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European Gaming meets Gökçe Nur Oguz, CEO and Co-Founder of Playable Factory
Q: Tell us about how & why you came to found Playable Factory?
Over four years ago – when we founded the company – gaming was booming and it still is today. All our friends were working in the sector and we wanted to, too. We were new to it all. Monetization, LTV, CPI… sounded like another language to us but gradually we learnt from our friends and tapped into the scene. As we grew our understanding, we realised playable ads played an important role. If done well, they can add to the experience of gaming. But good ones were frustratingly hard to find. So, along with my co-founders, Berat and Omer, we started making them ourselves and the rest is history.
Q: What were you doing before that/what led to it?
After university, I completed a PhD in Fluid Dynamics, a subdiscipline within physics and engineering. There were a few gamification projects, like building games for people to play that would simultaneously have a background programme running to solve an operational problem. This part had me captivated. Outside of academia, I was always gaming and would gamify everything I did. Not just computer games, but card games, board games etc… So it felt natural to me to do something I enjoyed.
Q: Describe Playable Factory & Gearbox in a nutshell?
Playable Factory is a company that focuses on the creative needs of digital advertisers. The focus is mostly on playable ads and recently on video ads for gaming clients specifically. Our secret (or not so secret) weapon is Gearbox, an online editing and iterating platform for creatives. This is split into two: Gearbox Playable, create your own tailor made playable ads (create, iterate, download and repeat) and Gearbox Video, a tool that allows users to record gameplays easily and create/edit/tweak to their heart’s desire. You can generate hundreds of videos in an automated process with one click.
Q: What kind of support can a gaming developer (or brand marketer) expect from your
platform?
Gearbox is made for people who want to monetize their games. It’s a one-stop shop for advertising and promotional videos. No prior coding knowledge is needed so anyone can use it, which hasn’t really been done to this extent before – with full, fast-response, technical support. It’s like having the full agency experience on one platform. For developers, we provide them with market insights around playable ads, guiding them to the right concept in
a speedy manner. They can get creative with graphic filters, text to speech options, banners… and any feature that improves the performance of the playables or video ads.
Q: Who are your clients?
We work with top mobile game publishers: Zynga, Playtika, Dream, Voodoo, Lion Studios, Gram Games and lots more. Apps publishers like Funimate, Trendyol and Gopuff. And brands include Hasbro, LEGO, Unilever and L’Oréal.
Q: What is unique about the Turkish mobile market/why has it become known as the Silicon
valley of the mobile gaming market?
Turkey’s become a global mobile gaming hub. It’s amazing to watch it take off. Some of the best publishers and developers in the world are based here. I think it’s got a lot to do with the ability for rapid development. You’ll find teams of 4-5 young people making a steady stream of mobile games that they send out into the market. Thanks to home-grown success stories, the eyes of investors have turned towards us. But it’s also down to the culture here. Gaming is hugely popular in Turkey and you can feel the passion and drive among people in the
scene here. Local and global economic forces make international expansion lucrative and it feeds back into making the industry making it even bigger and better – and long may it continue.
Q: Have you always been passionate about gaming? When did you first get into it?
I’ve always liked games: console, board games, mobile games… For me, it’s cracking the puzzle that gets me hooked on a game. In my childhood, my younger sister and I were always inventing our own games. Now, business-wise, my co-founder Berat and I, enjoy gaming together and playing board games in our downtime. We actually got the licence for the hugely popular party game Codenames from Czech Games. Since then, we’ve published two more board games together. This was before we entered mobile gaming.
Q: What’s your favourite mobile game?
It has to be 2048. I like puzzles and numbers 🙂
Q: What’s been the biggest challenge you’ve overcome in your career to date? And greatest
success?
Without a doubt: building a company from scratch on a technology that we learned all by ourselves, with no training. I didn’t know how to build playable ads, I didn’t know anything about HTML5 gaming and coding so finding a good developer and establishing a business was the biggest challenge.
Q: What’s one piece of advice you’d give to start-ups in the gaming industry?
