How a Worldwide Online Slots Supplier Uses Vixio to Determine What Markets to Enter & How to Keep up with Current Markets

Play’n GO, a leading B2B online slots provider, operates across 25 jurisdictions around the world. Its growth strategy relies on continually evaluating new markets for expansion while ensuring it stays compliant with ever-evolving regulations in its existing markets. Thus, understanding the regulatory framework and licensing requirements in each region is central to Play’n GO’s strategic decision-making process. 

As Paresh Rughani, Head of Compliance at Play’n GO, articulates the challenge, “The diversity of being a game supplier to a worldwide audience does make it extremely challenging.” Rughani and his team are responsible for managing licence applications, evaluating potential markets for expansion, as well as keeping up to date with any new regulations or changes coming out in their current markets. 

Vixio Regulatory Intelligence plays a critical role in these efforts by providing real-time updates, market insights, and detailed country reports, allowing Play’n GO to make informed decisions both on current compliance and future expansion opportunities.

Monitoring Current Jurisdictions

Broad Coverage

Operating in 25 different jurisdictions means that Play’n GO must stay on top of the compliance requirements set by a wide array of regulators, all of whom update their requirements at different paces and on different timelines. Says Rughani: “The biggest challenge is keeping up with the regulatory changes that take place so often and so widely.” 

With markets constantly shifting, being caught unaware of a regulatory update could result in serious operational disruptions or missed opportunities - so they use Vixio to simplify their research process and save time. 

“And that's where Vixio really comes into play for Play’n GO, and for the compliance department as a whole, because as soon as I see something, I will share it with a colleague to review and to make notes so that we're prepared for those regulation changes or new regulations coming along.” 

_{- Paresh Rughani, Head of Compliance, Play’n GO}

Timely Updates 

According to Rughani, the team relies heavily on Vixio’s timely updates, allowing them to stay ahead of any impending regulatory changes. The speed and accuracy of these updates provide a competitive edge by ensuring that the company can respond quickly. 

Rughani shared an example of this agility in action when Play’n GO was keeping an eye on regulatory developments in Brazil. The company had received an early tip-off from its testing house that new regulations were about to be published. “Regarding Brazil, we'd heard from the testing house that we use that they're going to publish something any day. And I think within hours of that, even before it was actually published, we saw it on Vixio, so we got confirmation.” 

Daily alerts and customisable watchlists also make it easy for Play’n GO to filter down relevant regulatory changes they need to be aware of. “On the day-to-day, I actually rely on the email alerts and then I'll look through that email alert and make sure that anything related to Play’n GO is picked up.” This feature ensures that no important updates slip through the cracks, allowing Play’n GO’s compliance team to focus on strategic tasks rather than spending excessive time tracking regulations manually.

Evaluating for Market Expansion 

In addition to monitoring its existing markets, Play’n GO is constantly looking for opportunities to expand into new jurisdictions. Entering a new market requires a deep understanding of the region's regulatory environment, market potential, and competitive landscape. Vixio provides Play’n GO with the tools to assess new opportunities by delivering comprehensive market reports and regulatory profiles, enabling the company to make well-informed decisions about where to expand next.

“We actually look at the potential regulating markets, the ones that are going to be regulated and I keep an eye on those quite closely because as soon as they are regulated, we want to be in them.” 

_{- Paresh Rughani, Head of Compliance, Play’n GO}

Country Reports

Vixio’s platform also serves as a quick reference for specific regulatory questions. Rughani explains, “If somebody has asked a question like ‘does this region allow us to do this,’ I can very quickly reference Vixio to look at the regulations and/or look at their regulatory profile to see whether they regulate B2BS or B2Cs. I can look at the country report and quickly scan through it and say, ‘Okay they do regulate B2B; we would need to get a licence if we want to do this there.’” The ability to access these insights quickly is essential for Play’n GO, which must make swift decisions in a competitive global market.

Comparison Tables

A simple comparison of different jurisdictions is another powerful feature of Vixio that Play’n GO relies on when evaluating new market opportunities. “To be able to batch a few jurisdictions together and compare them is really helpful, and then you can see quite quickly which jurisdiction allows what or is promoting what and where.” This comparative analysis helps the team prioritise markets based on factors such as regulatory ease, market size, and the types of gaming products allowed.

Rughani provides a concrete example of this process in action when Play’n GO was thinking about entering South Africa as a new jurisdiction. “Specifically for South Africa, when it was being considered as a potential market, I looked through the revenues and the size of the market were really helpful for us to decide whether we would go into South Africa or not.” The data they were receiving from operators in South Africa indicated strong revenues, but much of it was skewed toward sports betting and the team needed perspective into the online market. By using Vixio to compare this data with other jurisdictions, Rughani was able to deduce the proportion of revenue generated from online gaming in South Africa, which informed Play’n GO's decision to ultimately enter the market. 

Simplifying the Complexities of Global Regulation 

For a global company like Play’n GO, operating in a dynamic regulatory environment requires access to the most current and reliable information. Vixio provides Play’n GO with the tools it needs to monitor compliance in its existing markets and evaluate opportunities for expansion into new ones. By leveraging Vixio’s real-time updates, comprehensive market reports, and comparative tools, Play’n GO can stay ahead of regulatory changes and position itself for continued success in the highly competitive B2B online gaming space.

“When asked, I would say I rely on Vixio for my day-to-day monitoring of regulations.”

_{- Paresh Rughani, Head of Compliance, Play’n GO}

The value that Vixio brings to Play’n GO’s compliance efforts is clear: it simplifies the complexities of global regulation, enabling the company to focus on its core mission of delivering high-quality online gaming products to markets around the world.