Gaming Realms CEO quits as firm hails “transformational” 2019 growth
Patrick Southon steps down from London-listed business after more than six years at the helm
Gaming Realms has confirmed the departure of long-standing CEO and executive chair Patrick Southon after more than a six-year spell in charge of the B2B and game-licensing business.
The London-listed company has said Southon will leave the board with immediate effect, with non-executive chairman Michael Buckley becoming executive chairman until a replacement CEO can be found.
Michael Buckley, chairman of Gaming Realms, paid tribute to the outgoing Southon, highlighting the contribution he had made during his tenure.
“Patrick has made a valuable contribution to the company over the last six years as CEO, most recently helping to successfully evolve the company’s resources and strategy to better suit the changed regulatory landscape we operate within. On behalf of the board, I wish him every success in the future,” Buckley added.
Speaking about his departure, Southon said it had been an honour to work with everyone at Gaming Realms.
“However, with the last of those [B2C] assets disposed of in July 2019, and the company now stable and successfully implementing its new B2B-focused game development and licensing strategy, I feel now is the right time for me to pursue a new challenge,” Southon added.
Southon has overseen Gaming Realms since July 2013, presiding over a company-wide pivot away from the B2C real-money gaming market towards a more B2B and game-licensing model.
This has seen Gaming Realms sell its B2C business to Malta-based egaming firm River iGaming in twin deals which concluded in July 2019. As part of this pivot, the firm revealed that it would also shed 60% of its staff, concentrating on game development and international licensing.
In addition to confirming the departure of Southon, Gaming Realms has issued a 2019 trading update, revealing that it expects to report FY2019 revenues “modestly ahead” of board expectations.
Addressing these figures, the company confirmed the performance of the business had been driven by its content-licensing business, which led to Gaming Realms concluding eight licensing agreements in 2019.
However, Gaming Realms has said that the revenue performance, together with the “continuing control of costs”, is set to see the supplier reveal a 2019 EBITDA loss of £0.5m.
“FY19 was a transformational year for Gaming Realms, and I am delighted with our overall performance,” Buckley said.
“The combination of our strong games portfolio, our existing distribution agreements with global partners, and our strong pipeline of new partnerships, means we are cautiously optimistic about the significant opportunities ahead of us as we focus on the growth of the company,” he added.