Scopa

How to play Scopa

In an April interview with iGB, Sher reflected on the challenges of regulatory uncertainty in Mexico

“Right now we are working based on a framework of laws which you cannot even call regulation, from 1947,” Sher said. “So it’s very hard to work long-term and to give long-term commitments. While the future is unclear in terms of regulation, we saw what happened in other countries in LatAm when they changed the regulation every other month.

“In Mexico, I think we are stable, we know how to deal with this market. Of course, we will be very happy if in the future, a proper regulatory framework will be introduced and not the way that we are working right now.”  

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For Yggdrasil, Game in a Box and Studio in a Box are therefore intended to become more than tools for its own development operation. Curwen envisages them supporting a wider creator ecosystem, although he acknowledges that proving the model commercially must come first.

“We’re still early,” he says. “The priority is to prove the model properly; make sure the games perform and demonstrate that it works commercially. If we do that, I think the opportunity is significant.”

Five years from now, Curwen expects the development landscape – and the studios operating within it – to look markedly different.

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“Our investment is going into regulated markets, and yes over time we will likely consider pulling out of certain markets. I think Playtech has done a very good job, [regulated revenues] are more than 85%.”

Meanwhile its B2C revenue, which took a significant hit last year as it offloaded the majority of its B2C operations, including Snaitech and Happy Bet, declined 22% to €32 million.

This segment is predominantly made up of Sun Bingo in the UK, a white label brand which Playtech said it was reviewing in March, due to the impact of the UK Remote Gaming Duty hike earlier this year.