Andreas Koeberl, CEO at BetGames, took time out to reflect on a year of change and growth in 2021 and talk about the company’s plans and ambitions for 2022. Expect incredible new product lines and a different approach to the business. 

With more than a year at the helm, BetGames has seen much growth and change in the last 12 months with new offices, recruitment and a rebrand – is this momentum set to continue into 2022?

2021 was a real test for the BetGames team. Lots of change, from new ways of thinking and operating to bringing in an army of new talent. Our goal was to recruit 100 people over the year so of course, it was a lot to take on. But the team did a magnificent job and have really shown their ability to adapt. This is a key skill and a value BetGames holds dear as a company – flexibility and the drive to overcome and move forward.

Looking ahead, 2022 will be the year in which we will see those changes and new directions come to fruition, by launching incredible new product lines that we’re truly excited to be bringing to the market. So yes, our evolution continues and the difference this year will be that we see all the team’s hard work materialising into something tangible, which is exciting for all of us.

Your flagship lottery product was launched to great fanfare in 2021. How positive has the reception been and how do you see BetGames pioneering the lottery space in 2022?

The reaction from the industry has been very positive and the numbers have also been pleasing. It’s our flagship product and a lot of hard work went into its relaunch, so to see it being enjoyed by even more players is very rewarding.

For this year, we’ve been working on something new in that space that’s pretty exciting, but you will need to wait until the end of Q2 to find out what it is!

Do you expect this year to pan out in the same way as 2021 in terms of Covid disruption? Has this shaped your roadmap for the year?

Although we are facing challenges due to the fast spread of Omicron, I personally believe that this could also be the turning point in the pandemic as it is less severe and hopefully future mutations will be even milder, so I hope that by the middle of the year, we will have largely left lockdowns behind us. 

With the regular improvements to vaccines and new medication being approved monthly, I believe things will only continue to improve. Of course, as a responsible business, we are also prepared for the opposite, but I feel that this is unlikely. We’re a lot more robust as a company given the last two years’ events and, due to our adaptability, we’re ready for whatever the year throws at us.

What new products can we expect this year? Will they be along similar lines to your existing Live Dealer titles?

We are very much pivoting from our core business this year. In 2021 we launched our new strategy, ORANGE23. One of its key pillars is to diversify in a risk-adjusted way and that is set to become a reality in 2022.

We’ll be introducing two new verticals this year and because we’re competing for people’s precious time, we knew we needed to react with something fundamentally new and that’s what we’ve done. Stay tuned for more!

Are there any particular areas of interest in the global market for BetGames in 2022?

We will be very busy rolling out our new verticals and, inevitably, there will be a degree of trial and error in our approach to markets as what we’ve been developing is pretty unique. This challenge is all about evolution and adaptation, however, and one that we’re ready to meet – especially given the majority of our bets coming from regulated markets, where we’ll continue to focus on engaging and entertaining our players. 

That doesn’t mean that we’re not always looking to new horizons though – there are several certification and licensing projects going on in the background and we’ll make those moves in due course.

For the core business, we will continue to focus on regulated emerging markets and promote some of the refurbished flagship products into our tier-one jurisdictions too. Of course, the big market on many people’s agenda is the US, but we won’t be making our move there this year, although as we’re constantly evolving, we’ll make sure that whatever move we make, it will be when we feel it is strategically sound.