Interviews
Exclusive Q&A with Munly Leong, Co-founder of Balance Gaming Network
Let’s begin with your own story. What is the story of Balance Gaming? How was the company founded?
The company was founded when Munly Leong (CEO) and Goodrich Johnson were approached by an esports organization that had floundered for several years and despite their history and money raises and hadn’t so much as put on one event or even had a casual community. This led Munly to look into the current state of esports which he had never been interested in and saw the waste and poor execution that had a common root cause i.e. the people that had access to or ability to raise funding for esports often had nothing to do with gaming and were clueless about it. Super League Gaming was a particularly egregious example where the only reason that raise even happened was that CEO had worked on Sand Hill Rd prior and game from an Oil & Gas background, what the hell is she doing in esports? They recently lost $14m on $1m revenue. We founded Balance at least to take a stab at an organization that would be led and run with gamers at the core with Munly being in a unique position of both having relationships with and an understanding of external capital unlike the average gamer or even game developer. The name Balance comes from us struggling to come up with a name for the niche we had chosen which was to cater for the other 90% of the market and gaming revenue in reality that ISN’T esports from not having enough time for it and Munly referenced an one man indie developer’s name Imba Games (common Russian/CIS region term relating to game imbalance) that he had briefly known at one point, lamenting that it was a great name wasted on something that didn’t have the potential for it and Godric suggested “What about Balance?” with the potential to allude to LAN’s as well if we ever started doing those and there really hasn’t been a name that fit since.
How does it work?
Essentially a bit unique, we started off validating the concept and bringing in early revenue via just a discord and preselling the concept along with an early partnership with Skyworth (largest TV manufacturer in China) who were also launching a VR headset at to both prove we could build and grow a grassroots gaming community first and also monetize it and validate charging for the concept. Most of this happened even by month two. We’ve now taken what was a small community fighting game event intended “for teh lulz” and are building it up with sponsors, streaming support with an invitational that is intended to potentially be small scale, interactive version of EVO that was recently cancelled. More on this later
We’re working backwards actually. We’re game developers at heart and are really NOT an esports company. This is being done as a fundraiser primarily as a backup plan / substitute for angel investment post Covid. Essentially our business is to start backwards compared to a typical game developer being community first, community is really at the core. From there we start with merch sales, selling events and sponsorships and are about to offer our own game / bundle deals in the near term along with a new category we still plan on pioneering called Gamer Travel (Covid was great timing huh
Our readers would like to know more about Balance Gaming. Could you elaborate the concept since it is quite unique?
Yeah. It is quite unique where even for gamers. Essentially the concept starts from both a base and the specific type of gamer we are targeting. Specifically gamers who have been able to grow up and are now struggling from a time management standpoint of not having enough time to play, or not getting enough out of their playtime when they do have it rather than spending too much time to play from the standpoint of gaming addiction which is a common assumption with us. We start from a base that gaming is geneeerrraaaaaaally
Many look down even on themselves as gamers because of long time history and stigma of the activity when we were kids or younger. Even people with great businesses or solid tech backgrounds themselves often cannot make the immediate mental jump that there may be others who fit the bill and if we just reframe our thinking and rid ourselves of these starting assumptions, we may find that the peer groups we have around gaming are more valuable than many of us are assuming
Recently we’ve launched a public alpha of our members site and even some of our more interesting / useful members have only gone so far as to fill out just gamer profiles while not sharing their skills, businesses etc yet and it’s not all a privacy concern either but many either underrate themselves or don’t currently live a life where being known for particular things brings in opportunities for them. I’ll list some examples here where it has happened, but these are folks that are already active in terms of networking ,professional groups and are already pre-disposed to it. I’ll share some examples below and the last being myself.
https://network.balancegaming.network/members/hexrays/
https://network.balancegaming.network/members/mono/
https://network.balancegaming.network/members/fathamburger/
What are the ways an individual gamer will benefit from joining your platform?
