Ivan Kravchuk: "I see success as steady progress, not short-term peaks"

In this exclusive interview, IvanKravchuk, CEO of Evoplay, outlines the company’s ambitions for 2026 following a milestone year. He discusses expansion into the US lottery and Canadian iGaming markets, the strategic importance of the FIFA World Cup 2026, and the evolution of the Penalty Shoot-Out series. Kravchuk also shares insights into instant game innovation, player-driven mechanics, and how Evoplay plans to measure long-term success.

Q: Evoplay had a very successful 2025, marked by important milestones, but it is 2026 that now draws our interest. What is in store for Evoplay this year?

2026 is shaping up to be an active year for us. This year, we’ll focus on strengthening the projects we started earlier and, at the same time, move forward with new ones. We’ll be sharing some exciting news soon, particularly regarding our progress in entering strategically important markets for us. Right now, we’re especially proud of our entry into the US lottery market and the Canadian iGaming market, which gives us a solid presence in North America, and this will remain a key focus this year.

On the product side, we’re actively investing in new games, formats, and mechanics, working on add-ons, and continuing to develop classic games. We aim to strike a healthy balance between classic and modern releases, helping us grow steadily while also taking bold steps to create fresh game concepts.

Sports titles remain a strategic focus, and with the FIFA World Cup this year, football will naturally take centre stage. At the same time, we’re expanding our sports portfolio beyond football and have already launched Cricket Duel, an instant game based on a sport that’s particularly popular with Asian players worldwide.

We’re also strengthening our partner network and working on collaborations across the board, with a particular focus on B2C. Our goal is to engage players more directly while keeping the Evoplay brand visible in the community.

All in all, 2026 is shaping up to be busy and exciting, with new releases, closer partnerships, and fresh ideas in the pipeline.

Q: You recently released Penalty Shoot-Out: Cup Mania, a soccer-themed game with a bulky max payout and a clear emphasis on player agency. Players who have been around longer would know that this is a spiritual successor of the original – Penalty Shoot Out? How has this game been received?

Penalty Shoot-Out: Cup Mania continues our popular penalty shoot-out series while adding new features and expanding the gameplay from the original. Evoplay's football-themed series as a whole has always performed well — from its first release, Penalty Shoot-Out, to games in the line such as Penalty Shoot-Out: Super Cup and Penalty Shoot-Out: Street. It continues to be popular with players, showing how strongly this type of football excitement resonates with our audience.

Continuing this tradition, Penalty Shoot-Out: Cup Mania is already showing strong player activity and retention, even though it was released quite recently. It’s great to see that players are connecting with their favourite penalty shoot-out experience, while also enjoying the fresh elements we’ve added in Penalty Shoot-Out: Cup Mania.

Q: You know, we don't believe in coincidences. The upcoming FIFA World Cup is an opportunity for Penalty Shoot-Out: Cup Mania to truly shine. Is Evoplay planning to ride the wave of soccer excitement over the coming months, and why do you think players would be interested in Penalty Shoot-Out: Cup Mania?

We’re definitely planning to make Penalty Shoot-Out: Cup Mania a highlight of this year. Partners and players can expect several exciting marketing initiatives as the FIFA World Cup 2026 approaches.

From a gameplay perspective, players will find that Penalty Shoot-Out: Cup Mania expands on previous versions of the series. We’ve significantly increased the potential maximum winnings — from 32x in earlier iterations to 1000x — enhancing the thrill of each session and appealing to a broader range of players. Under the hood, the game combines familiar football mechanics with a genuine feeling of excitement and anticipation, similar to what fans enjoy in crash-style games.

For the first time in Evoplay’s instant games, Penalty Shoot-Out: Cup Mania introduces the Bonus Buy feature. This allows players to jump straight into the more advanced stages of the game. Some enjoy gradual progress, while others prefer to dive directly into the action. Bonus Buy provides this flexibility without altering the core identity of the game.

We also enhanced the interface and graphics, making the game more dynamic and immersive. Combined with updates to the game model, Penalty Shoot-Out: Cup Mania represents a new chapter in the series, offering players fresh experiences while keeping the core gameplay they enjoy.

Q: In the latest games, you changed the shooting mechanic — instead of aiming at fixed zones, players now place shots freely in the net. What motivated this change, and what did you want to improve in the overall experience?

