Carl Ejlertsson already had one of the most enviable resumes in gaming; now he leads the industry’s hottest startup. Not bad for a twenty-eight-year-old who started his career in Malta ten years ago as a customer support agent at Betsson Group.

He ascended through Betsson before being headhunted as the first Red Tiger employee in Malta, working his way up to Director of Business Development.

With a passion for product that was under-served on the commercial side of the business, he was made Games Director at Evolution when he joined as the result of the two acquisitions that took in Red Tiger and NetEnt. He was responsible for some of Evolution’s big hits, working side by side with Todd Haushalter.

After a twelve-month sabbatical, Carl announced that he was founding Octoplay in October 2022. By mid-December he had already bagged more operator deals faster than any supplier in history, off the back of just his first three games.

The products look so strong that industry chatter has Octoplay clearly marked as the next big thing and Carl as the most likely candidate to revolutionise the online gaming landscape in the next few years. The speed of his career trajectory and the boldness of Octoplay’s product set make Carl Ejlertsson very much the Person of The Year.