Industry News
Games Global – setting the standard in iGaming
Games Global made an instant impact upon entering the iGaming scene last May, and has seen wonderful growth in its debut year, firmly establishing itself as the pre-eminent supplier in the industry. We sit down with Chief People and Transformation Officer, Leila Goelz, to reflect on the brand’s impressive success so far and the role its people play in the company’s success.
The last year has been nothing short of a whirlwind, and we have gained great momentum as our company has evolved and our team has grown. Our strategic objectives have been ambitious but we have come together to deliver. I couldn’t be prouder of our Globlalites who have truly embraced the values of Games Global with passion and dedication to achieve our vision, To Be The One.
Any business is only as good as its people, and at Games Global, we are privileged to have a diverse team, who are the heartbeat of our company. We constantly seek opportunities to drive an engaging, inclusive, and supportive environment where everyone can bring their best selves to work. We want our people to thrive and be the best they want to be.
We’ve defined who we are as a business and created strong corporate values that resonate with our people to build a culture that everyone can relate to and feel a true sense of belonging. Over a year in and our culture continues to evolve whilst staying true to our values of Authenticity, Boldness, Togetherness and Responsibility.
As a global business, we have carefully created and implemented a range of global policies whilst appreciating the cultural nuances and ways of working within each of our locations and teams. It is not a one size fits all approach. For our business to continue to innovate, evolve, and achieve success we must sustain an environment that fosters diversity, inspires creativity, and breeds innovation.
How the iGaming industry is becoming an interesting proposition
This industry has always been fast paced. This in turn creates exciting job opportunities across the industry with a diverse range of roles requiring unique skill sets. However, we must ensure that we evolve to remain competitive from a talent perspective and the working environment is a key component, as this helps us to underpin the culture we wish to create.
Technology is obviously key in iGaming and to remain ahead of the curve, technology advancement is critical to success. As such, the industry landscape is rich in opportunities for working with the latest technologies and innovations offering exciting career opportunities. The technology space as a whole is highly competitive and is constantly advancing. iGaming is now competing with the wider technology industry; strategies to attract and retain talent have never been more important.
An environment that is engaging, encourages collaboration, fosters innovation, and appeals to our diverse demographic is critical. Our policies and processes need to support a positive working environment, we must take care of the basic needs of our people, have quality technology and tools and our leaders must be empowered and take accountability to support their teams.
To attract the best, we need to provide and be the best. The iGaming industry has in the past led the way in this space, pushing other sectors to up their game in terms of the working culture.
Hiring of talent within our industry is competitive yet despite these challenges we have experienced a headcount growth rate of over 30%. People have joined us from all over the world across a variety of roles and each bring with them great value to our culture and business.
Retaining the best talent comes with great responsibility. Our People Strategy is committed to the support, development and growth of our people and we take this seriously. Over the past 12 months we achieved a promotion rate of 11% in comparison to SHRM’s benchmarking report stating 6% as the average, but there is room for improvement.
We have a robust talent management strategy in place which is continually evolving and for 2023 we have a commitment to increasing our internal hires to ensure we are getting our people ready for the next stage in their career which results in a bigger internal talent pool.
Strong internal and external partnerships
Integrating new studio partners worldwide adds to our collective knowledge base and our content portfolio, which engages a variety of audiences and diversifies our product offering.
There are a number of fundamental factors that we look for in our studio partners. We look for brands that are bold but make decisions backed by data and research. We love innovation and seek out projects that push our imagination and leave a positive mark on the industry.
We want to work with creative and passionate people, who share the same drive as we do in delivering cutting edge content. Authenticity is essential, as we aim to remain true to ourselves, to our ethos, and to each other.
This shared passion and vision allows us to create memorable experiences for players. We are able to boast a catalogue of iconic titles and a constant stream of innovative content that includes the biggest range of jackpot products.
Our diversity is our strength, and it was evident in the quality of work produced and delivered over the past year. We’ve exceeded expectations on multiple fronts and I can’t wait to see how our teams raise the game even further in the coming months.
At Games Global we endeavour to go above and beyond to ensure high-quality products are delivered. We thrive as a team and succeed as one. Together, we achieve. Together, we can Be The One.
The Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers (AGEM) announced that its membership elected a new Board of Directors at its 2026 Annual Meeting. AGEM Board Chair Ryan Comstock, Acting Chief Executive Officer at Ainsworth Game Technology, was not up for election as he transitions into the second year of his two-year term as Chair and led the meeting which approved one-year terms on the Board of Directors for:
• Elaine Hodgson, DIRECTOR (President / CEO, Incredible Technologies)
• Lauralyn Sandoval, DIRECTOR (Vice President of Gaming Strategy & Business Development, Aristocrat Gaming)
• Phil O’Shaughnessy, DIRECTOR (Vice President, Global Communications, Government Relations & Sustainability, IGT)
• Steve DiMasi, DIRECTOR (Senior Vice President of Global Government Affairs & Business Development, Light & Wonder)
• Randy Gilbert, SECRETARY (Chief Executive Officer, TableTrac)
• Thomas Jingoli, TREASURER (President & Chief Operating Officer, Konami Gaming).
The AGEM Board of Directors also approved one-year terms as ex-officio/non-voting members on the Board of Directors for:
• Cassie Stratford, EX-OFFICIO DIRECTOR (Senior Vice President, Legal Operations & Compliance–Boyd Gaming Corporation; Global Gaming Women Advisory Board Member)
• Bob Parente, EX-OFFICIO DIRECTOR & ASSISTANT TREASURER (Executive Vice President & Chief Business Development Officer, Light & Wonder).
The post AGEM Announces Board Of Directors Elected at 2026 Annual Meeting appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.
Industry News
QTech Games recruits banking and AI leader Jonny Youssef as CTO to drive next phase of its growth journey
QTech Games, the leading game aggregator for emerging markets, has appointed Jonny Youssef as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) to lead the next phase of the company’s technology organisation, innovation and technology strategy as QTech accelerates its global expansion. Jonny will lead the continued development of QTech’s platform architecture and engineering organisation, focusing on scalability, AI-driven capabilities and next-generation tools designed to support operators and content partners across fast-growing markets. Jonny brings more than 20 years of technology leadership experience across banking, fintech, SaaS platforms and AI-driven innovation. His background combines enterprise-scale infrastructure expertise with hands-on experience building and scaling digital platforms and emerging technology systems. Previously, Jonny served as Head of Innovation for Swedbank Group Lending & Payments, where he led digital initiatives across lending, payments, APIs and digital channels within one of the Nordic region’s largest banking groups. He has also held senior technology leadership roles at Entercard Group, overseeing technology infrastructure and mission-critical production environments supporting large-scale payment operations across Nordic markets. Alongside his enterprise leadership experience, Jonny has founded and scaled several technology ventures and digital platforms. As a technology founder and CTO, he has led the design and development of international platforms operating across Europe and Asia, building distributed engineering teams and scalable digital infrastructure.
In recent years, Jonny has contributed to the development of next-generation AI and sustainability technology initiatives, including work with Circular Living and Biotonomy, where advanced AI, IoT and Edge AI systems are used to power intelligent environments, autonomous infrastructure and real-time operational insights. Beyond his commercial initiatives, he is also a board member and early contributor to The AI Community of Sweden, a national innovation network connecting professionals, enterprises and academia to collaborate on AI innovation. At QTech Games, Jonny will focus on strengthening the company’s technology foundations as it continues to scale globally, enhancing AI-driven functionality, automation and analytics capabilities that enable partners to unlock greater value from the platform. He will also oversee QTech’s engineering and technology teams to ensure continued innovation while maintaining the speed, reliability and integration flexibility that have become hallmarks of QTech’s aggregation platform.
QTech Games’ CEO, Philip Doftvik, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Jonny to QTech at an important moment in our growth journey.
“He brings a rare combination of enterprise technology leadership, platform-building expertise and forward-looking innovation in AI and automation. His experience across banking infrastructure, global digital platforms and emerging technology ecosystems makes him uniquely positioned to guide us through its next phase of technological evolution.
