On Time, Every Time
Since the company’s official launch at ICE London, Playnetic has been hiring, innovating and, above all else, listening. Julian Borg-Barthet, Chief Commercial Officer, sits down with G3 Media at iGB L!VE, to discuss what he’s hearing from operators and the gap Playnetic’s identified in the iGaming industry.
Why did you choose to join Playnetic?
When I first met with the team, it was immediately clear that there was a fantastic concept on the table, with a lot of freedom to produce innovative games without the creative road blockers some companies have.
We already have a significant enough portfolio and pipeline of games where we can pick and choose what customers and markets best fit the games we have. This means we can be selective and use a data-driven approach to decide which games we launch in each market.
Whilst we have the capacity to launch numerous games a month just like other providers, what we’re doing differently is listening. Listening to what do our customers actually want, and what their target customer and market is looking for. We take a deep dive approach to ensuring we’re only delivering what our customers actually need.
We might only have one or two games upcoming in any month that we think will resonate with players in a certain market, and casino customers can choose to take the lot or just the titles we collaboratively believe are going to work for what they’re trying to achieve. We don’t want a reputation of hard sales and dumping games to see if they stick.
Since Playnetic began operations with a large portfolio, we already have enough games to focus on our USP centred around what individual clients are looking for and delivering on that. In my first foray into selling games, I was learning as much as I was doing. Moving to Playnetic, I brought what I knew to a more ambitious project. What I learnt in my previous role was that a lot of providers were missing deadlines. For example, an April 30 release would be delayed a few days before release. Playnetic’s approach is that we’ve got enough content, we’ve got capacity, so we’re going to put two to three months’ worth of games on the shelf that are already certified, translated, and the marketing assets are done. Casino managers will demo these two, three, even four months before release. When it comes to the April 30 release date, it’s guaranteed the game is being released on time, every time.
Once we agreed internally that was to be our USP and told new and potential customers about our approach, we started to receive more and more confirmation that this is what was missing across the industry, and that a trusted partner is what they were looking for. The fact that other providers are missing deadlines is no surprise really because there is so much demand for more games, providers are taking capacity to the absolute limit. But it isn’t sustainable, and it isn’t good business. Operators see Playnetic as a refreshing change. We can fill that gap and make it work long term.
Are the internal studios differentiated by product verticals or focused on different markets? Are they competing with one another or are they complementary?
That’s a good question. We have different talents spread across studios. We have our more premium games content that produces game changing titles, seasonal content and titles we want to push the boundaries with. Then you have games that aren’t that far out of the box creatively. This enables us to approach a tier one casino and offer something different and exclusive tailored for key markets. We’re trying to make our mark in the industry. We don’t have tried and tested games yet, but we have experienced studio staff that brings years of building headline games to the industry, as well as having tried and failed in many markets. That’s important that we have people that have been out there with a success rate under the belt as well as an understanding of what doesn’t work. We’ve hired top tier management talent and built underneath with the same mindset.
What’s your role within that structure?
My role is purely from a commercial perspective. As Chief Commercial Officer and one of the first members to join the company, I had taken on certain aspects of an operational role as we transitioned and continued to hire.
In my department alone, I’ve got a fantastic team underneath me, including our Director of Sales, Chris Loftus, Head of Analytics, Cyrus Moreno, and Head of Account Management, Antonio Kenneth Moreno. We are expanding the team as we speak, especially as we go live next month, but we’ve got a great baseline.
We have contacts across the entire industry worldwide, so it’s easy to pick up the phone but harder when you’re a startup that is presenting something new. The good news is we have something to show. Our sales roadmap is already filling quickly, we have over 100 experienced employees, and a CEO in Dan Phillips that is a well-known figure in the industry and a fantastic leader for our business: with his vast experience he is really able to steer our ship in this ambitious direction.
