Magnus Olsson, Head of Sales and Account Management, Play’n GO.

2019 has been a challenging year in some quarters. Increased competition, additional regulation and legal changes around the world have meant losing ground and having to change direction throughout the year, making it more difficult to grow and move onto the next level. 

But not for everyone. For us, 2019 hasn’t been a year of struggle; in fact, it’s been quite the opposite. With an unprecedented number of game releases, this year has been our most successful to date. We’ve had record releases, record business months and plenty of our clients have reached all-time highs as a result of our content, and it is showing no signs of slowing. 2020 is just around the corner, and it is important to finish the year strongly to put yourself in good stead for the next 12 months (and beyond) ahead, and that’s exactly what we shall do. But how? What is it that allowed us to flourish in the market where others have not, and what will we do to continue that success into 2020?

Quality.

40 games. That’s roughly a game every nine days, on average, which is a huge output. An unmatched rate of release which also led to us recently releasing two games in a single day. When we decided on the number of games we wanted to release for the year, we didn’t approach it from the angle of “let’s release more games than anyone else”, instead we asked ourselves how many quality titles can we release this year?”. Putting out more games than anyone else is easy, you could release 60, 70 or even 80 games a year if you wanted, but it would most likely mean a sacrifice in value as you aim to reach your magic number.

For us, the number was only important if it meant quality was not compromised. We planned our output extremely carefully, making sure we gave ourselves enough time to craft each game to their fullest potential. If a game hadn’t been good enough we wouldn’t have released it; it’s that simple.

Through this, not only have we been able to release such a high number of games but we’ve also released some amazing titles including Sabaton, Contact and Sword and the Grail, and we still have more to come.

Innovation.

One of the hallmarks of our content over the years has been its innovation. From championing mobile-optimised gaming to pioneering formats such as cascading gridslots, we have always looked to push the boundaries of what is possible, in the name of entertainment.

This year has been no different. We have created many innovative titles, including a few Play’n GO firsts that we celebrated this year, that has allowed us to offer our partners, and the markets something a little different.

For instance, one of our earlier titles of this year Contact was fully rendered in 3D and made use of multiple camera angles to create a more immersive feel to the gaming experience. On top of that, we made changes to the gridslot format, to add a new dimension to the game. The market responded positively, and Contact was a success.

We continued to innovate in the music section of slot gaming with our release of Sabaton. As with last year’s House of Doom, we worked directly with the band to create a game that was faithful to the sound and style of the band Sabaton, as opposed to just throwing their music and likeness onto any random mechanics.

Those are just two examples of innovation that has helped us succeed in 2019; other titles like Wild Rail and 3-Hand Casino Hold’em also had an impact on the market due to their dynamic design.

Many other factors have contributed to our success throughout the year, our gamification features, back-office tools, process development and much more. But, the chief tenets that guided us through 2019 and will continue to guide us are the innovation of our ideas and the quality of our output.

2020 is going to be a big journey, not just for Play’n GO, but for everyone in the industry. Join us and let’s see how far we can go.

Bio: Magnus Olsson serves as the Head of Sales and Account Management at Play’n GO, a position he has held since August 2018. He holds extensive experience in the field, having worked in sales and account management for over 20 years.