Games Magazine Brasil ONE-ON-ONE – Fabíola Jaeger – Caleta Gaming COO and co-founder

In yet another interview for the GMB One-On-One cycle, Gildo Mazza spoke with Fabiola Jaeger, COO and co-founder of Caleta Gaming, a Brazilian game developer that has been very successful both in Brazil and in the international market. The company has a presence on all continents and its objective is ‘to become the largest provider in Latin America.’ For Fabiola, it is unfortunate that ‘of the 193 UN member countries, only 37 prohibit gambling, and Brazil is in that minority.’

This year alone, the company has developed 32 games and is seeking certification. “We are working with BMM staff in Colombia and certifying games to the GLI-19 standard. Today, we are already integrated with several global operators and aggregators and also through our direct distribution through our RGS,” she says.

Check below out the main excerpts from the interview:

GMB – First of all, I would like you to tell us a little about Caleta Gaming. How is the company and why did you decide to start a game development company in Brazil?
Fabiola Jaeger – Caleta is a company specializing in the development of multi-platform games for online casinos. For now, we only operate in the online casino market. Before founding Caleta, we, three partners, worked in other companies in the gaming area. We always like this industry, which besides being fun, is very promising. In order to create our own brand and have greater control over our destiny and create independence, we founded Caleta in 2013.

Seven years of experience. How many games are currently available on Caleta’s platform?
Today we have about 68 games, 56 of which are already running on the market. Three are in the process of being approved, nine will be launched soon, and nine are in development, to be launched by the end of the year. Among the types of games, we have slots, video-bingo, keno and we are about to launch a lotto game. In addition to these games, which are ours, we have already developed around 50 games for other companies in the industry. In other words, in these seven years we have been working hard and producing a lot. We aim to always solve new games, learn from what didn’t work and make better games. We have a game creation percentage of one per week. It is a very high production.

Do you run only on your platform or also on third-party ones? How is this integration done?
Today Caleta has a complete RGS and RNG solution for all types of games and it is worth remembering that they are all in the process of certification. Our platform is 100% proprietary and independent from third parties, thanks to the architecture created by our engineers over these seven years. Today we can work directly with operators, or integrate our games with aggregators and even with other RGS from other companies to benefit from their distribution.

You talked about certification. Is Caleta seeking international certifications with already known laboratories?
We are working with BMM staff in Colombia and certifying games to the GLI-19 standard, and later on we will see in which markets we can enter, as this certainly opens up many opportunities. Today we are already integrated with several global operators and aggregators, and also through our direct distribution through our RGS.

And how to show operators from all over the world the high qualification of the Brazilian in general and of Caleta Gaming in particular, since we do not have regulated gaming activities in Brazil?
We realized that there is a great demand for games. The world is very globalized, competitive and is no different in the game market. We see that the Brazilian market, both in the area of ​​casinos and sports betting, is growing a lot in the last decade. We have countless professionals highly trained by different institutions. Here in Florianópolis, where our development studio is located, for example, there are several specific undergraduate courses in game design and programming. We are lucky to be here, as there are many people wanting to work in this area. It is a branch of entertainment and people like to work with it, as it is a relaxed and creative way of working. This is one of the reasons why we receive a lot of CV and select the right people to work with us. I hope that the gaming sector will soon be regulated in Brazil, but in the meantime, it is not an obstacle for Brazilian professionals to be able to carry out work in this area for foreign companies or clients. The market is very large and opens up many opportunities.

How to win customers in this globalized world offering solutions from a Brazilian company?
At Caleta we have a slogan, “making better game.” It is a simple phrase, but quite powerful, as it prevents us from settling in the present. In our daily lives, we seek to improve not only our games but also our production tools. One of the ways to improve and polish the games according to the market, is to know the culture of the countries where the games are being placed, as it is extremely important for the player to feel engaged and at home with the game. This makes the players win and retain. In Brazil, for example, we know that video bingo games are preferred by the public.

Another way to gain respect in the market is communication and response time. We always try to be agile and efficient, serving our customers with the shortest possible response time, despite the different time zones. Whether to give an explanation or to solve a problem, availability and attention focused on solving the problem is the key to a good reputation and consequently a good position in the market.

Another important point is that we do not outsource any game production services. Everything is done in house, using our own technology and team. Therefore, our development is very fast, which puts us at this level of agility. We are a small company, with only 10 employees, but we managed to have a high production. To give you an idea, we have already developed 32 games in 2020 alone. That gives an average of four games per month.

That’s interesting. And are you just game developers or are you also running online casinos? Do you intend to become operators?
For now we are developers and we already had a great challenge, which was to develop the complete solution that includes FrontEnd, BackEnd, RNG and RGS. We will continue to focus on this to improve what we need, and our big goal is to become the largest game provider in Latin America. Once we have achieved that goal, we can move on to the next one. I believe that next month we will have the certification of the vast majority of games through BMM and once the game is regulated in Brazil, becoming operators will be our next big goal and challenge.

It’s a challenge. And how do you see the issue of gaming regulation in Brazil?
The lack of regulation is a major nuisance. It is quite frustrating to see an audience as avid as the Brazilian being banned from playing due to some political issues. Tax collection could help the economic situation a lot and that is not the case. In my opinion, in Brazil gaming is monopolized by the government through lotteries. We can say that it is forbidden to bet outside the state monopoly. This is very contradictory. Of the 193 UN member countries, only 37 prohibit gambling, and Brazil is in that minority.

There is much talk that gaming is addictive and does not do well. In my view, each adult is responsible and has the freedom to spend their money and make their choices. It does not mean that the misuse of freedom by a few justifies limiting everyone’s freedom. We know that many Brazilians who enjoy this type of entertainment go to casinos in neighboring countries in search of this leisure that is not found here. It is a pity.

The government banned it, claiming that games are not healthy, but the lotteries remain. So, it doesn’t make much sense. You shouldn’t do it through lotteries either, should you?

Both the economy, as well as culture, entertainment and tourism, as well as other sectors, are not benefiting from this non-regulation and this creates an obstacle to the development and generation of wealth and jobs for the country. It has very real data estimating that with this ban, Brazil stops billing about R$ 175 billion (US$333b) a year, which could collect about R$59 billion (US$11b) in taxes. So, we hope that this scenario will change soon. We, at Caleta Gaming, are willing to contribute whatever is necessary for this scenario to change.

And how to understand the taste of the Brazilian player and develop games that fit the preference of this bettor?
We are learning from our data and the information we collect. There are some things that we know work well. Brazilians are very fond of football and sports, issues related to tourism in Brazil, games that involve a bit of Brazilian folklore and culture, music, all of which makes Brazilians feel welcomed. So, we know that these are games that will work, but we are always learning and looking to retain more players. The path is quite wide, but we will definitely get there.

Source: Exclusive GMB