Industry News
Gamesys builds on “transformative” year with 360º customer experience focus
Following a landmark 2019, Lee Fenton, the CEO of the newly formed Gamesys Group, reveals how a recent integration of Zendesk’s customer service and engagement platform is providing the groundwork for Gamesys’s ventures/brands.
With over 1,300 employees across 16 group offices worldwide Gamesys puts a lot of emphasis on ensuring the best customer service across all your brands, how has your recent transformation via Zendesk enhanced your focus on customers?
Zendesk has set the foundation for our 360º view of the player initiatives for 2020. Being able to look at our players in different contexts while all within one unified system, gives us the ability to provide a personalised experience for our players based on their preferences and needs. Our players may prefer to engage with us on social channels, receive a call-back or search for the answer to their issue without ever engaging with our advisors. Zendesk has allowed us to introduce these options and enhance our existing channels increasing our teams’ capacity.
Zendesk has also provided us with an invaluable insight into what our players expect from our customer experience team. This enables us to personalise our player’s experience even further as we roll-out the next phases of our customer care platform. Our ultimate aim is to ensure that we provide the best experience, via the right channel, within a safe and responsible environment.
Gamesys’ customer service transformation required collaboration across multiple teams to get buy-in and transform their service centres, what’s the key to keeping everyone on message?
To understand the magnitude of collaboration that was needed to enact this change, 21 teams actively contributed to the successful selection and 82-day roll-out of Zendesk. The success of the initial rollout came down to personal investment, a willingness to engage and constructively work through competing priorities and a commitment to improving both the experience and toolsets for our players and advisors.
Not many companies have to provide market-leading customer experience to a global player community, what are your top priorities in terms of anticipating your customers’ needs?
Our top priority for 2020 in the customer experience space is to provide the best entertainment to our players within a safe and responsible environment. This relationship demonstrates our commitment to understand and care for our players and enables us to provide the most enjoyable customer experience.
Zendesk provides a unified view of the player, multiple avenues to reach out to our community and contributes intelligence which we use to refine our predictive models which identify users who may potentially be at risk.
As regulations evolve, it is vital that we continue to demonstrate our commitment to compliance. Zendesk provides us with tools for rigid GDPR compliance, auditing and reporting for KYC and AML.
How do you measure the impact of the customer experience with your customers, are you predominantly focused on retention and spend or is there more to it?
We want to build long-term sustainable relationships with players. We measure the impact of their experience through their engagement with our brands throughout their lifetime rather than spend.
We are always looking to invest in our players and their experience, and this gives us a competitive advantage in the marketplace. We are in the entertainment business which is at the heart of the reason why players visit our sites. Our focus is providing enjoyment whilst empowering them with the tools to control their play. By providing a frictionless customer experience, we enhance the value of the brand which helps in our goals of creating a sustainable responsible business and organically drives brand awareness and retention.
Bingo players and operators are unique compared to other sectors of the gaming community. Where do you see the key differences in providing customer service to this sector than say land-based casinos or slots customers?
For our online Bingo-led brands, we have a vibrant social community who enjoy engaging with other members and our Chat Hosts. Our community is often the first to provide us with constructive feedback on our games and engage with us if there are any issues on the site that may need attention. This community feel is not unique to our Bingo players and can be equally applied to other segments of our poker and casino communities. At Gamesys, we have found that brand, player demographics, and a player’s persona influence the type of customer experience one would most prefer to receive — whether that be via phone, email, chat, or even self-service.
As an award-winning, leading global operator, what does Gamesys’ vision look like in the next decade and what part do your service centres play in this?
We continue to invest in the Gamesys Group multi-brand strategy and we recently launched a new site with Scientific Games which is dedicated to one of the UK’s most popular slots, Rainbow Riches.
We will also continue to develop our existing ventures while expanding into new markets. As we know from entering new markets such as Germany, Sweden, and Japan, each market comes with unique challenges, opportunities and regulatory compliance requirements. Our advisors and the player experience we provide will continue to adapt and remain flexible so that we can respond continually to meet our player’s expectations.
Expanse Studios, a subsidiary of Meridian Holdings Inc., announced the deployment of proprietary jackpot and tournament mechanics across its portfolio, providing B2B operator partners with engagement tools designed to enhance player entertainment value.
