The Play’n GO model is to be an “entertainment first” company according to the igaming suppliers North American Business Lead, Saam Hafezi.
Hafezi offered these insights when he appeared on an episode of the Gaming News Canada show, recorded at the Canadian Gaming Summit, alongside Play’n GO’s Head of Government Affairs, Shawn Fluharty.
Hafezi said: “Our story is as an entertainment-first company. We are a slot content creator. but our goal and mission is to maximise entertainment value for the end users and players. I think in this B2B side of the business sometimes it’s forgotten that at the end of the day, we need to make sure that the players are entertained and having fun.”
He added that another goal of the company is to be in every regulated market and Play’n GO moved closer to that aim when it recently signed an agreement with Loto-Québec to distribute its titles in the province.
Hafezi said that the deal “just made sense for us” as Loto-Québec is the market leader in Québec and offers games “in a responsible manner”.
Play’n GO supplies online slots to operators across 25 jurisdictions and the pair are asked how the firm manages to tailor its content to work for different providers in different regions.
“Our goal is to look at our casino partner and we want to give their player base the catered games that we think will work for them and what they believe will work themselves too. It’s about listening at the end of the day and we need to listen to our partners because they have the experience of their player base,” explained Hafezi.
“We’re starting to develop some bespoke custom game content too. It’s a great opportunity to further add differentiation and value to our partners. If they want something that we don’t have we can come to an agreement that Play’n GO can create a custom game for you. I think that’s something that we recognise as an opportunity to add value to our partners.”
Currently in North America, there are seven regulated igaming states in the US as well as Ontario in Canada.
Alberta is set to become Canada’s second igaming province and follow a similar model to Ontario. Fluharty said that this “makes perfect sense” to follow Ontario’s lead as the jurisdiction is an example of “what success looks like”.
Fluharty also spoke about the challenge he faces in the US when speaking to regulators regarding educating them on the benefits of a regulated igaming market.
He said: “I think on the US side there’s a huge education gap when it comes to lawmakers understanding the functionality of igaming. I’ve said many times that they struggle to silence their phones in a committee meeting and now we’re trying to tell them there’s a casino on their phone.
“Part of my duty here is to go into every state and build those relationships and close the education gap so that we can put together a framework that benefits everyone, checks the black market and protects the consumer and we as Play’n GO are leading from the front.”
