Relax Gaming’s Nadiya Attard: “Great Things Take Time and Spain Is Proving a Success”

Relax Gaming has already reached Spain and rolled out many of its exciting games across several casinos in the country, with more ambitious plans in the pipeline.

Detailing this purposeful stride into the Spanish iGaming market we have Relax Gaming CCO Nadiya Attard who spoke with GamblingNews and focused on the company’s position in the market, the challenges it faces, and what is coming next. 

Q: Relax made its debut in the Spanish market last year with Entain, how important has it been to nurture partnerships with operators that already have a strong presence in the region?

The Spanish market has long been on our priority list at Relax and we’re set on establishing our presence across Spanish shores in 2023 and beyond. Following our entry into the market with Entain we went live with Casino Gran Madrid last November with Money Train 3 as the flagship product. Within a very short timeframe, it rose to become one of the operator’s best-performing games. The title was also selected to feature in the casino’s advertising campaign on Spanish TV, which boosted the numbers even further.

Following such an encouraging launch, we have big plans for the jurisdiction and a strong pipeline of deals coming in as we widen our partnership distribution across the country. Given that Spain has all the ingredients to become a truly dynamic market in the decade ahead, I’m confident that we’ll keep up this momentum.

Q: Having had time to assess the player base and their gameplay habits in Spain, have you noticed any subtle differences between players in the region compared to other Western markets?

We’ve been monitoring the Spanish player base closely over the last few months and we’ve found that they share many similarities with players across our other key European jurisdictions. They’ve shown incredible interest in our Money Train franchise and the Tumble series as well as our Iberian-oriented titles such as Wild Chapo. In an effort to continue attracting the market we’ve made the strategic decision to release more of this content in the coming months so be sure to keep an eye on our roadmap!

Q: Were there any challenges when entering the Spanish market, or would it be fair to suggest that Relax had a fairly smooth ride?

Great things take time! Like any market entry, there have been rules to adhere to and challenges to overcome – and that’s a good thing, as we want players to be safe! Certification took quite some time and regulatory approval is a lengthy process. Now that we’re live and ready to go, we’re excited to see what a broader pool of Spanish players makes of our award-winning games.

Q: Spain’s Senate passed new laws on gambling last October, introducing a higher focus on problem gambling and seeing further restrictions placed on what was already strict advertising rules. Do you feel this has been the right approach?

Responsible gambling is an absolute must if we want to see our industry thrive. We put a lot of effort into compliance, it is an area every single operator and supplier should aim to get right the first time, 100% of the time. We feel so strongly about this that we have a policy at Relax that we will only onboard customers who share this belief with us. Key to any successful business relationship, in my opinion, is to work together with companies that share your synergies and common brand values – I have no doubt that that is a philosophy that we’ll never deviate from.

Q: Can you tell us about Relax Gaming’s goals for expansion in the Spanish market this year and beyond?

We are currently focusing on growing our presence in Spain itself, as this will ultimately help solidify our foothold as a market leader in Europe and aid our expansion in Latin America – an area we’re going to be focusing heavily on throughout 2023.

We made our debut in Mexico and Colombia last year, and many of our Spanish operators are expanding into Latin America, which is making it easier for us to penetrate that market. We have some fantastic games certified in the region and boast a healthy pipeline of new operator partnerships there as well.

If you are still missing Relax games, you can reach us via our fantastic Account Management team – they’ll be happy to assist! We’re delighted to be live in the market and will be announcing plenty more exciting news soon.