Comtrade Gaming is ready for Brazil!
Comtrade Gaming’s chief commercial officer shared its expectations for SBC Summit Rio.
Exclusive interview- Steven Valentine, chief commercial officer at Comtrade Gaming, spoke with Focus Gaming News about the upcoming SBC Summit Rio. The event will take place on February 25-27.
In an exclusive interview, Valentine shared how the company is preparing for the expo, the importance of attending an event in Brazil, the launch of its CG Games division, and its goals.
How are you preparing for SBC Summit Rio 2025, and what are your expectations for the exhibition?
The biggest part of the preparation was ensuring our platform was certified by GLI for the Brazilian market! This was of importance and ensures we have a solution ready to go for Brazilian operators. There are many local platform providers who are not certified, and you have many operators who need a new platform quickly so they can operate legally. We are currently migrating one such operator to our platform for that very reason.
What do you consider to be the most relevant issues on the agenda at the Summit? Why?
I think the ongoing uncertainty around the operational procedures regarding licensing is a huge issue. Many game providers are not yet certified, and if they haven’t been certified with a particular operator, it could take up to six months for approval. This will cause operators and vendors lots of issues and the process needs to be streamlined. So the main talking point will be about “what is available to me, and how quickly can I get it”.
Last year, the company launched its CG Games division. What can you tell us about the challenges encountered when establishing CG Games and how these were overcome in the past 12 months?
The biggest challenge for any new game provider is establishing their route to market. You can build as many great games as you like but if you don’t have the delivery network it’s all for nothing. It takes time to build this up, via aggregators and direct integrations with operators and we are still in the early stages of that.
“The biggest part of the preparation was ensuring our platform was certified by GLI for the Brazilian market.”
Steven Valentine, chief commercial officer at Comtrade Gaming.
We were fortunate to have some big names using our iGaming platform so that gave us an easier route and a head start.
We have already had our games licenced in the UK, Romania, and Malta so that is a great achievement in a short time, we now need to increase the number of operators we have live. We are also in process of certifying our games in Brazil to complement our already certified iGaming platform.
You have said that the company is extremely client-focused, and a significant amount of effort goes into helping your clients grow, how do you manage to achieve that goal?
We have always been a technology-focused company. Each of our clients typically has a dedicated team, delivering the specific upgrades that an individual operator wants. They work extremely closely with the client and understand their business in great detail. For the operator, it’s like an extension of their own team, that is delivering the tools they need, in a short timescale which helps them to keep or extend their competitive edge.
Most operators know what they want to do, but they are just held back by their technology or the lack of attention they get from their platform supplier.
The other big factor is we are very selective of who we work with and only take on a limited number of new clients. Most platform companies offer a one-size-fits-all model and just launch as many clients as they can, the need to support their share price demands they do business that way.
We are privately owned and have always taken a much longer-term view of our own business and our clients.
How important is attending an event in Brazil to expand your business in an emerging market like the Brazilian? What other events in LatAm are you planning to attend in 2025?
It’s hugely important for us to exhibit there and showcase what we can offer to local operators. However, attending shows isn’t enough, it’s very important to establish a local presence. We are building our Portuguese-speaking technical team and have hired a head of sales for LatAm who is based in Brazil.
You have recently received GLI certification for your gaming platform in Brazil, what can you tell us about the importance of this achievement?
Brazil is expected to be one of the biggest online gambling markets in the world, and unlike the USA, it seems it won’t be dominated by just a few operators. This means there is much more opportunity for platform vendors and for us to be at the vanguard of the regulated market puts us in a great position to capitalise on that opportunity.
“We are building our Portuguese-speaking technical team and have hired a head of sales for LatAm who is based in Brazil”.
Steven Valentine, chief commercial officer at Comtrade Gaming.
Even though everyone was aware regulation was coming when the requirements were finally published in October it took everyone by surprise, mainly because of the timescale they had to be compliant.
Our team did a fantastic job in achieving this, but to be honest, this is just business as usual for us; it’s what we do. I wouldn’t be surprised to see changes in regulation over the next 12 months and again vendors will have to react quickly.
Steven Valentine, Chief Commercial Officer
Editorial published in:
Steven Valentine, Comtrade Gaming: “Temos uma solução pronta para as operadoras brasileiras”