Aside from the networking opportunities once we scale further (or even now), we’ll have things like courses, partnerships and hell even gigs down the line in addition to more typical gaming giveaways, discounts and bundles. Instead of only selling this stuff, we’ll tie it to gaming and perhaps networking activity too with the overall theme that the gaming people would do naturally anyway would pay off in real life in ways other than money. At the very base level, we hope that this will be the most “productive” place for anyone to spend their gaming time as getting to know many of us may also open doors outside of gaming for you or at least give you a resource to tap in a lot of things outside of gaming, an analogy to things like country clubs, cigar clubs where you’re more like to meet either independently wealthy or at least time free and lifestyle designer types that one can meet through aviation we hope we end up being a similar space like that but on a broader larger scale too. It’ll be the only place in the world maybe where you can play video games where we also encourage you to ask for intros or open them yourself
For “Pros vs Joes” we’re currently offering FREE ENTRY for Members, Financial Services industry (e.g. fintech, crypto, real estate, traders, brokers) , startup founders and game developers and the same/similar benefits package that players get are also available for event viewers that meet this criteria. Startup founders and game developers are just love for us
We also have something that both your better/casino audience as well as crypto guys would want to look at. One of our partners / sponsors is Gold Rush Token / Clean Mining. We’ll be offering a chance to buy CLEAN gold (more on this later) at a double digit discount exclusive to Balance, direct from some of the oldest and historically proven mines in Western Australia. That’s nothing terribly new and there are other tokens that have done it. Those coming from a financial services background will be familiar with the concept of due diligence, things like KYC (Know your Customer) and be a bit better equipped to both perform it for an opportunity like this and ultimately potentially buy-in as well.
However, another layer that we’ll offer FREEBIES at a later date on is a world-first tokenization of actual gold ORE. Essentially this will be gold prospecting in a separate video game/digital form and can dramatically lower the cost of entry into the gold market. For those who don’t know, gold actually comes from gold ore which has to be processed and refined which ultimately means that only a fraction of gold can come from overall gold ore. The percent amount can between 10 to 95% before processing and so yes, someone could get very lucky but understandably many others outside of your readership here may not like to gamble. Gamblers or not however, we can offer some of these ore tokens essentially for free as both participants and viewers of our upcoming “Pros vs Joes” fighting game event that was recently postponed until both we and our partners got things more ready. We can now say that we’ll start things off officially by Sep 12th at the latest with official entry deadline by Sep 5th at the latest with trial runs starting as early as this week of the 26th. Depending on how things go and speed of re-registration we may go even earlier but this is so we don’t have to postpone again.
I should mention that not only is the ore special but the gold as well. Those that take advantage of the gold discount will also be pioneers in helping to establish a new category of gold in the global market that isn’t processed/purified via the traditional method of cyanide and mercury leaving no environmental impact that may take decades if not longer to biodegrade, hence CLEAN gold. While the mines themselves old and proven with deeper reserves still left to unlock, the process itself is new and was created by the Australian CSIRO, something like a more generally academic version of NASA that among other things, helped invent Wi-Fi. Regardless of whether anyone in our community pays anything more than an entry fee or not, through gaming, our players will have a chance in both playing a small role in the transformation of gold mining from something that is expensive and hazardous into something that is sustainable and environmentally friendly.
More info on CSIRO and Clean Mining
https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2018-08-30/csiro-pours-first-australian-green-gold/10180014
https://www.csiro.au/en/Research/MRF/Areas/Resourceful-magazine/Issue-13/Golden-alternative
How has been the customer response so far? Could you offer some year on year statistics?