I never truly understood the importance of a team before I started working in gaming. PhDs involve mostly working solo and it misses the team spirit. The pressure is high because the success of your work is always dependent on you, and you alone. The gaming industry is totally different. Success reflects on the team who built the game. I wish I’d known that before joining the industry. So, my advice would be to evaluate your team, and believe in them because that’s the only way to reach success. If you don’t like the people you work with, it’s often much harder for you to fulfil your full potential. When your motivations align with your team’s, you can combine forces and focus to get the success you deserve.
Reading Time: < 1 minute
Tom Horn Gaming is expanding its portfolio with the release of 243 Zeus Fruits, a slot that combines two proven player favourites – fruit slots and Greek mythology. The game delivers short feature cycles, multipliers, and higher stakes through the supplier’s QuickX mechanic.
Set against the backdrop of Mount Olympus, 243 Zeus Fruits blends the familiar symbols of a classic fruit slot with the power of Zeus. Players can enjoy 243 ways to win, with medium volatility, an RTP of 95.02, and maximum exposure of x100. The Wild 243 Respin feature frequently triggers wins, adding multipliers of up to x5 to maintain engagement and replayability.
The inclusion of QuickX encourages higher bets and appeals to bonus hunters and high-value players, while the game’s mobile-first design ensures smooth play across all devices. These elements combine to offer a straightforward, fast-paced slot that suits a wide range of players.
“243 Zeus Fruits continues our strategy of refreshing proven themes with features that increase both player enjoyment and operator returns,” said Ondrej Lapides, CEO at Tom Horn Gaming. “The mix of classic fruit game with a mythological layer provides familiarity with added depth, while QuickX is expected to contribute to longer sessions and higher average revenue per user.”
Targeted at markets across Europe and further afield, 243 Zeus Fruits offers strong cross-sell potential, appealing to a broad audience from fans of traditional fruit slots to players drawn to narrative-based titles. Its combination of simplicity, speed, and modern features positions it as a versatile addition to casino lobbies worldwide.
243 Zeus Fruits will be available to operators worldwide from 28 October.
The post Fruits meet Gods in Tom Horn Gaming’s latest release, 243 Zeus Fruits appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Latest News
Discipline Meets Drive: Kyrylo Korobka from Ready To Fight Joins GR8 Tech’s Bet It Drives
Reading Time: 2 minutes
Lisbon’s streets set the pace for Season 2 of GR8 Tech’s Bet It Drives—the drive-time podcast where iGaming’s sharpest voices speak freely, in motion. Hosted by Yevhen Krazhan, Chief Sales Officer at GR8 Tech, Episode 3 spotlights Kyrylo Korobka, Executive Director at Ready to Fight by Oleksandr Usyk, for a candid ride through the intersection of boxing, technology, and business execution.
Korobka leads operations at RTF, the ecosystem co-founded by the heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk on a mission to digitize boxing. Before, he had a career in international corporations and held a CMO role within a major crypto project. He has helped steer large-scale events and partnerships, including the Usyk vs. Dubois blockbuster, while advancing new tech initiatives like a cross-border payments solution and federation partnerships for the next generation of fighters.
During the ride, Kyrylo opens up about:
- His role as Executive Director of Ready to Fight
- Co-organizing a major fight for Oleksandr Usyk and overseeing broadcast, marketing, and operations
- Partnering with boxing federations and the mission to digitize boxing for the next generation
- His path from international corporations and a crypto CMO role into sports business
- Why his day-to-day is more “business” than “sport”
- What it’s like working with a superstar like Usyk and meeting other legendary athletes
- A standout partnership: Queensberry Promotions (founded by Frank Warren)
- How his view of iGaming evolved beyond “just casino”
- Learning from setbacks: treating failures as lessons and not repeating mistakes.
- His #1 “champion rule”: discipline and consistency at every stage.
