Formula Spin CEO Oleg Galushko on Standing Out in a Crowded Lobby | Exclusive Interview with iGaming News Today
Oleg Galushko came up through product management and product leadership before becoming CEO of Formula Spin, and says he still runs company decisions through a product lens rather than a purely financial one.
In an exclusive interview with iGaming News Today, he was asked what actually makes a game stand out in a crowded market. His answer is a positioning argument, and it applies well beyond game studios.
Not volume. Recognisability.
“It’s not volume, it’s recognizability and consistency,” Galushko told iGaming News Today.
The window he gives it is brutal: “A game needs to communicate a clear, distinct experience within the first few seconds, both visually and mechanically.”
And the thing most suppliers still sell on, he argues, no longer differentiates anything. “Technical performance (load speed, RTP stability, no bugs) is table stakes now, not a differentiator.”
What is left, in his account, is original mechanics combined with operational discipline: timely updates, localisation, and strong partner support. Three of those four are delivery promises rather than product features, which is the uncomfortable part for anyone whose pitch stops at the game itself.
Validate with data, not opinion
Galushko traced the discipline back to his product years. What that taught him, he said, was to “validate with data, not opinion, and keep the player at the center of every decision, not just the roadmap, but budget and priorities too”.
In practice at Formula Spin that means combining behavioural data from existing titles with direct feedback from operators and monitoring trends in adjacent markets. But the step he rates highest is the cheapest one: pilot launches, testing a mechanic with a limited audience before committing to full production.
His reason for it is one every marketing team recognises: “That’s how we reduce the risk of building something the market doesn’t actually want.”
What else Galushko covers in the exclusive interview
- Where he expects AI to change game creation, from art and animation to math balancing
- Why he says good ideas most often break against compliance and certification, not creativity
- What has to happen between product, legal and commercial teams from day one
- Why he treats responsible gaming as a product requirement rather than a compliance layer
- How personalisation can be used to embed control tools instead of only driving engagement
- What he expects the next generation of online casino games to look like by 2027
The full exclusive interview with Oleg Galushko is published on iGaming News Today.