What’s really interesting is that when we started out within the first month or two we had more paid members than free ones on concept alone. 46% conversion rate. By paid members meaning we asked people to pay $10 as a one off to validate that this is something we would pay for once we both had a system to offer digital codes in an automated or at least reliable fashion and enough value lined up where we felt we were ready to start charging monthly. Since when we’ve realized that we needed to make this tier optional as a network only has as much value as it’s members and we are still far from having an interesting enough critical mass yet. We’re not even one year old yet but in the last 2-3 months our Discord community has grown from 100 to 150 ish members now that we have someone who can spend time on it, Oliver/Sundeath who was formerly director level at Razer Europe. A big downside that hampers our growth is that we’re not something that people normally think to search for so doing media, offers and other things that can help get us exposure but we haven’t figured out or own organic traffic yet so growth only happens when we can work on it.
Has the recent lock down had any effect on Balance Gaming’s growth? Could your offer details?
Yeah actually our first major growth drive that I headed up brought in many of our first 100 users, lol. That happened a month into the pandemic around Epic’s free release of WWZ. Unfortunately it was both a pretty short game content wise and people really focused on doing nothing but gaming that initial month of lockdowns. No one wanted to hear about “Balancing” and once they were done, many moved on. We did have an interesting story even ahead of time back then where when I was able to play, I encouraged two regulars at the time to talk about their lives and our mutual ASEAN region and those two ended up both doing client projects together and playing other free games together as well. One was a graphic designer and another was a music producer/student. At the time we didn’t have enough of us engaging people so eventually they left since they were largely only playing with each other by that point. Lesson learned not just for Balance and in life for me that I just need to ride waves while they are around instead of what I actually during that period which was working on some contract gamedev work at the time or building the Balance business while everyone else was gaming and would have preferred if I’d either led things or at least joined them for it.
What are the more popular games and tournaments on your platform? Could you describe the games a bit?
Our most popular is Rainbow 6 Siege and that’s a game that should be well known to you guys since it’s gone from underdog cult game to having one of t he better prize pools in eSports with strong Ubisoft support in recent years. Rainbow 6 is a series that is based on terrorist/counterterrorism originally that prided itself on realism being the first “one shot and you get killed usually” game on the market. I can still remember the LAN party where I played the original game in the series for the first time, it was quite refreshing and hilarious compared to the run and gun shooters like Doom and Quake of the day. These days the game is more similar to LoL or DOTA that is based around Heroes having different powers and abilities, some of which are deliberately designed to be counterpicks. They are perpetually “training”/fighting each other given the multiplayer only PVP context and there are generic terrorists only as AI NPC’s to beat on in generic It used to be World War Z as I mentioned which is a co-op class based zombie killing gaming that’s spiritual sequel to Left 4 Dead 2 that I actually like a lot more than it’s original inspiration and in addition to that we have some fighting game players i.e. Street Fighter, Tekken etc but that’s almost a niche within itself in gaming these days that doesnt play other stuff or interact with the broader gaming community. We’re a bit sad about this and even within fighting games themselves, the competitive level has gotten to the point where people not only just focus on one game, but even just on training one particular character and mastering all the various matchups instead. This means that they dont even play the rest of the genre or even necessarily the rest of the characters in the game! This overcompetitiveness isnt necessarily good for the fighting game industry if they focus purely on tournament type players. Happy Medicine (our resident fighting game pro, former CPT/Capcom cup, world class Bison main) and I talk about this separately in this video here – g66FBCzv_mg . We’re still done with World War Z btw, despite how the whole game can be beat in less than 4-5 hours currently and a bit more if you are doing horde mode as well, if you’re deliberately going to slow-play it and make it last, please come and join us! We’re the place for that lol.
Tell us more about the platform and gaming partners of Balance?
