By Damian Martinez, journalist at G&M News.
In June 2024, you founded Playbook Fusion. How did the initiative originate? What is the company’s main purpose?
I’ve been working in the gambling industry for more than 20 years and this has allowed me to gain a deep understanding of what players are looking for and what goes into making successful products that meet customer demands. This ultimately helped me to spot a gap in the market and, through Playbook Fusion, to develop a unique new product vertical. Our mission is to create games for a range of players who are looking for that next level of entertainment, including existing virtual sports fans who are looking for a deeper level of engagement and ownership in the games they’re playing, and sports punters who like to bet on sport and to use their sports knowledge to make their selections, but don’t currently have the cadence because there is only opportunity to bet on live sport every few days. I also consider fantasy players who love to hand-pick teams and manage their squads and compete with other players in the game, but are also restricted by the frequency of live sports, and those who enjoy sports-themed video and mobile games and the ownership and skill required to master titles such as FC Ultimate Team, and who also like to place bets on their favorite sports, teams and players. Currently, there isn’t a game format that brings these worlds together. At Playbook Fusion, we are excited to combine them into never-seen-before sports gambling products.
Based on your extensive experience in the sector, what ideas, concepts, analysis and learnings can you share with our readers?
Having a deep understanding of the entire ecosystem is crucial to success. This includes regulation, compliance, content development, partnerships and more. I have been delivering RNG sports games to the leading sportsbook operators for a long time now and know just how important great relationships with the right people are. This is certainly the case for a start-up studio such as Playbook Fusion: developing next-gen content is only the beginning. You need to have that trust with operators to get the content live on the right channels and to position it and promote it effectively. I don’t know everything and that’s why I’m building a team of experts to cover the areas where I lack knowledge. This is certainly the case when it comes to video and mobile games, and that’s why games veteran Santiago Jaramillo was a key hire for us. Santiago has more than 13 years of AAA gaming experience and has previously worked as Creative Director for EA Sports’ FIFA franchise and was Executive Producer of MonopolyGo! He was also Head of Sports at Dapper Labs, where he conceived and created NBA Top Shot, an award-winning, first-of-its-kind product anchored in blockchain technology.
The company is described as a boutique B2B games studio uniting the gambling and video games industries to deliver a new genre of betting products. How are you planning to achieve this?
Our games will give players the opportunity to engage on a deeper level and use skill and strategy to improve outcomes. The mechanics we’re working on will allow them to boost the capabilities of their teams to increase the chance of winning and we’re also developing features like packs that players can open to strengthen their lineup and the ability to earn points based on their team’s performance, which is then posted on a real-time leaderboard. Of course, these are gambling games at the core, so players will be able to wager on the outcome of the matches their players and teams take part in. By building games around this format, we are fusing together key elements of the sports betting and video gaming industries to create something that is totally unique and will allow operators to engage a broad and lucrative audience segment they are struggling to reach with their current offering.
What types of games are being demanded the most by online casino operators?
In recent times, there has been a surge in demand for non-traditional content like crash, mines, plinko, and arcade games. The format of these games is very similar to mobile and video games, and the added excitement of being able to wager on the outcome has made them a real hit with players. However, there is nothing similar being offered to sports bettors and that’s the gap that Playbook Fusion will fill. Our content will be fast paced with the ability to improve and display skills while also having the chance to win money. Because our games will be persistent, this will incentivize players to return to play the game on a regular basis, which is unlike most RNG game formats which are single session games.
When will Playbook Fusion launch its first game and what will be about?
In terms of objectives for 2024, we will be finalizing the development of our first title, which will be a football game, before rolling it out with select operator partners in Q1 2025. The game takes the Football Manager format, with players able to build a team by acquiring players. They can then compete across several game types, including single player league progression and in contests with friends and other competitors. Players earn points based on how their teams perform and from their betting activity, and the more points they accumulate, the better they can make their team and the more league levels they clear and unlock by winning matches. Add to this the ability to bet on the outcome and you have a compelling game that sits between mobile/video gaming and sports betting. We then plan to use the same format for other sports, including basketball and cricket.