“Boxing at the elite level is discipline, preparation, and execution—exactly how winning platforms are built,” said Yevhen Krazhan, CSO at GR8 Tech and host of Bet It Drives. “Kyrylo shows how Ready to Fight thinks like a tech company: digitize the sport, empower the community, and move fast with the right partners. That’s the GR8 way: performance first, innovation always.”
It’s been almost a year since GR8 Tech started its partnership with Ready to Fight. As RTF’s exclusive Partner in Tech, GR8 Tech brings a scalable, high-performance sportsbook and iGaming platform, top event coverage, smart margin management, and a geo-specific approach, while RTF channels champion-level vision to digitize boxing for fighters and fans. Together, they’re rolling out exclusive sports fashion drops, new features, and digital activations to bring the boxing world closer through great tech.
Watch or listen to Season 2, Episode 3 with Kyrylo Korobka on:
Season 2 of Bet it Drives launched with Rasmus Sojmark and kept pace with Tiago Pereira. The podcast continues with the upcoming episode featuring Kelly Kehn.
The next chapter of iGaming belongs to champions who play smart and bold. Meet GR8 Tech at booth 5028-2 during SiGMA Central Europe 2025 in Rome, November 3–6, and discover the Heavyweight Rulebook built for operators ready to scale, localize, and win.
The post Discipline Meets Drive: Kyrylo Korobka from Ready To Fight Joins GR8 Tech’s Bet It Drives appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Reading Time: 2 minutes
The International Association of Gaming Regulators (IAGR) has announced the winners of the IAGR International Regulatory Awards 2025, with regulators from Australia, Nigeria and Denmark taking home trophies during the IAGR Toronto conference.
IAGR President Ben Haden, who served on the judging panel, said this year’s winners demonstrate measurable progress and sustainable outcomes.
‘Our judges looked for clear problem definitions, robust interventions and evidence of impact. The 2025 winners show how thoughtful reforms, strong governance and targeted education can improve consumer protection and market integrity over the long term,’ said Haden.
- Regulatory Excellence Award: NSW Independent Casino Commission (Australia)
For leading a three-year, milestone-driven remediation of Crown Sydney following the Bergin Inquiry — eliminating junkets, strengthening financial-crime controls, enhancing harm-minimisation and reforming governance.
- ‘The NSW Independent Casino Commission is proud to be recognised for its dedication to restoring the expected standards at Crown Sydney. This has included three years of intense remediation which has completely transformed the casino’s governance, culture, safety and compliance functions.
- ‘The NICC has proven that it is possible to enact long lasting change and in doing so has set a new standard for Australian casino operations.’ – Murray Smith, Acting Chief Commissioner, NSW Independent Casino Commission
- Regulatory Innovation Award: Lagos State Lotteries and Gaming Authority (Nigeria)
For SAFEPLAY, Africa’s first regulator-led, multi-operator self-exclusion platform — centrally managed by the regulator and integrated with operator systems — creating a consistent, replicable model for consumer protection.
- ‘We are honoured to receive the IAGR Regulatory Innovation Award for our SafePlay initiative. This recognition reaffirms our commitment to responsible gambling, player protection, and data-driven regulation that puts the welfare of Lagos residents at the heart of our innovation.’ – Bashir A. Are, Chief Executive Officer, Lagos State Lotteries and Gaming Authority
- Best regulatory campaign: Danish Gambling Authority (Denmark)
For an interactive, school-based education programme that engages young people with practical demonstrations and surveys evidencing shifts away from gambling ‘to make money’ towards safer play and awareness of help services.
- This marks the second consecutive year that the Danish Gambling Authority has received the Best regulatory campaign award. ‘I’m very proud that IAGR has bestowed The Danish Gambling Authority with this award. It’s crucial that young people understand that gambling is designed so the player always loses in the long run. By conveying this message, we hope to promote a balanced attitude toward gambling and I’m extremely honoured that our efforts are recognised internationally.’ – Anders Dorph, Director, Danish Gambling Authority
These awards underscore the importance of collaboration, innovation and dedication in the global regulation of gambling.
The post IAGR announces winners of 2025 Regulatory Awards appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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