For our “platform”, we have a few key pillars. The first is the always free Discord community where people can only just join as regular gamer and that’s fine. The next level is the membership site which is intended for people to try and look up / surface people that should try to get to know on Discord for either gaming or things outside of gaming. Maybe find out that someone you’ve been gaming with all along can also be a collaborator of some kind in real life too. We also haev an ecom store for all kinds of stuff i.e. offering our own game codes and digital goodies for sale , physical products like geek toys including “gamereats” where we’ll start with snacks and more. Lastly we want to offer “gamer travel” again as soon as we can, starting out with introducing the concept of geo-arbitrage to gamers that’s already well known to location independent and digital nomad types but is probably brand new to gamers. Essentially this means save money on gaming time (plus get more time) in a cheap locale but we can expand this to travel to places that are significant to gaming history as well given a lot of us have deep knowledge and connections with the industry. This is all going somewhere and your next question will naturally segue into that
One of our gaming partners BRK / Gen2 Technologies where you picked this up from
Finally, how do you see the future developing? Are there going to be any immediate developments in Balance Gaming in the near future?
Yeah we have some angel money hopefully finally coming in within the month and from that we can actually offer some more benefits that hopefully help pull in more users as well and pay for the help in community building
Ultimately in the LONG TERM future, despite how all this is already quite the going concern business-wise, the whole goal is to use this cashflow to then fund game development. Both internal and external third party to us. Game development is the unique DNA that I bring to Balance personally and I’m sure you guys know especially looking at companies like Tencent how valuable things can be when you have your own IP to sell and we’ve already learned the hard way that frankly its much easier to build up communities around having your own game vs using others’ games in this new Discord age.
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We sit down with Madelein Ozok, Head of Studio at the new Microgaming-powered studio, to learn more about how it’s approaching slot development and why leveraging its highly experienced management team will be key to success.
Red Papaya is a new online slot studio powered by Microgaming. Tell us more about the studio and how you plan to make your mark on the industry.
Red Papaya is a bold and bright studio, powered by Microgaming, with big plans to disrupt the status quo with slots that put players on the edge of their seats spin after spin. How will we ensure we do this? By blending creativity, features and data to create compelling slotting experiences that captivate players in markets around the world. We also have a highly experienced management team in place – it’s made up of award-winning veterans of the slot development space with a proven track record in delivering top-performing, data-driven games that have quickly risen to the top of the charts. When it comes to themes, features and markets, we’ve done it all, and will leverage this experience to ensure Red Papaya creates games that not only meet but exceed player expectations.
You’ve previously said that features will be a big point of differentiation, but in a market flooded with unique mechanics and bonuses mechanisms, how will you stand out?
We aren’t here to reinvent the wheel, rather to take popular, proven mechanics and put our own spin on them. Developing unique mechanics is a high risk strategy that rarely pays off – studios can often indulge in what is actually a passion product for the team, while players are often reluctant to spend time and money learning something new. That said, they do expect studios to keep things interesting, and that’s why we are more about iteration than out and out innovation. Our first run of games includes player favourite features like Hold & Win, Cash Collect and Jackpot, but with a “twist”. Of course, we do have some ideas for unique mechanics and features in the works are taking a very considered approach to developing them for launch so they don’t push players too far out of their comfort zones.
Studios make a lot of noise about their mechanics but is the the only ingredient required for a successful slot game?
For a slot to be a hit, it needs to be the full package. This means it has a great theme, captivating narrative with relatable characters, striking design, big sound, quality animations and, of course, thrilling gameplay delivered through the right combination of mechanics and features. This is why as well as mechanics, Red Papaya is going to set a new standard for the production value of slot games. This will be achieved through cinematic visuals, superior sound design and epic stories that draw players in and put them at the heart of the action.
Take our debut release, Kong’s Jungle Tower, as an example. It’s been designed to deliver an immersive audio and visual experience, including sound cues from Kong which help to amp up the action and then intensify as the features get closer. Kong’s roar builds up and sounds like he’s getting closer while the reels begin to shake and ignite with fiery effects, creating the sense that a big, thunderous win is about to land.
As you say, Kong’s Jungle Tower is Red Papaya’s debut slot. What can players expect when firing up the reels for the first time?
