Julian Borg-Barthet, Chief Commercial Officer of Playnetic, shares insights about strategy during the SBC Summit Rio, a major sports betting and iGaming event in Brazil.
What were the main products or services you saw at this first edition of SBC Summit Rio?
The Summit showcased an array of brilliant products, with a large variety of prominent names and new brands displaying what they have to offer. It was a really well-planned and well-executed event, and it was great to see how vibrant this marketplace is.
It’s hard to identify just one product when there were so many amazing things on offer, but one of the standout themes were crash games. During my time there, I could see just how popular these were and how they seem to resonate with players across Brazil.
What are your company’s expansion plans in the Brazilian market?
We’re certainly on the cards and it forms part of our overall strategy. We believe the Brazilian market represents a massive opportunity for the iGaming industry and for Playnetic. The market is new, and it definitely pays to show some patience and proceed with a level of consideration, however it’s one we believe we have the resources to be successful in.
What opportunities for collaboration or partnership emerged among the companies present at the event?
I had the chance to meet so many interesting people and brands, and we had some great preliminary discussions with a number of localised brands. Of course, I can’t mention names just yet, as we’re still very much in the planning process ourselves but with the market showing so much promise and the initial talks having gone well, we’re seriously considering our options.
From a game development point of view, further analysis of the market is needed, and we want to delve into what players are really interested in. As with any market, we want to fully understand the market and player demographics, and this will be an ongoing process with continual development and improvement.
At Playnetic, we have three in-house game studios so we’re in the fortunate position where we have the flexibility to create unique games for our clients, and the capacity to create games from scratch with unique mechanics. This makes us an ideal partner for not just Brazilian operators, but also for those operating in any market.
What is your vision for the future of iGaming in the Brazilian market?
The Brazilian market holds a lot of potential and the passion for iGaming is evident. The market is just starting to be regulated, so it’s early days to understand performance and value. But what’s clear to see is that the Brazilian gambling market is incredibly exciting and certainly primed to generate a lot of interest and also revenue. It’s been estimated that in the next three years, the Brazilian sports betting and online casino market could bring in more than $200 million.
What are the next trade shows you are planning to attend?
As a new player in the market our objective is it raise the Playnetic profile and really establish ourselves in this competitive industry of ours. Therefore, we’re trying to focus on the premier events in the iGaming calendar. We’ll be at a number of SBC shows, as well as SIGMA, iGB, iGaming NEXT, iGaming Club in Spain and G2E amongst others. We’ll be hosting a large stand at the SBC Summit where customers will be able to get their hands on our fantastic portfolio of games, so if any readers are in Lisbon in September, be sure to stop by and say hello!
