Vera Motto: “Competition for players’ attention is fierce”

In an interview with Focus Gaming News, the Play’n GO executive reviewed the company’s strategy and its objectives at the head of the Sales area for Southern Europe + LATAM.

Exclusive interview.- Vera Motto is the Sales Manager of Southern Europe and LATAM at Play’n GO. Previously, she held commercial roles at Habanero and Espresso Games. Focus Gaming News spoke with her about her goals and vision for the gaming industry.

How have you settled into the company and your role? Any early surprises?

It’s been a bit of a whirlwind to be honest! Within the first week at Play’n GO I was lucky enough to fly out straight to Colombia to attend the GAT expo on behalf of the company. It was great to see so many familiar faces again, and to begin to talk about what Play’n GO brings to the table.

It’s very early of course, but I think that one of the ‘surprises’ has been the sheer number of impressive people I’ve met inside of Play’n GO, and the depth of the company’s resources.

I know that many in our industry think that Play’n GO is a bit like a black box; some kind of secretive entity which makes it difficult at times to get a read on the company. I’ve heard people say that Play’n GO is like Batman and that their strategy – while obviously successful – can be difficult for outsiders to nail down. I was on the outside looking in just a few weeks ago so I can relate to that view.

“Play’n GO truly has the size, scale and expertise to continue to grow.”

Vera Motto, Sales Manager at Play’n GO:,

So the surprise for me, if you can call it one, has been to come into Play’n GO and meet all of these impressive colleagues. Play’n GO truly has the size, scale and expertise to continue to grow and I’m really happy to be here to help drive the business forward to key markets.

How do you see your role developing, and that of Sales Managers in the industry generally?

The role is slightly different at every company, of course, but Play’n GO has a really refreshing approach to their entire commercial outlook – we want our customers to be successful.

That sounds simple, but in fact it’s a really powerful guiding principle at Play’n GO.

We are confident that we as Play’n GO will be successful in the long run if we operate in the right way, and part of that means doing what is right for our customers to be successful first.

See also: Play’n GO secures Ontario supplier licence

Play’n GO games are high quality and packed with entertainment because we believe in making a world class product, and we think players will enjoy playing high quality titles time and again too. But we also make our titles as they are because we think it will be far far better for operators in the long run to ensure they are offering a great experience to their players.

We want a sustainable industry, and we are seeing already that in many jurisdictions it’s now almost purely about player retention due to the cost or limitations placed on acquisition. And you can’t retain players if they have a bad gaming experience, so offer players the best games.

My job as Sales Manager is to ensure that operators understand the cost to their businesses by having suppliers who can’t stack up and see the true value of Play’n GO’s proposition – the best games, industry-leading servers and technology, seamless rollout of new titles globally, a true partner you can rely on and build your business strategy around.

What do you see as the main challenges for the industry today?

VM: I think that if you change your viewpoint around and look at the industry another way, you will see opportunities absolutely everywhere and that’s very exciting.

We love regulated markets at Play’n GO, and the gaming outlook across the entire Americas – north and south – is very positive indeed. We are just at the beginning of the region’s march into regulated markets, especially for online casino, and that presents a massive opportunity for both operators and suppliers who get it right.

“Operators stand very little chance of keeping players engaged over time.”

Vera Motto, Sales Manager at Play’n GO:,

But it is unquestionably a more difficult game to play than it was a few years ago. Competition for players’ attention is fierce – and that definitely includes the likes of Instagram, Spotify and Netflix. So how will our industry compete? That’s the million-dollar question as they say, but what we can all be sure of is that operators stand very little chance of keeping players engaged over time unless what they offer is fun and entertaining – every time.

We think that Play’n GO offers precisely that with every game we release. The opportunity for those operators who share our view and want to be successful over time is enormous. I really believe it’s as exciting a time in the industry right now as I can ever remember it.