In Kong’s Jungle Tower, players embark on an expedition into uncharted territory where fortunes can be found hidden within a forgotten temple, deep within the jungle. The Cash Collect slot sees players helped on their adventure by several features, including the legendary Jungle Tower which includes 15 Cash Prizes to be won. Then there are Monkey Coins that sweep across the reels, gathering instant treasures and unlocking the mightiest prizes from the summit of the tower. Even when the reels fall silent, Kong’s adventurous spirit electrifies the Tower with Multipliers, charging up Cash Prizes for spectacular wins. But that’s not all. Three Bonus Symbols trigger eight Free Spins – once activated, the reels increase to a 5×5 setup for even more win opportunities. As the Free Spins play out, three Bonus Symbols will award eight additional Free Spins while two Bonus Symbols will grant three more Free Games. As you can see, it’s a feature-rich slot that will get players pounding their chests as the big wins get closer and closer.
For Red Papaya, what does success look like for the rest of the year?
We’re a player-first studio, so success will be players engaging with our growing portfolio of slots and being captivated and entertained by the experience that each has to offer. We know exactly what it takes to develop blockbuster slots, and our first run of titles have the hallmarks of chart-toppers. Of course, you never know how a game will resonate with players, but the early stats coming in from titles like Kong’s Jungle Tower, Nova Blast and Lucky Rainbow Rush suggest we have a hit on our hands. The challenge will be ensuring that our next games on the roadmap, which includes Pirate’s Fight for Fortune, are just as successful but we fully intend for each release to out-perform the game that comes before it.
The post Getting to know Red Papaya appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
“En el mercado regulado de apuestas sentí que estaba intentando nadar en un océano dominado por tiburones. En el mercado de predicciones, estamos ayudando a construir el propio océano.” (C.S)
El mercado de predicciones comienza a ganar espacio en Brasil en un momento de transformación para la industria del gaming y los productos digitales basados en probabilidades.
Aunque todavía es un concepto incipiente en el país, y contradictorio en países vecinos, este modelo, que combina elementos de mercados financieros, tecnología y comportamiento del usuario, ya ha demostrado su potencial en otras regiones al ofrecer estimaciones colectivas sobre eventos futuros.
Sin embargo, su avance ha sido conflictivo en América Latina.
En mercados como Argentina, por ejemplo, está enfrentado restricciones e incluso prohibiciones, en medio de debates regulatorios sobre su naturaleza y su posible similitud con las apuestas tradicionales.
En este contexto, Brasil aparece como un terreno aún en definición, donde la reciente regulación de las apuestas deportivas abre espacio para discutir nuevos formatos digitales basados en probabilidades.
Es en este escenario donde surge la figura de Carlos Santos, CEO y uno de los impulsores de este segmento en el mercado brasileño con el lanzamiento de Previlabel.
Con experiencia previa en el ecosistema de apuestas, Santos decidió dar un paso más allá del modelo tradicional para apostar por la construcción de una nueva categoría en el país: los mercados de predicción.
A través de su visión y su proyecto, el ejecutivo busca no solo introducir este concepto en Brasil, sino también desarrollar la infraestructura tecnológica necesaria para que nuevos operadores y empresas puedan formar parte de este ecosistema emergente.
En esta entrevista, Carlos Santos analiza el potencial del mercado de predicciones en Brasil, los desafíos de su desarrollo y las oportunidades que pueden definir el futuro de este segmento en la región.
¿El mercado de predicciones aún es poco conocido en Brasil. ¿Cómo explicaría este concepto a alguien que nunca ha oído hablar de él?
Los mercados de predicción son plataformas donde las personas negocian probabilidades sobre eventos futuros.
En lugar de simplemente apostar por un resultado, los usuarios compran o venden posiciones basadas en la probabilidad de que algo ocurra.
El precio de estas posiciones termina reflejando lo que el mercado cree que es la probabilidad de ese evento.
