Marharyta Yerina became Managing Director of ELA Games in April 2025, bringing over 12 years of senior finance and business strategy experience – including four years at Evoplay as Head of Finance and CFO – to lead the innovative Kyiv-born slot studio through its next growth phase. With six years in the iGaming industry and a track record of driving profitability while optimizing operational efficiency across global gaming companies, Yerina’s appointment signals ELA Games’ ambition to solidify its position as a premier software supplier following the rapid launch of 28 titles since its 2022 founding.
Professional Career: Finance Leadership to Studio MD
Yerina’s career spans over 12 years across finance, business strategy, and operations in multiple industries before specializing in iGaming. Her most recent pre-ELA Games role covered four years at Evoplay – the Ukrainian iGaming software developer known for its immersive 3D slots and instant games – where she progressed through Head of Finance to Chief Financial Officer. This Evoplay tenure gave her deep iGaming-specific financial leadership experience, managing the commercial and operational infrastructure of a fast-growing game development studio.
Her broader career background includes leading global finance functions and iGaming company operations, developing the financial management and efficiency optimization skills she now applies at ELA Games. Her progression from CFO at a supplier to MD at another reflects a deliberate pivot from pure financial stewardship toward full commercial and strategic leadership.
Joining ELA Games in April 2025, Yerina stepped into the managing director role at a studio founded in 2022 and already recognized for its creative approach to slot development – specifically its Winpot series, Cash Crab arcade-inspired title, and a distinctive visual aesthetic combining high-quality graphics with innovative gameplay mechanics. As she stated on appointment: “Joining ELA Games, a rapidly growing and dynamic company in iGaming, is an exciting prospect for me. I look forward to using my expertise and knowledge to help make meaningful operational changes to see the company realise its potential and maintain its positive growth trajectory.”
Industry Experience: Operational Excellence and Team Performance
Yerina’s six years in iGaming prior to ELA Games – primarily at Evoplay – focused on performance optimization, process enhancement, and building high-performing teams within the demanding environment of a game development studio scaling rapidly across regulated markets.
Her financial and operational background distinguishes her leadership approach from traditional commercial or product-led MDs. Rather than entering from sales or development, Yerina brings a CFO’s discipline to studio management – prioritizing profitability, operational efficiency, and strategic process formulation alongside creative output.
Under her leadership, ELA Games positions itself as a premium software supplier competing on game quality and player engagement rather than volume release cadences. The studio’s Winpot series – reimagined through sequels including Joker Winpot, Zeus Winpot, Rabbit Winpot, and Shoot Happens – exemplifies this approach. As she told SiGMA: “We decided to give the mechanic a second life” – building franchise depth around proven concepts rather than constantly chasing new themes.
Innovation: Player Progression Design and Volatility Optimization
Yerina’s innovation thinking centers on the subtle game design elements that sustain player engagement beyond obvious loyalty mechanics. Speaking on the SiGMA Eurasia panel “Progress Paths: Making Milestones Matter” in Dubai (February 2026), she emphasized that maintaining player interest often comes from design choices rather than overt progress bars – specifically highlighting how optimizing volatility and feature frequency creates natural anticipation through gameplay rhythm.
This philosophy – engagement through design intelligence rather than surface-level gamification – reflects the ELA Games studio ethos of blending visual richness with smart mechanics. Under Yerina’s direction, ELA Games continues developing titles that prioritize the quality of individual player moments: the Cash Crab arcade-to-online conversion, the Winpot series franchise extensions, and new titles building on the studio’s reputation for creative differentiation.
Her financial background informs a data-driven approach to game performance analysis – tracking which mechanics, volatility profiles, and feature frequencies drive retention across different player segments and markets.
Future Plans: Global Expansion and Software Supplier Status
Yerina’s strategic mandate centers on positioning ELA Games as a globally recognized software supplier – moving beyond the studio’s Eastern European origins to build regulated market presence across Europe and beyond. With 28 titles launched since 2022 and a distinctive creative identity established, her operational priorities focus on commercial partnership expansion, distribution reach, and the team development infrastructure to sustain quality as output scales.
Her appearance at SiGMA Eurasia in Dubai signals active pursuit of Middle Eastern and Asian market opportunities alongside established European distribution channels. ELA Games’ continued portfolio development under her leadership targets the dual objective of deepening existing relationships while opening new regulated market opportunities for its growing game library.
