Gianluca Crimaldi, Booming Games: “In the regulated market, the legacy providers are those who keep performing best”
Shows & conferences - 23 October, 2026
Senior hires, an established position in Africa and a new game every week: Gianluca Crimaldi, Head of Account Management at Booming Games, explained where the company stands in conversation with Focus Gaming News at SBC Summit Lisbon 2026.
Crimaldi said Booming Games had recently brought in two senior executives: Michael [Waterfield], formerly of White Hat Studios, as CCO, and Ally [McIvor], from another large company, as Chief of Sales. He reports directly to Michael and said the company is looking to expand with a new level of strategy across commercial, product and sales. Having worked with both before, he praised their approach as professional and free of micromanagement. Senior arrivals, he noted, can “crush the team or make gold from the team”, but so far he felt the company was heading in a good direction.
On Africa, he described South Africa and the rest of the continent as an established market where Booming Games is a legacy provider and has, by his estimate, 90 to 95 per cent coverage of customers, supported by a local account manager and a Head of Africa. In regulated markets, he argued, legacy providers tend to keep performing best because players have “a kind of first love” for the games and brands. The company also sponsors events locally, including the Hollywoodbets horse race. Relationships are central to its approach: “Booming Games is a company that does business but puts relationship first.”
On product, Crimaldi said the company releases one game per week while also producing branded and fully custom titles, which adds work in certification and approval. He said product quality had increased significantly since he joined in February 2025, with some titles reaching record performance and series that continue to perform. A roadmap of seasonal releases, from Halloween to Black Friday, gives customers something to promote every month.
At SBC Summit Lisbon, he said, the stand was very busy, with a commercial team of about 13 in constant meetings and a customer event planned for the weekend. “We work hard but we play hard as well with our customers,” he said, noting that many relationships go back 10 to 15 years.