Michele Stefanelli, Play’n GO: “We have a publicly stated goal of wanting to be active in every regulated market in the world”

Play’n GO’s Sales Leader for LatAm and Southern Europe spoke with Focus Gaming News about the upcoming SBC Summit 2024, the company’s latest releases, and its plans for the near future.

Exclusive interview.- Michele Stefanelli, Sales Leader for LatAm and Southern Europe at Play’n GO, granted Focus Gaming News an exclusive interview to speak about the company’s plan ahead of SBC Summit 2024, the reception of one of Play’n GO’s latest releases, “Rich Wilde and the Tome of Insanity,” and the company’s plans to continue its expansion into new markets.

How is the company preparing for SBC Summit 2024 and what are the expectations for the exhibition?

This year, we’re sending a small, concentrated team to SBC Lisbon. We’re excited for the show! As always, we expect to meet clients, old and new, and explore ways of working together. We are always looking to acquire new business, and we’re looking to catch up with our customers.

One of the company’s latest releases “Rich Wilde and the Tome of Insanity” has become a huge hit. Did you expect this success? What do you think are the keys that made this game so special?

We had very high hopes for “Rich Wilde and the Tome of Insanity”, and it’s nice to see those hopes comes to fruition. The game has been an enormous success, and in the first week of its release, had the best metrics of any game we’ve released in almost 10 years.

What makes a game successful is not that simple to figure out- if it was, our jobs would be much easier! However, at Play’n GO, we believe a few elements make up the overall formula of a successful game. With Tome of Insanity, we had the blueprint for a strong game already in existence in its predecessor, Rich Wilde and the Tome of Madness. For this sequel, we wanted to honour the original game, while developing the story to keep players engaged. We take pride in the mechanics, the graphics, the soundtrack, and all that goes into making a game like Tome of Insanity. It’s nice when it pays off!

“Rich Wilde and the Tome of Insanity has been an enormous success, and in the first week of its release, had the best metrics of any game we’ve released in almost 10 years.”

Play’n GO has recently presented its Sustainability Report. How important is it for the company to have a sustainable approach to the gaming industry?

We believe the only realistic future for our industry is a sustainable one. On a macro level, we only get one planet, so we are exploring ways to cut down on our carbon emissions, and have a goal of carbon neutrality by 2030. We’re on track to achieve this goal, which is a testament to everyone here at Play’n GO.

On a more micro-industry level, we believe in the need to sell ourselves as an entertainment industry first. We’re on record as wanting to see Bonus Buy games banned entirely, believing them to be a predatory product, and harmful to players. We actively call for regulation and taxation in all markets. We strongly believe this is the best path to a strong future for our industry.

Is Play’n GO working on new agreements to keep growing in different markets?

We have a publicly stated goal of wanting to be active in every regulated market in the world. Recently, we went live in South Africa with Betway, and are looking at opportunities to grow across the entire continent. We’re always open to new business in every regulated market we operate in.

See also: Play’n GO launches Mirror Joker: A new chapter in the Joker series

Play’n GO Music was launched in December. What has been its reception so far?

The reception has been excellent! Collaborating with everyone over at MoneyGram Haas F1 Team has been fun, and earlier this month we collaborated with Canadian EDM artist Humansion to produce a single for that outfit which has gone down really well. Of course, as with any new brand, it takes time to establish yourself, but we have a very strong parent brand in Play’n GO, and we’re excited about what Play’n GO Music will produce next.

What are the main challenges for the rest of the year?

As with every year, we want to keep growing as best we can. This industry is highly competitive and very fast-paced, so if you’re not growing, you’re shrinking. As well as SBC Lisbon, G2E is on our horizon in Vegas next month, and many of our people are busy preparing for that show. We have some exciting games on our roadmap that we’re looking forward to releasing to the world, and as we enter Q4, we want to finish the year strongly.

“This industry is highly competitive and very fast-paced, so if you’re not growing, you’re shrinking.”