Por eso, muchos describen este modelo como una especie de bolsa de valores de probabilidades, donde la información, la opinión y el dinero se combinan para formar una estimación colectiva del futuro.
¿Por qué cree que Brasil puede convertirse en un mercado relevante para plataformas de predicción?
Brasil tiene varios factores que favorecen este tipo de mercado. En primer lugar, es un país altamente conectado digitalmente y con una gran adopción de nuevas tecnologías financieras.
En segundo lugar, existe una cultura muy fuerte en torno a los deportes y a los eventos públicos, lo que genera naturalmente interés por las predicciones.
Además, la reciente regulación de las apuestas deportivas ha abierto espacio para nuevas discusiones sobre productos relacionados con probabilidades y mercados digitales.
El país acaba de regular las apuestas deportivas. ¿Los mercados de predicción son una evolución natural de esto o una industria diferente?
Están relacionados, pero no son exactamente lo mismo.
En las apuestas deportivas tradicionales, las probabilidades son definidas por la casa de apuestas.
En los mercados de predicción, en cambio, son los propios usuarios quienes forman esas probabilidades al negociar posiciones entre sí.
Esto crea una dinámica más cercana a un mercado financiero, donde el precio cambia a medida que surgen nuevas informaciones y las personas ajustan sus expectativas.
¿Cuáles son los principales tipos de eventos que podrían volverse populares en este mercado en Brasil?
El deporte probablemente será el punto de entrada más natural, ya que existe una gran base de usuarios interesados en este tipo de eventos.
Pero con el tiempo, estos mercados pueden expandirse hacia áreas como política, economía, entretenimiento e incluso tecnología.
En otros países ya existen mercados de predicción sobre elecciones, indicadores económicos y grandes eventos globales.
Esto demuestra que el modelo tiene potencial para ir más allá del entretenimiento.
¿Existe el riesgo de que el mercado de predicciones sea confundido con las apuestas tradicionales?
Sí, especialmente al inicio.
Como ambos involucran dinero y probabilidades, es natural que exista cierta confusión. Sin embargo, la diferencia está en la dinámica del mercado.
En las plataformas de predicción, los usuarios pueden negociar probabilidades y reaccionar ante nueva información, lo que hace que el sistema sea más parecido a un mercado financiero que a una apuesta tradicional.
Con el tiempo, a medida que el público entienda mejor el funcionamiento, esta distinción tenderá a ser más clara.
En el exterior, las plataformas de predicción ya existen desde hace tiempo. ¿Qué puede aprender Brasil de estas experiencias?
La principal lección es que estos mercados funcionan mejor cuando hay transparencia, liquidez y reglas claras de operación.
Las experiencias internacionales muestran que, cuando están bien estructurados, los mercados de predicción pueden generar estimaciones bastante precisas sobre eventos futuros. Sin embargo, también ha quedado claro que es fundamental contar con mecanismos de integridad y un entorno regulatorio que acompañe la innovación.
Brasil tiene la ventaja de poder observar estos ejemplos y adaptar las mejores prácticas a su propio contexto.
¿Qué le hizo mirar hacia los mercados de predicción en lugar de continuar únicamente en el mercado tradicional de apuestas?
Durante el último SBC en Lisboa tuve un momento muy claro de reflexión sobre el mercado. Me di cuenta de que estaba intentando competir en un entorno extremadamente difícil para empresas nuevas: enfrentar directamente a gigantes ya consolidados en el sector de apuestas.
El mercado regulado de apuestas en Brasil es altamente competitivo y está dominado por empresas con gran capital. Es como intentar nadar junto a tiburones en un océano que ya les pertenece.
Fue entonces cuando entendí que tal vez la oportunidad no era competir en ese mercado de la forma tradicional, sino participar en la construcción de una nueva categoría dentro del sector. El mercado de predicciones aún está en sus inicios en Brasil, lo que abre espacio para la innovación, la tecnología y el liderazgo.
