Exclusive: Peter & Sons’ Maor Nutkevitch on Creativity, Scale and the Business of Standing Out

For game studios operating in an increasingly crowded iGaming market, growth is not simply about producing more content. Building a distinctive identity, entering the right regulated markets, maintaining operational strength and continuing to deliver commercially successful games all have to work together.

In this exclusive interview with iGaming News Today, Maor Nutkevitch, Co-CEO at Peter & Sons, reflects on his transition from M&A and corporate development into leading a B2B game studio. He discusses sustainable growth, creativity, regulated-market expansion, strategic partnerships, technology, AI, company culture and the challenge of scaling globally while preserving the creative identity that made Peter & Sons stand out.

Q1. You’ve worked across corporate development, M&A, investment strategy, and now lead a game studio. Looking back, how has moving from analysing businesses to running one changed the way you make decisions?

Maor:

Before joining the iGaming industry, I worked in investment banking in Israel, focusing on M&A. After completing my MBA at Cambridge, I joined Playtech’s in-house M&A team and later held similar roles at PokerStars and SkillOnNet, working on acquisitions, partnerships, and strategic deals.

Those corporate development roles gave me a unique perspective on the industry. I had the opportunity to evaluate businesses, partnerships and investment opportunities across different markets and business models, which provided a broad understanding of what drives long-term success. Watching both highly successful companies and those that struggled helped me develop a strong strategic mindset and a deep appreciation for how different parts of the value chain fit together.

That experience gave me an excellent foundation when I joined Peter & Sons three years ago, but I quickly realised that leading a B2B game studio requires a completely different skill set. Today, I’m involved across every part of the company – from game development and compliance to marketing, finance, operations and team building. Making the shift from strategy to execution has fundamentally changed the way I make decisions. It’s no longer just about identifying the right opportunity; it’s about executing consistently, empowering people, and balancing long-term strategy with the realities of day-to-day operations.

Q2. From your perspective, what really creates sustainable growth for an iGaming business today?

Maor:

It depends on the type of business, but for a game studio like Peter & Sons, sustainable growth starts with offering something genuinely different. The market is crowded, and regulation limits how much innovation is possible, so standing out is essential.

For us, that differentiator has always been high-quality art, visuals, and innovative mechanics. It helped us establish our identity and opened doors with operators around the world. But great games alone aren’t enough. You also need reliable operations, strong customer support, efficient game production, marketing, compliance, and technical infrastructure. Every piece has to work together.

Growth then comes through scalability. We’ve invested heavily in regulated markets, obtaining licences across more than 20 jurisdictions and continuing to expand into new regions such as Romania, the Philippines, Alberta, and others. At the same time, we’ve significantly increased our game output while maintaining the quality that defines our brand.

Q3. Throughout your career you’ve worked with operators, suppliers, investors, and game studios. When meeting a potential partner, what’s the first thing you look for beyond the numbers?

Maor:

For us, regulation is always the first filter. We’re focused on regulated and soon-to-be regulated markets because we believe that’s where the industry’s long-term future lies. If a market doesn’t align with that strategy, we generally don’t pursue it.

The second factor is prioritisation. Every new partnership requires technical integrations and internal resources, so we need to allocate those resources carefully. Naturally, we prioritise larger operators that can generate greater long-term value while ensuring every partnership fits our overall growth strategy.

Q4. Peter & Sons has built a reputation for creating games that feel different from many others in the market. How do you encourage creativity while keeping the business commercially successful?

Maor:

Finding the right balance between creativity and commercial success is one of the biggest challenges for any game studio. Our artists naturally want to create something original and unique, while the commercial side focuses on what players enjoy and what performs well across different markets. Those priorities don’t always align.

From the beginning, Peter & Sons built its reputation on distinctive artwork and a unique visual identity, led by our Art Director and co-founder. In the early days, we were more of a niche studio, creating games that resonated strongly with a specific type of player who appreciated our bold artistic approach and unconventional themes.

As we’ve grown, our perspective has naturally evolved. Today, our games reach hundreds of thousands of players around the world, so they need to appeal to a much broader audience while still feeling unmistakably Peter & Sons. That means combining our signature artistic style with themes, mechanics and gameplay experiences that resonate across different markets and player segments.

The goal isn’t to become more mainstream at the expense of our identity, it’s to preserve what makes Peter & Sons unique while creating games that can succeed commercially on a global scale.

Q5. AI is beginning to influence everything from game design to business operations. Where do you think AI is genuinely adding value, and where will creativity always need a human touch?

Maor:

We’ve introduced AI across many operational areas, especially in back-office functions such as account management, invoicing, payments, and other internal processes. It improves efficiency and automates repetitive tasks.

When it comes to game development, however, it’s a different story. In mathematics, AI can support building game models, but experienced mathematicians are still needed to fine-tune and balance games by actually playing them thousands of times to understand how they feel from a player’s perspective.

The same applies to art. We mainly use AI during the early concept phase to generate ideas more quickly. Previously, artists might spend weeks preparing concepts; now AI helps create initial drafts in a matter of days. But the final artwork, animation, and visual quality are still created by our artists.

Players and operators can tell the difference between AI-generated content and handcrafted games. Since our art is one of Peter & Sons’ biggest strengths, maintaining that human creativity remains extremely important.

Q6. Having evaluated so many businesses throughout your career, what separates a company that’s performing well today from one that’s likely to succeed over the next few years?

Maor:

I usually look at three areas.

The first is technology and innovation. Companies that introduce something genuinely new often create a significant competitive advantage, even if competitors eventually follow.

The second is people. Strong human capital and an experienced team are incredibly valuable because building a talented organisation from scratch is never easy.

The third is culture. One challenge many acquired companies face is maintaining their identity after becoming part of a larger organisation. When founders leave and the company’s culture changes, performance often declines.

For long-term success, companies need innovative technology, great people, and a culture that remains strong even as the business grows.

Q7. If you could go back and give advice to yourself at the beginning of your career, what would you tell yourself?

Maor:

Looking back, I probably would have studied computer science alongside business rather than focusing only on law and business management. Having a technical background gives you many more opportunities and greater flexibility throughout your career.

That said, AI is changing everything. Today, even people from business backgrounds have access to tools that allow them to build and create in ways that weren’t possible before. It’s becoming easier to bridge the gap between business and technology, which makes this an exciting time for the next generation entering the industry.

About Peter & Sons

Peter & Sons is a B2B online casino game studio known for its distinctive artwork, unconventional themes and innovative game mechanics. The studio develops casino content for operators across international regulated markets.

The company has expanded its licensing footprint across more than 20 jurisdictions, while continuing to develop its portfolio and enter new markets. Its strategy focuses on combining a recognizable creative identity with scalable game development and the operational capabilities required to serve a global B2B audience.