Aviator's maker interview: CEO of Spribe talks about the game's success, origin, and the future

Hi, can you introduce yourself and the company, please? Yes. Hi. My name is David Natroshvili and I'm the owner and the founder of the company Spribe. Which is behind the famous Aviator game. It is a very famous game. We had an interview about it two years ago with Vitaly. I wonder what updates Aviator received in the last two years? What updates players can expect in the next one year? Sure. So, you know, Aviator is the pioneer inventor of the "crash gaming" theme. Crash game, is very interesting thing for players to experience. It gives a unique experience like no other game can give you. So what's the main difference? Let's compare it to slots -which is still the most popular game category-. With slots you just sit, press the button, it spins, and you win or loose. But you do not participate. It just spins by itself, you can put an automatic, it spins... With Aviator it's a completely different experience that no other game can give you. Because you are a pilot, an aviator. You fly high with Aviator. You can cash out any time. You decide how much you want to win and this game gives you a sense of control, that people like. So it is a really unique control, even if you're not into iGaming. It is a pretty crazy game in a way that not only casino gamers, gamblers enjoy, but also those who never played in casino, because it has a social element to it. You know, we have a chat, people come, make friends. I mean, it's a multiplayer game. But when you play in any slot, you play solo. That is also sometimes good. But Aviator can really create a different, unique experience that no other game can do. So, it's better to try and see. Yeah, and I know that Aviator earned a lot of prizes in the past and I wonder if there are any new type of games coming out of Spribe that might get some awards? Sure. I just want tom mention a couple of things about Aviator first. We are growing every year. Just last month we had 42 million players. And I mean real money players, not just unique players. So we had last month 42 million. We are having 350,000 bets every minute. Just as we are talking we have 350,000 bets again and again. Crazy. Yet, we are still growing. There are many markets to come. So if you think about it, it's just "one game", but it's really a phenomenon. It's a game category that creates a different dimension of fans: People who really enjoy to play. Because we should remember: people think people gamble to win money. It's not true. People gamble to enjoy, to entertain themselves. Of course, winning money is part of it, but also we should not forget the experience is the key, the fun, the user experience. That's why we created Aviator, because there is no other game can give the same enjoyment. So you say it's not possible to replicate this energy and success with other games? Yes. I mean, to be honest, since we created first Crash Game five years ago... I came with my partner to London to the London ICE conference with just one iPad. I personally having this iPad, walking to the stands, nobody knew us, no meetings. We only had one client in Georgia. We were saying: "Hello! This is a new game." Nobody knew about Crash Games back then. Now, thanks to us, we have hundreds of copies of Aviator with different names, like "Pilot", and many, many others. I don't want to mention more names, but we still have 90% of the market share. So, I mean, you know, because I always say players are the key. They make a decision what they want to play. Not casinos, not us, the players. Players are the most important people and they choose what to play. So they choose Aviator. There's a reason why they choose it. Because every day we keep growing. It's growing very fast pace. So I think, and in general, Crash Games like Aviator really changed the online gaming industry. Because nothing new has been done since the invention of online gaming, right? I mean, okay, you have slots, roulette, but it's the same, same, same. Here, we have a different gameplay, different experience, a different feeling, this sense of control that players enjoy. I think in the future this will keep growing because it gives you pleasure and people are enjoying it. People want to have fun, because you go to bar to have fun, you go to casino to have fun, and so on. I am excited about the future and how trends are changing worldwide. Aviator is growing and it is good for the industry and the players. A win-win for everybody. And having so many active players can give you a lot of data and a lot of learning what to build next. And maybe you are coming up with something new, exciting product or even a new phase of the Spribe company? So you are absolutely right. So we have now just, think about this number, 4,500 operators around the world. I mean, we are with 4500 operators in every country. And so we, of course, have a lot of data. We are on mostly all the platforms. Our next big thing, but we, it's a very ambitious project. I can just say in short: we launched the Broadway Platform. We want to enter into a completly new category. We want to build a full ecosystem for iGaming. Everything... platform, aggregator. It's very competitive. There are many companies who are there, but we are Spribe. Obviously want to bring something unique, something extraordinary. Because we don't settle for less. If we do something, we have to do it like in the top category. So we'll see. it's going to take time. But the next big thing will be the Broadway Platform with full ecosystem. It's not going to be a "just another" platform because we're going to solve many issues that we see. Remember, we have 4,500 operator integrations. We know all the minuses and pluses. We have so much data, not only from the players, but from the B2B sector, including operators. So we know what's missing right now. It is the 21st century, everything is changing. You need to be up to date. So for us, it's a very exciting future lies ahead. We are entering a very competitive market and we really want to change it and make it much better. Much more acceptable and enjoyable. Fun is the key here too, yeah. Some of the viewers might not know what is an aggregator or a platform. So they don't really understand why such a big deal this is for Spribe. Would you be able to elaborate on that? Sure. So, basically we will