ELK Studios Has a New Chief Executive Officer (CEO) – Robin Smith

ELK Studios Has a New Chief Executive Officer (CEO) –  Robin Smith

ELK Studios has a new Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Robin Smith. With over ten years of experience in the online gambling industry, Smith has extensive knowledge in the field. During his seven years at ELK Studios, he successfully managed several major markets, and in June, it was announced that he transitioned to the role of CEO from his previous position as Chief Compliance Officer.

ELK Studios is a leading game developer based in Stockholm, known for creating top-quality games with innovative mathematics and outstanding artwork. Some of the studio's successful releases include the Battle of Nitropolis series, Coba, and Dropz with X-iter included, which is one of their many innovative features. In 2021, ELK Studios was acquired by Light & Wonder (previously known as Scientific Games), a leading company that offers gambling products and services.

We were eager to learn more about Robin Smith, so we asked him some questions.

Favorite slot from ELK Studios?

– Hard not to go with Pirots 3 since it’s such a great game. There’s a reason why we are breaking every ELK record we have ever had with that series. But one of my other favorites that hasn’t received the same recognition as Pirots is Ice Wolf. I always loved that game and the straightforward mechanics of that game. Break the ice to get the good stuff at the top. Underrated game, in my opinion. Perhaps the world is ready for an Ice Wolf 2.

Favorite slot from another game provider?

– I’m going to go with Money Train 2. The bonus game is a lot of fun and I have had some really good wins on that.

Favorite old-school slot?

– Tough one, when looking back at the time when I started in iGaming, I can’t look past the originals like Reactoons and Jammin Jars that pushed the world of online slots back then.

What is your background in iGaming?

– I started as a technical account manager at a company called NYX in 2012. Back then, my first customer to look after was a small start-up company called Leovegas. After that, I was a Product owner for a couple of years at NYX, which later became Scientific Games after an acquisition in 2017. Around that time, I joined ELK Studios, first as a Product Manager and then later as the Chief Compliance Officer. Scientific Games became Light and Wonder, and in 2021 they acquired ELK, so in a way, the circle is complete for me.

What is your vision and strategy to drive the company forward?

– ELK has been on an amazing journey so far, so when you have a winning formula, you shouldn’t change it too much. We need to continue to build on the success we have had, but at the same time, we can’t be afraid of change. Now is the time for the next generation at ELK to step up and lead the company. We have so many great minds at ELK and if I can aim that force in the right direction, we will continue to be great.

What do you see as the biggest opportunities and challenges?

– ELK has primarily been a European-focused game studio I would say, but I think now is the time to look across the Atlantic and perhaps test our games over there. Everyone says that they prefer the land-based slots that are converted to online, so it’s going to be interesting to see how they like games like Pirots, Cygnus, and Nitropolis. I think we can convert quite a few over there.

Challenges. As for every company that is growing fast, it’s about not losing sight of what built our success in the first place. It’s not about quantity, it’s about quality. We cannot lose sight of this; quality is the key in everything we do. Quality in the games we build, quality in how we respond to our customers, and quality in how we treat each other.

What types of games do you want to focus on in the future?

– After one of our game forums, one of the game product owners came up to me and asked if I had a few minutes, he wanted to show a new crazy game concept that he had been working on. He started drawing on the whiteboard and explained his idea, and my god! This was indeed a crazy game concept, to say the least. He finished off by saying, I’m going on vacation now, but I’m going to build a prototype during the summer so that we can try it out when we get back.

When you have passionate people like that in a company, who want to create and want to push the boundaries all the time, as the CEO you just have to stand on the sideline and fan that flame and support them as best you can.

I don’t know what games I want to focus on, but I know that I have the right people here at ELK to build whatever we decide on.

 

We at AboutSlots look forward to seeing what's to come from the innovative ELK Studios and what's ahead. We wish Robin Smith all the best in his new role as the new CEO and it was great getting to know him a little bit more. Remember to stay tuned for more updates and exciting news in the casino gaming world here on AboutSlots!

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