Merkur appoints Benjamin Stegemann to lead its Future Game Innovation Lab and names Dubravka Burda Senior Vice President Global Studios
Merkur Group is continuing its transformation strategy with new leadership and structural changes designed to strengthen game design, studio collaboration and future product innovation across the German gaming group.
Effective April 1, Benjamin Stegemann has taken responsibility for the newly established Future Game Innovation Lab within the Merkur Games business division. At the same time, Dubravka Burda has assumed leadership of the company’s global Game Design and development studios as Senior Vice President Global Studios.
The Future Game Innovation Lab has been created to identify player preferences at an early stage and systematically develop innovative game concepts, hardware solutions and software solutions that move beyond current market standards. The initiative is intended to help Merkur secure a stronger strategic competitive position by developing original game trends and enhancing product differentiation.
“Our ambition is to increasingly set our own game trends. The Future Game Innovation Lab provides the ideal platform to focus on exactly that,” said Benjamin Stegemann.
In addition to leading the new unit, Stegemann will continue supporting the product organisation with his Game Design expertise. His work will focus on strengthening the graphical and audiovisual quality of Merkur’s product portfolio, as the group continues to enhance its game development capabilities for international markets.
Dominik Raasch, Management Board Member at Merkur Games, said Stegemann had already played an important role in advancing development processes and collaboration across the company’s international Game Design operations.
“Benjamin Stegemann’s exceptional passion for games has injected fresh momentum into our development efforts, while also making a significant contribution to increasing transparency, optimising processes, and fostering closer collaboration across our global Game Design teams,” said Raasch.
As part of the same transition, Dubravka Burda has taken over leadership of Merkur’s global Game Design and development teams. Her career in the gaming industry began in 1997 with Atronic, a former subsidiary of Merkur Group, before she went on to hold senior leadership positions at GTech and IGT.
“Dubravka Burda is widely recognised as a proven expert in the gaming industry. Thanks to her many years of experience in successfully managing international Game Design and development studios, she is exceptionally well prepared for her new role at Merkur Games. I very much look forward to her contributions and to working together,” Raasch added.
In her new role as Senior Vice President Global Studios, Burda oversees all national and international game studios within Merkur Group. Her responsibilities include developing studio structures, improving processes and capabilities, accelerating game development quality and speed, and strengthening collaboration between Game Design teams, core development and the wider product organisation.
“I have followed the Merkur Group’s transformation with great interest and close attention. Being able to experience and actively shape this transformation first-hand represents an outstanding opportunity for me – both professionally and personally,” said Dubravka Burda.
The appointments reflect Merkur’s broader ambition to elevate its gaming experience globally and support international growth through stronger creative structures, faster development pipelines and closer coordination across its studios.
“With these leadership and structural adjustments, we are reinforcing our ambition to elevate the Merkur gaming experience worldwide and to further accelerate our international growth. I am confident that, in their respective roles, Benjamin Stegemann and Dubravka Burda will make a decisive contribution to achieving this goal in the long term,” Raasch concluded.
