Lena Yasir, VP of operations at Pragmatic Play, discusses some of the standouts from the company’s ICE presentation, including its new virtual sports range and multiple language support for its live casino product.
Casino Review: What were some of your key product focuses at this year’s ICE?
Lena Yasir: We showcased our Live Casino product which we’re extremely proud of. We’ve just launched support for multiple languages this February. We also offered a sneak peak of our latest branded slots title, Peaky Blinders, based on the hit TV series, which we’ve developed through our partnership with Endemol Shine.
Alongside this we presented our bingo product, Pragmatic Play Enhance, and the most recent addition to our product portfolio, our new virtual sports vertical, which we presented this year at ICE. Virtual sports is a vertical which is seeing a lot of demand right now across Europe, Africa and South America. We’ll initially be offering horse racing and football, along with Penalty Shoot-out, with many more to be announced.
Our new virtual sports range comes following our acquisition of virtual sports supplier VSoftCo, which was finalised in July last year. However, we’ve totally revamped the product - it looks amazing now, and it was definitely one of the highlights at this year’s show.
CR: How important is ICE for Pragmatic Play?
LY: ICE provides an ideal gathering point to meet with new and existing clients from all over the world. We’re Europe-based, with offices in Malta and Gibraltar, so the show offers us an excellent opportunity to further expand our international client base. Additionally, we won the iGaming Software Supplier of The Year award at the International Gaming Awards, allowing us to start this year’s ICE on a high note.
CR: 2019 was a big year for Pragmatic Play, what were some of your standout moments?
LY: Last year was a great one for Pragmatic Play - we released our Live Casino and Bingo verticals and we also significantly increased our video slot portfolio. We’ve ramped up our slots and RNG games to four releases a month to cater to localised markets, while we’ve also secured a number of new licences during the last 12 months. 2019 was a big year for us and we’re looking to further consolidate on that as the new decade gets under way.
CR: You mentioned that you’re operating in Latin America and Africa, how many markets does Pragmatic Play cover at present?
LY: We’re focused on regulated markets, such as the UK, Sweden, Italy, Romania, Spain and Portugal. We’re always watching the European markets closely to ensure that as soon as a new country regulates, we’re the first to enter. While different regulatory frameworks present their own particular challenges, we’re committed to ensuring we’re compliant in all the jurisdictions we operate in.
