The gambling industry is not averse to trends. We witness a number on a yearly basis, with these progressing with vastly differing success rates.
A number have been witnessed across recent times, with artificial intelligence, retention challenges and industry consolidation a mainstay of the global gambling scene.
In conversation with SBC Americas, NuxGame COO, Denis Kosinsky, breaks down each of these in detail and looks at the company’s strategy for countering such difficulties, however, attention is first diverted to a particular vertical that continues to cause headlines.
U.S. sweepstakes: the end of the road?
It is no secret that NuxGame, like many across the industry, has placed considerable time and effort in developing an effective sweepstakes model amid the rising tide of interest being witnessed.
However, a regulatory pushback in the U.S. combined with several suppliers pulling their content from such platforms has certainly been a reality check, as per CEO, Daniel Heywood.
With 2025 arguably being the year that the country began to turn against sweepstakes, is there a worry that this could continue?
A buoyant Kosinsky begins “We have been really realistic about the regulatory direction in the U.S. at this specific time. There’s been big steps, it’s not a forever safe model but there is a market opportunity with an elevated risk profile.
“At NuxGame we design platforms to be modular and jurisdictionally flexible, which means that we can support the sweepstakes sector where it’s available today.
“This ensures that operators are not locked into a single territory, but the door is open for all markets.”
Despite the confidence being stressed, it is imperative that contingencies are put in place to ensure that the time and effort put into such a solution is not in vain if such a clampdown continues to spread.
The key here, Kosinsky says, is that the sweepstakes technology solution is not a dead-end branch. If regulatory pressure increases, operators can pivot in several ways.
“They can transition to regulated markets where they are permitted to go, obtain licenses, shift to hybrid models, and reuse their data engagement tools and CRM without any issues,” he continues.
“From a product perspective, this is exactly why we invest heavily in the areas that we have.”
We need to get creative on engagement
The challenges associated with keeping players engaged remains ever-present. One that seemingly continues to soar to ever greater heights with each passing month.
Amid a rising tide of product verticals on offer to capture the imagination of players, the industry must also combat increasing competition from elsewhere, which raises the pressure further still.
“Engagement and retention are the key for success, because expectations grow faster than most platforms,” Kosinsky notes. “Players compare experiences not only against other casinos, but also Netflix, TikTok, social media and mobile games.”
Despite this, a warning is issued that operators remain far too reliant on tried and tested means, and must venture outside of the box a little more in order to capture players’ attention.
Many operators, he says, are far too reliant on static bonuses, generic segmentation and manual campaigns, while the engagement experience can feel repetitive, irrelevant or delayed.
“This challenge not only lacks tools but also orchestration,” Kasinsky says. “We combine everything into one platform, allowing one control that allows operators to get real time data, behaviour understanding and target players in the right way.”
Another key talking point in this regard concerns that of artificial intelligence, which can often prove to be a divisive issue when it comes to assessing its usage and overall effectiveness.
Upon assessing the impact of the technology when it comes to issues such as personalisation and the impact on modern player engagement moving forward, Kosinsky proclaims that it is not simply a buzzword like a long time ago.
“It will dramatically raise the baseline,” he adds. “Where AI truly adds value is for real time personalisation, instead of predictive churn, reactivation timing, dynamic content, specific bonuses and player behaviour.”
The consolidation conundrum
iGaming is becoming an increasingly saturated environment, but it is unreasonable to expect everyone to enjoy their desired success.
As the number of new entrants making their way into space soars to heights never-before-seen, this greatly increases the difficulties of truly standing out among a sea of competition.
Regarding this, Kosinsky explains that while entry may be lower, the barriers of success are infinitely higher. Primary problems often occur as many don’t estimate the complexity of operations, and overestimate how far branding alone can take them.
“We see many start-ups that want to design this and that, but in the end they need to understand and operate, and this is where we can support them.
“For the launch of their brand, operators who stand out typically do three things. They pick target geographies, broadly invest in data and CRM lifecycle measurements and understand the player and how they want to succeed.
“Standing out today is less about having more features but about using fewer features better.”
While the industry is not averse to witnessing a landslide of M&A activity, can we realistically expect this to continue at the breakneck speed that has been witnessed across recent times.
For Kosinsky, the answer is a resounding ‘absolutely’ due as rising compliance costs, marketing inefficiency and technological overheads push the market for consolidation.
“Smaller operators will either specialise, or exit with continuing lines, licenses and technology,” he adds. “This is not a maturity phase for the industry.”
With a prediction that the thriving consolidation scene is not going to show any sign of slowing down, attention turns to how exactly NuxGame can support operator success while this trend continues.
This, Kosinky remarks, is centred around the overall complexity of the process as operators have to juggle an increasing number of brands, regions, rules and reporting.
“Our job is to reduce that complexity for operators,” he concludes. “We operate and support them by providing a centre controlled with brand flexibility, scalable CRM, bonus gamification, CMS tools across all verticals of the platform, friendly architecture for acquisition and mergers and strong support from our account management and support team.
“In short, we help operators scale without losing control in the consolidation market. This capability becomes a competitive advantage.”