create an ecosystem, a platform. Let's say you want to start a new business. In many cases, to be honest, the people who are starting casinos in general, never had casino experience. They are from different walks of life. They're in construction, trading, many things. So many who people want to launch casinos have no experience sometimes, or most of the times. But they can become very successful also. So they want to enter this industry. They think it's good. And the idea for the platform is that we are offering a start. A "turnkey solution". Everything from scratch. You don't need to have anything, nothing. You just come and say "I want to start the casino". You come to Spribe and we do everything for you. So we can even manage for you. We can create your brand, your design, everything tailored to what your solution is. In many cases, the newcomers, they make a lot of money on this. You know, they create brands that are very successful. Obviously, it's a business. In any business, there are risks. But if we do things correctly... This is we want to build, what we want to bring the people who never have experience in gaming. Because sometimes people think "Oh I have to learn this for 10 years." No! I mean, if you are already doing business well, and have a judgment of business, and you are successful in one business. There is a pretty big chance that you can be successful here as well. So we are here to help. That's the idea. We can say this in term names, but the bottom line is that we are here for your success. Just come talk to us and we'll make everything happen for you. So we want to create this innovation. Easy, very easy to onboard, manage, understand even for someone without experience. You know, simplicity is the genius, right? The simple things are. So we try to make it easy, not complicated, quick, fast, and reliable. That's our service. That's very, very impressive. And I really wonder how Spribe will be able to make the platform so unique, like the flagship game was. So I can't wait to make an interview about that. Do you know when are you planning to launch the platform? We launched it already. We launched it, but obviously it's an IT topic. So we should not forget Spribe is a software company. First of all, 90% of our employees are software engineers. You know, we don't operate casino. We create software. So the biggest thing to keep in mind when you create software, -any software-, that it is a live organism. You cannot finish its development. You're not going to say: "Oh, I'm done with it." No, you're always changing. Quite a lot. So this is, of course, it's a difficult process. So it will take time. We don't know, but we already launched. We have several brands already. Demand is very high. But we also want to test, because Spribe has a big reputation. We have a big name and we value our name. You know, this is a name, reputation is everything. So if we stand behind our product... and we do stand behind our product. We want to be sure that this is ready, but it will come. We already released it. We are open and we are accepting also already the requests. And demand is very high. I mean, it was much bigger demand than we expected. It's great to hear that there are so many development going on and so much expansion at Spribe. And you have so many players too. But I think a lot of viewers would be wondering what is it like to work at Spribe? And is there an opportunity to work for this company or even iGaming in general? So in general, you know, let me tell you my story. You know, I have a very diverse background. I'm 47 years old, but five years ago, I had no idea about iGaming. Believe me, when we came with my partner to London, we had zero knowledge, zero, never. We didn't know anything, you know, and look where we are. We're one of the biggest company in the world with hundreds of employees. I would say to the viewers that one of the hottest sector to be is iGaming today, because in iGaming you always have software. So you have, what I always call "deadly poison". Because in iGaming, you have a software and you have gambling combined. And it's like a bomb. So if you do it right, then it's the best sector to be to start in any capacity. It's one of the fastest growing industries in the world right now. It grows 25-30% by itself. There are many, many opportunities really to achieve. I'ts not Spribe only obviously, but we always look for the talent. We believe the team is everything. If you don't have a team, you have nothing. It's not a factory. Our asset is intellectual property. It's brains. It's our team and people. So yeah, what I would say: just go for it! iGaming is the biggest industry that will thrive in the future. And why Spribe in particular? Well, Spribe. If you want to be a winner. I mean, we are number one company for a reason. We have 90% of the market share. I mean, there are many copies, hundreds. But it does not work. Payers choose us. But I want to mention also our great partnerships that we do. With big guys like UFC. For example Alex Pereira is here right now. He is a great guy. He is our ambassador. I just met him in our hotel. He's here. So he's going to come here at three o'clock. So, you know, he's our brand ambassador. It's, you know, it's made very well. We have an another Georgian champion, Jully Poca. And we find the people that have similar mindset to Spribe. So Spribe is a company that will lead the gaming for a long time. So if you want to be with a winner, here we are. That's a very good answer. I only have one last tricky question. What type of iGaming games do you enjoy the most, but you are not allowed to say any of the Spribe games. You know, I'll tell you, like, I'm a gambler. I always say, you know, I wanted to be in the industry. I love Vegas. I like the lights. It's, you know, 24 hours. It's vibe. So I like slot games sometimes, you know, because slot games are relaxing. But, you know, because if you're talking about not Aviator, but Crash Games, Crash Games are very intense. It's a unique experience. So you have to constantly think and you have to constantly participate in the game. That can be sometimes quite intensive. I like Blackjack also. So I can talk about casinos forever, but in general, yeah, it's a very unique experience that Aviator can bring. Thank you very much for this interview and good luck with launching the new product. Thank you very much.