It’s truly astonishing how many people today like to play games on their smartphones. Online social games have become a part of our daily lives, and there is nothing wrong with it.

Everyone likes playing games on their mobile phones - it’s fun, engaging, and sometimes even ultra-challenging. But have you ever wondered what it takes to create one?

It takes time, energy, and a mastermind or two.

Today, one of the biggest leading gaming companies is called Playtika. And Playtika is all about fun and casual games - you name it - they have it!

However, Playtika didn’t start from the top. This company’s roots involve a gaming wiz boy who wanted to become a tech expert in developing games. From his boyhood dreams to being listed and publicly traded on NASDAQ - learn how the wunderkind made it all come true!

The Israeli Childhood

Robert Antokol was just a young boy who found himself stuck in a place where social games and gambling were everything that people knew how to do. Even though born in Latvia, Robert Antokol didn’t have the chance to spend his childhood there. His parents moved when Robert was only six years old to a place called Kiryat Bialik in Northern Israel. Even though born in Latvia, Robert Antokol didn’t have the chance to spend his childhood there.

Israel is known for its social games, and its history is filled with people coming up with unique games to bet on. Therefore, all Israeli parents make sure to teach their children how to play various games. Robert Antokol was no exception, and his parents taught him everything he needed to know. Being a game fanatic, his father made sure young Robert learned the importance of social games and all the good they could do for him later on. Robert Altokol spent his childhood in Israel, where he lived until the age of 26.

Educational Pathway

Knowing that Israel is a pioneer in gaming, Robert Antokol started dreaming of doing something more instead of just playing the games. That’s when he took his thoughts seriously. After finishing high school, he went to Ort Braude College in the city of Karmiel, Israel, where he obtained his Practical Engineering Degree.

Having a father who is a real social games fanatic, Robert Antokol had the support he needed to start envisioning his ideas on paper! His father also wanted to be a part of the gaming industry and heavily encouraged Robert at every step of the way. However, at that time, social casino games were the only product that Robert’s father knew how to develop. Without having too much of a choice, Robert and his dad started putting their social casino games ideas on paper.

The Never-Ending Possibilities

It’s always a challenge mixed with fun when you’re creating something new, right? At least, that’s how it was for Robert Antokol! The ideas and visions about games didn’t seem to have an end. And his passion for games development was becoming bigger, and bigger. Guide by - “If you want something, you must work hard until you get it” - Robert Antokol decided to take his dreams and passion and turn it into a profitable career.

Playtika wasn’t the first company that Robert Antokol founded. His gaming journey started with a company called Cmate. Not long after launching Cmate, Robert Antokol decided to sell it to a gaming company called Oberon Media. In that company, Antokol held the position of Director for European Sales.

Sailing in the waters of the tech and gaming industry - Robert Antokol had quite the experience before his big Playtika reveal. The position he had at Oberon Media wasn’t his only stepping stone in the online gaming industry. Robert Antokol held the position of CEO & VP - Business Development at Logia Group. The experience he got from these two positions had a big impact on his success later!

Starting From Scratch

With his vision and a few scratch notes on paper, Robert Antokol felt something big was coming - something that will truly leave an impact in the world of social gaming! Having been in the social gaming network, he acquired some friends along the way. One of those friends was Uri Shahak, who, at the time when they met, was a product manager in the Israeli gambling giant 888.

Sharing the same passion, both Antakol and Shahak decided to build a gaming empire together. And that’s how in 2010 - Playtika was created. Starting from zero and working in offices above a laundromat - their beginnings were everything but easy.

At the start, Playtika was a company of only 10 employees. It took 8 months for the co-founder and CEO Robert Antokol to raise funds for Playtika, as at the time, no one believed they would make it.

Playtika started off with a casino-style genre known as social casino games. The genre used the features of real casino games; however, players could not use real cash, and there were no real winnings. It was in 2017 when Robert Antokol decided to add the casual games genre, inspired by popular Israeli games.

That’s when Playtika’s success started booming.

The Call for Selling

Even though it was up and running for only a month, Playtika already had a major success in the gaming industry, and it was under the radar by many major companies in the world.

But even then, Robert Antokol had the fears that Playtika would easily go down with only one wrong move. So, with those fears in his mind, in May 2011, he decided to sell the company to Caesars Entertainment Corporation for $130 million. Even after selling it to Caesars - Robert Antokol maintained the company’s CEO.

Not long after that, in July 2016, the company’s operations were bought by a Chinese Consortium known as Giant Network Group for 4.4 billion dollars. Playtika remained an independent unit, with the Chinese Consortium having Robert Antakol as CEO of the company.

Acquiring major success, Playtika was known by every gamer out there. And it was one of the top companies in Israel that delivered epic success in a short period of time. However, with time - Playtika stopped growing. The company relied only on the cash flow generated - and that certainly wasn’t enough. That’s when Robert Antokol decided to make yet another big move for the company and exploit it to dizzying heights!

Together with the shareholders, the Chinese Consortium, they decided to list Playtika on the stock exchange. The push to go public quickly paid off by selling out $1.3 billion of the company’s shares as part of Playtika’s IPO. And that’s when the company became a publicly-traded asset!

Playtika, Today

Headquartered in Herzliya, Israel, Playtika has over three thousand employees with offices in some of the major cities worldwide, including Tel-Aviv, London, Chicago, Las Vegas, Santa Monica, Tokyo, Vienna, Helsinki, and many more. With a valuation of $11.7 billion, it’s the largest Israeli gaming company with more than 20 million monthly active users from around the world.

In the pool of games, Playtika offers fun and excitement for users around the world. Having some of the most popular games like Bingo Blitz, Slotomania, Pirate Kings, Poker Heat, World Series of Poker, and many more - Playtika is the one place for the ultimate fun gaming experience.