QUICKSPIN Quickspin’s new CEO


Quickspin’s newly appointed CEO, Panagiotis Chryssovitsanos spoke to GIO about his plans for the Swedish game studio


GIO: Congratulations on your new role as CEO of Quickspin, can you tell us a bit about your background? Panagiotis Chryssovitsanos: I was born and raised in Sweden by Greek immigrant parents. I hold an M.Sc. in Computer Engineering, and after completing my studies, I was hired in the video games industry as a software engineer at Paradox Entertainment. However, I quickly took on leadership roles and soon recognised that my talents and interests lay outside programming. After three years of developing software, I decided to focus on my work’s leadership and management parts. A signifi cant personal milestone was in 2003, when I had the opportunity to be part of the great team that kicked off Avalanche Studios. I held different senior management positions during my seven years there – the last one as studio manager- and that is where my management career started.


After that, I did a shorter session in the management consulting industry, quickly ending up in the senior management team. While it was a great company, in 2013, I wanted to have a product to work with, and that’s when I found Quickspin. I applied, and after meeting the founders and other key members, I decided to join. And that was the beginning of my journey with Quickspin.


GIO: How has the transition been from COO to CEO? PC: It is still early days, but it has required a shift in focus, and as with any other change, it requires effort. As COO, I could focus on getting the company to run as smooth as possible and prepare the organisation to take the next step in its development. As CEO, that responsibility is still there, but I cannot be hands-on. Also, there are areas in which I previously didn’t have to be involved, and I now get to know more in-depth. It has been a great ride so far, mainly due to the excellent employees and Daniel Lindberg, the former CEO of Quickspin being there to simplify the transition.


GIO: In December last year Quickspin became ISO/ IEC 27001:2013 certifi ed, what are your plans following the certifi cation? Are you looking at any new market entries? PC: As I stated when our certifi cation was announced, this was, and is, a big achievement for us. In a world where business is digital, data is increasingly valuable, and digital crime increases every day - I believe that every business has a duty to work purposefully to improve the way it works with information security. Thus, this certifi cation demonstrates our commitment to providing products and services of the highest security standards to current and future clients. As such, this becomes important when markets regulate, and authorities have information security on their priority list. However, this is not the only factor dictating what market entries we are currently working on or evaluating.


GIO: You have been with Quickspin for almost a decade, how has Quickspin evolved throughout this time?


6 SEPTEMBER 2022 GIO


PC: My journey with Quickspin offi cially began when I landed the job as CTO in May 2013 – and what a journey it would turn out to be! Back then, we were only a team of around 16 people and focused exclusively on game development. Nevertheless, we worked hard and laughed a lot together, as it should be in a small company.


In 2016, we grew to become a team of around 50-60 people. We were releasing 12 games per year, had a good distribution network and were doing well. This eventually led to Playtech acquiring Quickspin that spring, which was a big milestone for us.


At the end of 2018, two of Quickspin’s co-founders left the company: Mats and Joachim, which was a big change for everyone. However, that year was also the beginning of a new chapter for Quickspin, as we’d decided to take control of our distribution and operate our platform. In 2019, the platform project was our primary focus, and that project took off around the same time as the Covid-19 pandemic broke out. Via Microsoft Teams and Zoom, we started hiring and onboarding new teams, planning migrations, and creating new processes and procedures. And in November 2021, almost three and a half years after initiating the platform project, we were fi nally done – a huge achievement!


With that fundamental piece of the puzzle in place, we could start our next chapter in earnest, which is why Daniel and I both felt like it was the right time to make a change. Of course, we’ll always be the same Quickspin in our spirit and values, but things have changed, and the company is full of new employees who want to help build our future.


GIO: As CEO, what are your plans to develop the company? PC: My vision is that the name Quickspin continues to guarantee quality, professionalism, and customer focus. We’ve worked hard to get to where we are today and are ready to show what we can do.


As a company and an employer, we will continue to build the fantastic culture and sense of community we’ve had since day one, which has also taken us through two years of working remotely. But all company cultures must evolve, and we have many new employees who should and will get a chance to make their mark on what it means to be a Quickspinner.


I also greatly look forward to working even closer with our colleagues at Playtech. I see a lot of untapped potential and opportunities for more collaboration, knowledge sharing and joint projects – something I am confi dent you will see more of in the future. It’s a big company that works hard to provide value to players, a mission we, as Quickspin defi nitely share. I look forward to running the company that means so much to me through its next chapter, with old and new colleagues and all our customers and partners. There’s so much to look forward to!


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