“As we continue to expand across emerging markets, Jonny’s leadership will help ensure we remain at the forefront of innovation — delivering scalable infrastructure, AI-driven insights and powerful technology solutions that help our partners grow.”
Jonny Youssef added: “QTech Games has built a strong reputation as one of the most innovative and reliable aggregation platforms serving emerging markets.
“What impressed me most is the company’s focus on speed, simplicity and partner success — combined with a clear ambition to continue evolving the platform through technology. I’m excited to join the team at a time when AI, automation and data-driven capabilities are creating new opportunities to deliver even greater value to operators and game providers.
“My focus will be on strengthening the platform architecture, scaling our technology capabilities with AI and supporting the next phase of QTech’s growth.”
The post QTech Games recruits banking and AI leader Jonny Youssef as CTO to drive next phase of its growth journey appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
GameOn, the specialist iGaming marketing and PR agency, has added Roxana Nazalu to its growing GameOn CMO team.
Roxana joins as a Fractional CMO and in a consulting capacity. She will be responsible for supporting clients across campaign strategy, creation and implementation.
Roxana is one of the most experienced iGaming marketers in the industry, having worked for some of the biggest names in the business.
This includes the likes of Las Vegas Sands, Casimba Gaming, Aspire Global and Pragmatic Play.
This experience led her to launch Orange Synapse, a specialist agency serving iGaming providers in markets across the world.
Roxana’s appointment as a Fractional CMO Consultant marks a deeper collaboration between GameOn and Orange Synapse, allowing each to offer a wider range of products and services to its respective clients.
GameOn’s Fractional CMO service has gone from strength to strength since launching back in October 2024.
Led by Alex Wilson, it allows clients to unlock the benefits of a full-time CMO but on a fractional basis, making it the perfect option for start-ups and smaller organisations in growth phase. It’s also a great option for established organisations, allowing them to embrace marketing as a revenue engine and not just a support function, but with board-level accountability.
Alex Wilson, Head of Marketing Division at GameOn, said: “We are delighted to welcome Roxana to the GameOn CMO team at such a pivotal moment for our agency. Since launching our fractional service in 2024, the demand for high-level strategic leadership, without the overhead of a full-time executive, has exploded.
“Roxana is a powerhouse in the iGaming space and her track record with global giants like Pragmatic Play and Las Vegas Sands speaks for itself.
“By bringing her expertise into the fold, we’re not just adding a consultant, we’re significantly deepening our strategic offering and ensuring our clients have access to the very best marketing minds in the business.”
Roxana Nazalu, Fractional CMO Consultant at GameOn, added: “Joining forces with GameOn is a natural evolution for me and a fantastic opportunity for Orange Synapse.
“I’ve always admired GameOn’s reputation for delivering clear, results-driven PR and marketing within the iGaming sector. This collaboration allows us to offer a truly holistic service, bridging the gap between high-level strategy and technical implementation for slot studios, operators, affiliates, payment providers and other industry stakeholders.
“My focus will be on helping clients navigate complex markets and scale their brands with the agility that the fractional model provides. I look forward to working alongside Alex and the team to drive meaningful growth for our partners.”
The post GameOn Expands Fractional CMO Division with Appointment of Roxana Nazalu appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
-
Australia6 days agoRegulating the Game Global Awards: First-Ever Winners Announced
-
Asia6 days ago
PG Soft revealed as Title Sponsor for Global Game Connect 2026
-
Africa7 days ago
Hollywoodbets to deploy ClearStake’s ID by Bank for improved player verification
-
AGCO5 days ago
Canada’s Ontario iGaming Market in 2026: Advertising Rules, Self-Exclusion and the Next Phase of Regulation
-
Asia7 days ago
GodLike Esports’ gaming creator Sharkshe unveils upgraded gaming room powered by Red Bull
-
Asia5 days ago
NODWIN Gaming joins forces with ICONiQ White to headline NH7 Weekender 2026 as Title Sponsor; to be ‘Powered By’ Mastercard
-
Bonus Cards5 days ago
CasinoCanada.com introduces redesigned Bonus Cards
-
Belatra5 days ago
Belatra celebrates 33rd anniversary at SiGMA South America
