Taking the market by storm: ODDS Group and UltraPlay

Mario Ovcharov, chief executive officer at UltraPlay, tells iGB what this means for the company moving forward, and why we can expect big things from ODDS Group and UltraPlay in 2023.

Being part of a rapidly developing industry, UltraPlay believes that “staying still is dying”. This is why, even with a post-pandemic market environment, UltraPlay’s main priority was retaining its already existing audience, and expanding it at the same time. So, what was the next step in that direction?

The UltraPlay evolution

Now the esports leader is taking the next step in its evolution by combining all assets under one name, ODDS Group, making it instantly recognisable as a trustworthy and reputable brand which will undoubtedly help to attract a wider audience.

And the new look isn’t the only thing ODDS Group has under its belt. The business will also have a whole new host of services to offer to current customers, with innovative new products from UltraPlay, ODDS.GG, Galaxy.bet and NFTpay.GG all in one place.

Mario Ovcharov, chief executive officer at UltraPlay, describes this as a new era and explains how the business strategy is changing to pave the way for their success.

“What inspired us was the idea for a new beginning, a new vision, and the desire to stand out from the crowd,” he says. “Our industry is very dynamic and highly competitive and our main goal is to continue strengthening our position as one of the leading igaming groups on the market.

“ODDS Group has been an innovator in the igaming and sports betting industry, creating multiple, diverse, and versatile brands for differing segments of the market since 2010. The natural and logical next step, with our future ambitions in mind, was to unify these brands under one name.”

Upping the offering for esports customers

The UltraPlay consolidation with ODDS Group promises to bring in a wide range of gaming and betting services as well as a dedicated customer service team. The company has developed a platform that allows customers to manage their bets and wagers as well as provides them with dedicated analytics and insights into the gaming industry.

“UltraPlay has been at the forefront of the igaming and sports betting industry for over 13 years, offering its award-winning turn-key platform to operators,” Ovcharov says. “The UltraPlay brand will continue to grow and continue to help businesses globally.

“We decided to unify them under one name that reflects the company’s core values, which are professionalism, dedication to our clients, and a passion for developing leading technologies in the igaming and sports betting Industries.”

The powers of promotion

Inevitably, a huge part of the work Ovcharov and his team have put in over the past decade is relying on a perfected brand strategy to retain and further gain customers and promotion is a huge part of this.

“Our strategy and tactics are very simple. Although we are undergoing a rebranding exercise, our strategy has remained the same since 2010, which is complete dedication to our current customers and using distinctive branding to help attract new customers.”

ODDS Group is promoting the new brand through various channels, including online and offline marketing campaigns. The company has also partnered with leading industry publications and websites to spread the word about the rebrand and to ensure that customers are aware of the changes. To secure their presence in people’s minds, ODDS Group is preparing for at least four global exhibitions this year – in Brazil, the Philippines, Barcelona, and Malta.

A new era = new avenues

The rebranding is set to benefit UltraPlay’s existing customer base as well as bring in new clients. Existing customers are still able to benefit from the new services and offerings, while new customers will be able to take advantage of the brand’s wider range of gaming and betting services: a win-win all round.

Ovcharov says that “the rebranding will not affect our existing customers in any way. The UltraPlay brand and product range will carry on, but UltraPlay is now part of ODDS Group together with ODDS.GG, Galaxy.bet and NFTpay.GG.”

Head over to the company’s website and it is clear that, among the array of platform offerings and details of the many awards it has won, the brand aims to target plenty of new markets to make a big impact.

With popularity increasing and regulations passing in some of the smaller jurisdictions worldwide, nowhere is out of reach for ODDS Group. And that’s why the company is looking to expand its presence in Europe, North America, and the Asia-Pacific region over the next few years. But that’s not all. ODDS Group is also looking to target new demographics, such as casual gamers and esports fans.

And Ovcharov gives iGB a peek into how the team is going to do this. “ODDS Group is well-positioned to take full advantage of new markets and regions such as the dynamic growth markets of Asia and LatAm, by offering market-attuned software, specifically localized odds and local games which are successful in those regions.

“For UltraPlay as the software and platform provider, this means understanding the latest industry trends and knowing how to interpret them at a regional and local level. It is this understanding and knowledge base from working with our clients locally that ensures that ODDS Group achieves its long-term objectives globally.”

ICE London

ICE London saw more than 40,000 attendees from the igaming and land-based gambling industries descend on ExCeL London and Ovcharov said the team couldn’t have been more successful.

“It was a very exciting time for us at UltraPlay to celebrate our tenth anniversary at ICE London last time around. After a decade of phenomenal growth, it was amazing to receive an award of recognition. It really highlighted the hard work and dedication the team put into the company, helping to make it the success it is today.”

So how did ICE 2023 compare for ODDS Group? Over the past year, the company has embarked on a huge recruitment drive, established new regional offices in technology hubs in Europe, and developed a suite of new igaming products to be announced later this year.

Situated right at the eSports Arena, the ODDS Group bar was quite the attraction. “Our head of trading and our business development director, Peter and Daniel, both had the chance to present on stage. The audience had the chance to learn more about the newest user trends, as well as the exciting opportunities surrounding NFTs,” added Ovcharov.

Introducing NFTpay.GG

ODDS.GROUP unveiled its exciting new portfolio of products at ICE, presenting an entirely new vision to its customers.

The team introduced its latest, state-of-the-art payments technology NFTpay.GG. This product has been created exclusively for innovative companies in the betting, forex, and trading space looking for cutting-edge payments platform, as Ovcharov explains.

“With our NFTpay.GG technology, users can instantly turn their NFTs into cash, or even lend them out to generate yield,” he says. “NFTpay’s B2B payment software provides liquidity to its users by allowing them to stake their NFTs, which in turn gives our B2B partners in the betting, forex, and trading space access to a whole new vertical of users and multiple additional revenue streams with a simple API integration to NFTpay.GG.”

Ovcharov makes clear that the portfolio the brand now offers is beyond anything it has offered before, combining as it does all its strengths into one unified business.

With this year’s ICE having been the biggest edition on record and ODDS Group setting the market alight with its exciting, advanced product offering, 2023 is shaping up to be a monumental year for the gaming sector.