“Recognisable, fun-based IP will always work if the underlying games and mechanics are true to the brand”

Could you share the backstory behind the founding of Pixiu Gaming? What were your goals and vision for the company?

Like a lot of businesses, Pixiu has become something very different from what it started as. Our origin story was from a meeting with Loto Quebec when I was selling them some Bally’s slots. During the meeting, the Director of iGaming said, “We have lots of slots, what we really need are Keno games, as we don’t have any, and it is a popular game for lotteries”.

As per any decent salesman, I immediately sold them the dream that I would source them some Kenos. After the meeting, I went for dinner with the casino manager and asked him 2 questions:

1) What is Keno?

2) Will you help me design some Kenos?

He agreed to help, and Pixiu Gaming was born.

You brought experience from previous roles in the gaming industry at Bally’s and IGT. How have you been able to leverage that expertise at Pixiu Gaming?

Bally’s and IGT gave me strong exposure to the regulated iCasino space, globally, plus a window into what games were successful and how they could be distributed. However, both Bally’s and IGT were huge multinational businesses that are a galaxy away from building a start-up.

I was lucky that I had already done a successful start-up, easyodds.com, after university, so it was natural, and exciting, for me to set up Pixiu, gaining more learnings from that time than at IGT or Bally’s.

In the U.S., you’re already working with Caesars Entertainment, supplying Keno games. How significant was this partnership with Caesars in terms of opening up the potential of the American market?

Caesars have been incredibly supportive and helpful in our quest to bring Keno to the US market. Their team is full of humble, experienced executives who understand the potential for non-slots products and are willing to get behind launching and promoting our games, too.

We cannot be more thankful to the team there for what they have done and look forward to finally getting them a series of killer Keno titles in late ’25 and through ‘26.

Pixiu has recently partnered with Scientific Games on Monopoly and Battleship products. Could you provide some context around this collaboration?

At our heart, we are a lottery product business, with innovative Kenos our specialty. Hence, we have looked to build a strong, natural partnership with SG Lottery, including this IP licensing. We have already seen great success from branding games with ‘AAA’ IP, including Dan Marino (global exclusive to Pixiu), Deal or No Deal, and several games using Light and Wonder brands, arriving later this year.

Monopoly and Battleship lend themselves perfectly to Keno, and instant-win titles, as globally recognised, evergreen IP, we are going to use to create exciting, engaging titles with.

How do you think these types of titles will resonate with American players? Do you expect games based on such iconic brands to become more common in the gaming space?

Instantly recognisable, fun-based IP will always work if the underlying games and mechanics are true to the brand. We think American players will enjoy adding Monopoly and Battleship’s fun-filled gameplay to Keno titles. IP is already successfully used in the gaming space, but the key is always to build games that stay true to the themes and give players what they expect from the specific IP.

For a gameshow, or board game, that must include as much of the original mechanics and themes as possible, otherwise players will feel it is disingenuous and simply not play.

What are Pixiu Gaming’s immediate plans and goals? Are you looking at more partnerships, further product development, or something else?

We have a couple of other partnerships we hope to announce in the coming months, as we look to broaden our reach and also add new game types. In the spirit of true differentiation, we have a huge focus on Multiplayer iCasino games where multiple players play the same casino game at the same time.

We believe Community play is a natural evolution for our industry and will be releasing our first Multiplayer Slot, in collaboration with Light and Wonder, Raging Rhino Multiplayer, later this year. After that we have plans for a range of exciting and fun Multiplayer games to give players a true sense of winning together.