:

“The future growth of gaming will come not only from new technologies, but from understanding people — their cultures, communities, and the experiences they want to be part of. Successful expansion will belong to those who can combine global ambition with local understanding.”

The first segment will examine why regions including the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia are becoming increasingly significant for developers, operators, and investors — driven by young audiences, accelerating digital adoption, and new entertainment models creating substantial growth potential. Panellists will explore how consumer preferences differ across markets and what trends among younger audiences are shaping the future of gaming and entertainment.

The third segment will broaden the lens beyond the game itself, exploring the role of location-based entertainment, gaming centres, esports, and experiential destinations in attracting new audiences and building long-term communities. Panellists plan to address how entertainment ecosystems — spanning physical venues, events, and community infrastructure — accelerate gaming adoption in markets where the category is still establishing itself.

Earlier this month, Alona Shevtsova was shortlisted for the 2026 Great British Entrepreneur Awards in the Established Business of the Year category. Her team is also preparing for the Fintech Connect conference in London later this year. Sends will be a leading sponsor of this event.

*Sends is a trade name of SMARTFLOW PAYMENTS LIMITED, registered in England and Wales (Company No.11070048). For more information, visit sends.co .

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