Promoted Q&A: Yggdrasil CEO on spending a decade at the forefront of slot development

On a cold, blustery morning in East London, Yggdrasil CEO Björn Krantz sits down ahead of the 10th anniversary of the founding of the game development studio in Sweden to discuss how they have battled a turbulent few years to emerge as one of the leading igaming slot developers in the industry.

The latest innovation from Yggdrasil is its Game Engagement Mechanics (GEM), which aims to enhance its games and those released as part of its YG Masters studios.

Alongside this innovation, the last 12 months have been very fruitful for Yggdrasil on the commercial front. The supplier entered North America for the first time and increased the numbers of brands and players.

As the firm celebrates a decade in the industry, Krantz talks about the keys to success for the studio and what lies in the company’s future.

EGR Intel: We have come through a difficult couple of years for the industry; how do you feel Yggdrasil has performed in that time? Are there any notable achievements you’d like to highlight?

Björn Krantz (BK): I’m extremely proud of what we achieved as a team in 2022. It goes without saying that 2022, from a dynamic market perspective, has been extremely volatile and, to a large extent, also an emotional year.

Of course, the macroeconomic situation has changed the market but, if we put it aside, the talent inside the company has done a fantastic job of working with the scale of technology that we have in order to secure our global roadmap offering, both on our core game side and how we work with the third-party YG Masters programme.

EGR: How do you stay ahead of the competition in such a crowded market?

BK: It’s a very competitive environment out there and you need to be very passionate about gaming. We are lucky at Yggdrasil; we are passionate about gaming, which means we are interested in the balance between math and mechanics.

However, everything comes together from a 360-degree perspective. We are not only interested in being a supplier to our partners, but we also want to be an attentive care partner to our customers. We want to value not only one market or a certain part of our portfolio, we want it to be an end-to-end partnership that stretches over all the regulated and global market.

EGR: How do you keep at the forefront of innovation?
BK: It’s an interesting question. I think we absolutely have the foundation and the DNA, where we see the next level of game development through mechanics and balance, but it’s all about the interest in understanding where the market is going.

We try and look at what the player really thinks as well. We also look at streamers, in very tight collaboration with operators, and ask what works, what doesn’t and where is the gap.

We also like to take risks in the game development process. This is where I think innovation is key because everyone can talk about innovation but if you don’t dare to take risks, then you can’t push innovation to its fullest extent. We want to take certain risks in order to push innovation forward.

EGR: As we anticipate the long-awaited arrival in the UK of the white paper into the Gambling Act 2005 review, how as a supplier do you prepare for this kind of regulatory change?

BK: For us, it’s about collaboration and we take responsibility for what we need to do. What I mean by this is that we will sit down with operators to look at what the best solution is for everyone. We will always do what it takes to be on the ground when new regulations are enforced.

EGR: How have you performed in the growing Latam market, and where do you see your journey going in the region?

BK: Latam, from an industry perspective, is not a big online gaming market per se, from what we have seen, but it is an exciting market from a more long-term perspective, so we want to be there.

We want to build a strong brand awareness in the region and we have already gone live in Colombia and Mexico, and we are looking at the market in Buenos Aires for later on this year.

When you are following the regulated markets, we want to work closely with key global operators. If they want to do business in Latam then we want to be there with them. That is our goal. It is an exciting market and we will see how it turns out.

EGR: As a supplier how do you manage your resources and strategy to enter states as and when regulation permits?

BK: The first two games that we launched in the US are working really well, so we understand that our games and content are already resonating with a US audience.

As new states regulate, we need to follow and make adjustments where needed. This kind of thing is bread and butter for us now, the focus for us is more on the market entry strategy and how we can ramp up what we are doing anywhere. We are at the beginning of hopefully a beautiful journey for us in the US.

EGR: You’ve previously mentioned in the past that Europe is the main target market for Yggdrasil in the immediate future. What approach are you taking on the continent?

BK: It’s very much about the optimisation of how we are working in our existing markets and our existing partnerships across the markets. We need to optimise these partnerships in the ever-changing market and make sure we are on top of our partners’ strategy so that we can maintain our strong position in this market. For us, trust and confidence are everything.

EGR: What is your biggest focus for 2023?

BK: As Latam is still an emerging market for us, it will get a fair amount of attention, but we still have a responsibility to protect and grow in our home market. I think we can do more in Europe, which remains our number one priority.

We are also looking at the US market more, as we have gone live with two games in Michigan, New York and Connecticut, so the US is an important growth market for us. We are just at the starting point of that, so I think we will be looking at the market more going forward.

Also key for 2023 is keeping a laser focus our product development strategy and how our technology is utilised in order to scale up the offering. We delivered 12 Yggdrasil core games during the past 12 months, and we are aiming at bringing that number up to 22 at the end of 2023. This will be complemented by approximately 50 YG Masters titles.

With developmental influences coming from the likes of operator partners, forums and the streamer community, there is a very fine balance between how you work with math and mechanics in ensuring a standout performer among the hundreds of monthly releases. At Yggdrasil, we are extremely good and paranoid in getting the math and mechanics correct in our titles. This will continue to be our top priority as our Game Engagement Mechanics, IPs and trademarks creates a unique niche and competitive advantage for Yggdrasil.