We changed how the shooting works to make the game faster and cleaner to follow. In the first version of Penalty Shoot-Out, players aimed at a few clearly defined target zones in the goal.

In Penalty Shoot-Out: Cup Mania, as well as in Penalty Shoot-out: Super Cup and Penalty Shoot-out: Street, we moved to a smoother and more natural aiming system, where players can place the shot freely anywhere in the goal.

The result is a more dynamic and tense experience, with more focus on timing, progression, and strategic decisions from shot to shot. At the same time, the game stays true to the series and keeps that familiar sense of anticipation before every kick.

Q: What gameplay features in Penalty Shoot-Out: Cup Mania help keep players engaged? How did the team decide which features to include, and what motivated the introduction of Evoplay’s first Bonus Buy in an instant game?

In Penalty Shoot-Out: Cup Mania, we examine player retention through various layers of engagement. The crash model adds tension to key decision moments, and the wider multiplier range makes each round feel more emotional, while the gameplay stays familiar and easy to follow.

This is also why we introduced Bonus Buy into an instant game for the first time. Players interact with games in different ways: some prefer a steady pace, others want to jump straight into the most intense moments. Bonus Buy lets us support both styles in one game. The early signals are positive, but since this is a new direction for our instant games, we’re carefully watching how players use this feature.

Overall, the focus was on making the game more player-driven and emotionally engaging — and that’s what shaped Penalty Shoot-Out: Cup Mania.

Q: As instant games evolve, how do you decide which features add real value for players without compromising simplicity?

We always start by focusing on the player experience. Instant mechanics give us room to experiment with new ideas, but we only add a feature if it truly enhances the game without making it confusing or overwhelming.

Take Tap Craze, an instant game with a tap mechanic, as an example. We planned many extra features at first, but during development, it became clear that too many options would slow the game down and make it less enjoyable. Removing some of them kept the gameplay clean, fast, and exciting.

Another example is our Avia Rush instant game. We ran internal tournaments to test it, which gave us a clear picture of how players interact with the mechanics, which parts they enjoy most, and where adjustments are needed. A similar approach was used for Oath of Steel, a slot showing how player feedback campaigns can help improve games, and how the same method can be applied to instant games.

In the end, it’s about creating games that are simple to understand but still exciting to play. That’s what keeps instant mechanics fun, intuitive, and engaging — players can jump in immediately but still feel the thrill every time they play.

Q: Do you expect the post-FIFA World Cup period to continue to yield strong results for your soccer-themed titles?

From what we’ve seen with our previous football-themed games, they usually don’t lose momentum once the tournament is over. The World Cup definitely creates a spike in attention, but the football theme and competitive feel keep players engaged long after it ends.

We expect Penalty Shoot-Out: Cup Mania to follow the same path. The championship will naturally bring extra excitement around the game, but it’s not something that lives only for a few weeks — it’s designed to stay fun and engaging in the long run. After the tournament, players who still want that football thrill look for a way to keep that experience going, and that’s exactly where games like ours come in.

And of course, we’ll be supporting it on our side too. We already have a few promotional activities planned, and we’re working with B2C partners, affiliates, and influencer channels to keep the game visible and relevant even after the World Cup hype settles down.

Q: How are instant win games different from crash games? What drives your choice between one mechanic and the other?

Crash is actually just one of the mechanics within the wider instant-win category. In a classic crash game, players watch the multiplier climb and have to decide when to stop before it drops — that’s the core experience everyone knows.

But a crash doesn’t always have to look like that on the surface. Sometimes the crash logic is still there mathematically, but the game is presented in a completely different way.

Penalty Shoot-Out: Cup Mania is a good example. Players are interacting with a football setting and making decisions shot by shot, but the underlying model follows the same crash principle.

So, the difference between instant win and crash games isn’t only about the mechanics themselves — it’s also about how the experience is delivered. Some games stay true to the classic crash format, while others use the same foundation to build something more thematic.

Q: How would Evoplay measure whether 2026 has been a successful year?

I see success as steady progress, not short-term peaks, and it has to be measured in a well-rounded way. That includes the strength of our releases, our entry into new markets and deeper growth in existing ones, player engagement, the performance of new projects, and the overall development of the Evoplay brand.

We have a lot of exciting ideas and ambitious plans ahead, so we’re ready to keep raising the bar for iGaming — together with our team and our partners.

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