Playtech will diversify "beyond our current reach", CEO says

Playtech chief executive Mor Weizer hailed the success of the company’s diversification strategy following its recent casual gaming play and said the gaming giant intends to extend its reach into new business segments.

Speaking to eGaming Review following yesterday’s £14m acquisition of YoYo Games, Weizer said its casual gaming initiative was part of a bigger strategy to diversify the company into a number of new areas.

“The overall strategy of Playtech is to try and diversify the position of the company and maintain its market-leading position through initiatives and through extension into different areas we are interested in,” Weizer said.

“In the early days we obviously extended from casino to bingo to poker to live games, and in the last few years we’ve put a lot of effort into sports betting which has come to fruition,” he added.

Playtech’s acquisition of YoYo Games, owner of cross-platform game development technology GameMaker: Studio, marked the firm’s biggest play in the casual gaming space to-date, which the company currently values at approximately US$25bn.

Weizer also indicated that the London-listed firm would not rule out another acquisition in the casual gaming space as well as continuing to explore untapped business sectors.

“Our acquisition strategy is not restricted to any single area,” he said.

“There are other areas that can complement the business and accelerate the growth of Playtech, we have a fund initiative in other verticals and definitely intend to extend beyond our current reach,” Weizer added.

Playtech is expected to make a more considerable purchase in the coming months with Weizer having previously said he was confident of making “next level acquisition” during H1 2015.