The system introduces two jackpot formats—Happy Hour Jackpot and Mystery Jackpot—alongside four tournament competition variants. Operators can control prize structures, scheduling parameters and promotional configurations through platform interfaces.
Happy Hour Jackpot provides scheduled jackpot events aligned with operator promotional strategies, enabling coordinated marketing campaigns and player communication around jackpot opportunities.
Mystery Jackpot delivers multi-tier progressive prize mechanics integrated into gameplay, with operator-configurable prize values and event parameters that support diverse promotional objectives.
Tournament mechanics include four competition formats:
• Bonus Buy tournaments create competitive environments for players who choose to engage with bonus purchase features, with scoring designed to reward strategic gameplay decisions.
• Spin Count tournaments track player activity across gameplay sessions, offering multiple entry opportunities and achievement-based progression that accommodates different play styles.
• Combo tournaments combine multiple competition elements, enabling operators to design promotional events that appeal to diverse player preferences and gaming behaviours.
• Time-based tournaments operate within defined promotional windows, allowing players to participate according to their own schedules while competing for tournament prizes.
“Content providers increasingly compete on operational capabilities, not just game quality. This positions our portfolio as solutions-oriented infrastructure that helps operators execute diverse promotional strategies while maintaining control over player engagement parameters,” said Damjan Stamenkovic, CEO of Expanse Studios.
Tournament formats integrate with game interfaces through standardised promotional systems designed to enhance entertainment value while providing operators with promotional flexibility.
For Expanse Studios, the deployment strengthens competitive positioning in B2B partnerships where operators increasingly evaluate content providers based on promotional feature capabilities in addition to game performance metrics.
The post Expanse Studios Launches Proprietary Jackpot and Tournament System appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
Nils Ristau and Daniel Schmitz debut a work enablement platform aimed at day-to-day execution across product, retention and AI adoption.
Sparky Space, a new AI-powered work enablement platform founded by former German Air Force officer Nils Ristau and tech leader Daniel Schmitz, has launched and is now available globally for iGaming operators and suppliers.
The founders are positioning the product around execution support inside daily workflows as teams face tighter regulatory demands, faster product cycles and higher player expectations. The company cited industry research suggesting only 10-20% of learning is consistently applied in day-to-day work, creating a gap between training and on-the-job outcomes.
“In military operations, performance depends on clarity, structure, and disciplined execution in changing environments,” said Ristau. “The iGaming industry operates under similar pressure.
“Competitive advantage does not come from knowledge alone – it comes from how effectively teams apply it every day.”
Sparky Space said its platform supports areas including product development, player retention and AI adoption, with use cases spanning customer-centric experimentation, agile product and game development, decision-making and prioritisation, practical generative AI prompting, and cross-functional collaboration. The company said the tools are intended to help teams launch features, respond to regulatory change, and optimise marketing and support processes.
While initially focused on iGaming, Sparky Space said it has been built for broader use in other fast-moving, technology-driven industries.
Relevant data as follows:
- Sparky Space: https://www.sparkyspace.com Official company site for product and launch details.
- UK Gambling Commission: https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk Regulatory context referenced in the article’s discussion of increasing compliance pressure.
- Malta Gaming Authority: https://www.mga.org.mt Key European regulator relevant to operators and suppliers navigating shifting regulation.
The post Former German Air Force officer launches Sparky Space AI platform for iGaming teams appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
The slots supplier says its portfolio now exceeds 150 games and highlights recent LatAm expansion from its Buenos Aires base.
Belatra is marking its 33rd birthday with an anniversary campaign running throughout April, the iGaming slots developer said.
The company said it was founded in 1993 and has since transitioned from building gaming machines for land-based casinos to producing digital content. Belatra added that its portfolio has grown to more than 150 games.
Belatra also pointed to its strategic Latin American headquarters in Buenos Aires as a key base for regional partnerships and growth.
Misha Voinich, Head of Business Development at Belatra, said: “We’re only just getting started, but birthdays provide the perfect chance to reflect on our successes and the path that’s brought us here. From launching our innovative ‘multi-universe’ content strategy to our rapid expansion in Latin America, the successful launch of our first Crash game, and multiple high-profile industry award wins — we are always developing, creating, and evolving. 33 years of innovation, dedication, and gaming excellence — and the best is yet to come.”
Belatra did not provide additional detail on upcoming releases or the timing of any new product announcements beyond saying updates will land during April.
The post Belatra marks 33 years with April anniversary campaign appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
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