Pulse
SBC SUMMIT BARCELONA SEPTEMBER 20-22, 2022 YGGDRASIL
"The challenge was convincing partners and potential employees to believe in the vision. It took a bit of time to get cash flow, then to get positive cash flow, just to then basically return all the money we borrowed, but we got there."
quickly go from being an underdog to an industry favourite. "When I joined NetEnt, we were the underdogs. It was Microgaming, Playtech, Triple Logic. We were a little Nordic upstart.
"I was surprised how everyone was doing manual fund transfers between sports betting and casino wallets. I came from a company called Seamless Distribution and seamless for me meant no wallet - money in, money out. Te pay 'n' play we talk about now was something I asked when I first entered the industry. Looking back, it was crazy!"
Fredrik learnt that technical innovations could make you quickly move through the ranks: "NetEnt had great products, but the biggest achievement was tearing down the technological ring fence, getting seamless wallet out and laying the foundations for a more open
P90 WIRE / PULSE / INSIGHT / REPORTS
market. It's doable to have technical innovation, change the paradigm and not just focus on the games.
"NetEnt did invest heavily in mobile and a very big studio, so quality was always high. We came up with in-game promotional tools - our claim to fame - and dominated that area completely until everyone caught up, which is what happens. At NetEnt, I ultimately learnt what innovation can do for a company, the benefits of thinking holistically and focusing on quality."
2012 VS. 2022
Now employing several hundred staff and flying high, Fredrik doesn't forget the first few years after founding Yggdrasil, trying to get attention and build the story of the company. "At my first ICE, I sat in the corridor with the laptop and tried to snatch people to look. No-one really thought we could be a strategic player coming in with the platform and tools.
Fredrik was told that Yggdrasil's approach was wrong, and you must start as a small studio and be plugged into someone else's distribution network like contemporaries such as Ash Gaming and Quickspin. "We had bigger ambitions. Te challenge was convincing partners and potential employees to believe in the vision. It took a bit of time to get cash flow, then to get positive cash flow, just to then basically return all the money we borrowed, but we got there."
Citing a partnership with Mr Green as a
marquee moment in Yggdrasil’s history, the deal was signed before flying over the English Channel in the plane on the way to the second ICE and the developer’s first game, Winterberries, went live. "We were a different outfit then - more rebellious - and maybe that's something we have lost as we've grown bigger and become more corporate," remarks Fredrik. "But that’s just what happens I guess."
Te challenges for new game studios are now different from what they were nearly a decade ago when Yggdrasil was finding its feet. "Ten years ago, it was tougher to get direct distribution integrated. It's still tough, but back then you could only go direct or join someone like Playtech or Scientific Games.
"You'd then have to wait several months to get your game out. At the time, anything that had new mechanics or promotional tools attached sold and got traction. Today, distribution is easily and readily available, but now it is increasingly important that your content is great across the board with solid mechanics and mathematics, whilst telling a good story.
“Before, being new was enough to get picked up. A gimmick doesn't work in 2022 - you need something solid."
R&D, R&D, R&D
Speaking to Andrew McCarron, SBC’s MD, on stage in Barcelona, Fredrik advised the next rising stars in iGaming to not just let the capacity to build something be the driver for
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