Relax Gaming

Global Gaming Insider speaks with Relax Gaming CEO, Martin Stålros about the company's 15 year journey, as well as his vision for Relax's next phase. Read the full interview here in the GGI October issue 2026.

You joined Relax Gaming in its early stages, when the company had around 30 employees. How has Relax Gaming’s strategy evolved as the business has grown into the organisation it is today?

When I joined Relax Gaming, the company’s core strength was our technical capability – and still is today. During our biggest growth phase, we intentionally became a little more silo-driven because it allowed us to scale quickly across several different areas of the business.

Now, as we look ahead to our next strategy cycle, our focus is to connect all of our verticals into one easy-to-work-with solution. We’ve had fantastic success creating our own games, but perhaps what’s been less well known is that we’re doing so much more than games. We want Relax to be recognised as a true multi-product supplier that can help operators across a wide range of areas.

It all comes back to those technical foundations we built early on. Today, through one a single integration, operators can access our own games, plus more than 7,000 titles through our aggregation platform, as well as our jackpot products, and tools like Relax Vantage.

Dream Drop was a defining moment for us because it changed the jackpot landscape, and we’re continuing to build on that success with a new jackpot product called Jackpot X, that was originally designed exclusively for our partners at FDJ. We’ve also seen great success with poker, particularly in France, as well as with Relax Vantage, our all-in-one platform that streamlines the entire integration process for operators and suppliers. So really, Relax is so much more than simply a games supplier.

Beyond Money Train, how does Relax identify which concepts have the potential to become long-term franchises rather than one-off releases?

We take pride in creating new game formats and mechanics that challenge the status quo. The follow up that naturally, not every game becomes an instant hit. Equally, just because one game is successful doesn’t guarantee the next one will be. So for every title, we monitor the data very closely to understand what genuinely resonates with players and what doesn’t.

When we find something we truly believe in, we look at how we can make that experience even better. It’s not simply a case of saying game one was successful, so let’s make game two. We want to understand what players enjoyed, where the potential for improvement is, and how we can enhance the game while staying true to the DNA of the original.

Money Train is probably the best example of that. The first game wasn’t a raving success, but the data showed us that the core mechanic had real potential. That gave us the confidence to develop a sequel, and from there it became one of the strongest franchises in the industry with a massive fan base.

How does Relax balance its own content development with third-party partnerships, and what value does this model provide for operators?

Strategically, we look to find the right balance of new and exciting studios, but we also want proven studios that already have an established fan base. At the same time, we’re examining product verticals where partnerships can strengthen areas that we don't already cover ourselves.

The benefit for operators is that they can access to a broad offering through a single integration. That means not only our own fantastic games, but also thousands of titles from our partners, alongside different product lines across the business.

This ties back to what I mentioned earlier. We’re increasingly positioning Relax as a multi-product supplier, so operators don’t just integrate with us for slot games, but gain access to a much wider ecosystem.

What does Relax look for when selecting partner studios, and how do you ensure additional content strengthens rather than dilutes the overall offering?

We’re always looking for the right mix and want to work with studios that are doing something different or pushing boundaries. 

The important thing is making sure every partner adds value to the overall portfolio. We don’t want to simply duplicate what we already have or fill the platform with more of the same. Instead, we want a healthy mix of our own content alongside games and products from partners that widen the overall offering.

Ultimately, our aim is to provide operators with more choice without compromising on quality. By combining our own content with carefully selected partners, we're able to position ourselves as a trusted source of content.

How do you see player expectations changing over the next few years, and what implications will that have for game development?

One trend we’ve seen over the last few years is reworks and games that are very similar to what’s already available on the market. The problem with this is that these games tend not to offer much depth to the player experience. Also, with AI and automation becoming more accessible, it’s naturally becoming easier for suppliers to create that kind of monotonous content that fails to stand out within an operator portfolio.

That doesn’t mean AI isn't important. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. AI has enormous potential to improve efficiency throughout the game development lifecycle. If it can speed up certain parts of the process, it gives our teams more time to focus on innovation and creating more bespoke, higher-quality experiences. For me, AI should be helping us improve quality rather than simply increasing quantity.

My belief is that the industry moves in cycles. Players will eventually become tired of seeing the same mechanics repeated over and over again, and throughout the next few years we’ll start to see a switch to more thoughtfully designed, handcrafted games.

Those games create something much more valuable and rewarding than quick commercial success. They build loyal fan bases because players genuinely want to come back to them time after time.

Looking ahead, what are the biggest lessons from Relax Gaming's growth journey that will shape the company's next phase of success?

One of the biggest things we’ve learnt is the importance of being the easiest multi-product supplier to work with and that’s really where we’re heading now. 

Yes, games will always be at the heart of what we do, but we’re so much more than that. We want operators to see us as a partner that can offer an extensive product portfolio through one simple integration.

We’ve also gone through a big transformation over the last few years. Some long-standing colleagues have moved on, and in turn, we've brought new people into the business, particularly across our games and commercial teams. This has naturally brought fresh ideas and renewed energy, which is great, and on the technical side I genuinely believe we’re stronger than ever. We’ve done a huge amount of work in the background across our portfolio over the last couple of years which isn’t always the most visible from the outside, but it puts us in a really strong position.

Looking ahead, we’ll keep doing what we’re doing, just better. We’ll continue expanding our product offering and will look to grow in markets where we see real long-term potential, particularly across North and Latin America. We’ve spent a lot of time getting ourselves ready technically for that next phase, so it’s exciting to see those plans starting to come together.

What excites me most is the energy we’re starting to see among the teams again. Following the changes internally, you can really see that innovation coming through in our latest releases. For example, Guitar Quest moved the needle away from the familiar, while Money Plane gave the team freedom to explore a completely different game style. We’re also spending more time working with streamers, because they understand players incredibly well, and that brings a different kind of perspective into the development process.

I think there’s a story to tell there because, while we haven’t been shouting about everything we’ve been doing, the company certainly hasn’t stood still. We’ve continued to grow, we’ve continued to invest and now it really feels like we’re going into the next phase with a boost of energy, a strong roadmap and a team that is excited about what’s to come. Our ambition hasn’t changed – we will always strive to innovate and break new ground, while becoming the easiest and best supplier in the industry to work with.