Percibí que podía aprovechar toda la experiencia adquirida en el sector de apuestas para ayudar a estructurar este nuevo momento del mercado en el país.
¿Cuál fue el momento en que decidió convertir esto en un negocio?
Cuando regresé a Brasil después del SBC Lisboa, mi visión de negocio cambió completamente.
Comencé a estudiar más profundamente el mercado de predicciones y entendí que no era solo una tendencia global, sino también una oportunidad real para construir infraestructura en este sector en Brasil.
A partir de esta visión, iniciamos una asociación con Brasil Bitcoin, aprovechando toda su experiencia en Web3 e infraestructura digital para desarrollar esta tecnología.
La idea fue combinar esa experiencia en blockchain con nuestra visión de producto y mercado, creando una base tecnológica capaz de aportar más competitividad e innovación a este nuevo segmento.
¿Cuáles fueron los mayores desafíos al comenzar en este sector?
El principal desafío fue construir la tecnología.
Los mercados de predicción requieren una infraestructura muy específica, que incluye sistemas de negociación de probabilidades, liquidez, gestión de eventos y mecanismos de integridad.
Como este mercado aún es muy nuevo en Brasil, prácticamente no existían soluciones listas adaptadas a la realidad local. Esto exigió un gran esfuerzo de desarrollo para crear una tecnología sólida capaz de sostener el crecimiento de este ecosistema.
¿El público brasileño está preparado para entender y utilizar los mercados de predicción?
Creo que sí. El brasileño ya ha demostrado una gran capacidad de adaptación a nuevos productos digitales.
Basta observar el crecimiento de las apuestas deportivas, las criptomonedas y las plataformas financieras en los últimos años.
Cuando el modelo se explica bien y la experiencia es simple, la adopción tiende a ocurrir rápidamente.
¿Qué hace exactamente Previlabel dentro de este mercado?
Previlabel es una empresa de tecnología enfocada en infraestructura para mercados de predicción.
Desarrollamos la tecnología que permite a emprendedores crear sus propias plataformas de predicción y construir negocios dentro de este nuevo segmento que está comenzando a surgir en Brasil.
Nuestro objetivo es facilitar la entrada de nuevos operadores en este mercado.
Ustedes no operan solo una plataforma — venden tecnología para quienes quieren crear la suya. ¿Cómo funciona este modelo?
Exactamente.
Previlabel funciona como un proveedor de tecnología para este mercado. En lugar de operar una única plataforma, desarrollamos la infraestructura que los operadores pueden utilizar para lanzar sus propias marcas dentro del mercado de predicciones.
Esto permite que emprendedores y empresas ingresen en este sector de forma mucho más rápida, sin necesidad de desarrollar toda la tecnología desde cero.
¿Cree que veremos muchas plataformas de predicción surgir en Brasil en los próximos años?
Creo que esto ocurrirá muy rápidamente. En los próximos meses ya deberíamos ver varias plataformas emergiendo en Brasil.
Históricamente, el país siempre ha atraído nuevos modelos de negocio digitales debido al tamaño del mercado y al alto nivel de adopción tecnológica.
Cuando surge un nuevo segmento prometedor, Brasil suele convertirse en uno de los principales mercados de experimentación.
¿Existe una especie de “carrera” para crear el primer gran mercado de predicción brasileño?
Sí, esto es algo natural en cualquier industria naciente.
Cuando un nuevo mercado comienza a formarse, siempre existe una competencia inicial entre empresas para ver quién logra posicionarse primero y convertirse en referencia.
Probablemente estamos en el inicio de este proceso en Brasil, y quien consiga construir una tecnología sólida, ganar la confianza del público y escalar primero tendrá una ventaja muy importante.
The post Los mercados de predicción ganan terreno en Brasil con la entrada de Previlabel appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.
The prediction market is beginning to gain traction in Brazil at a time of transformation for the gaming industry and probability-based digital products.
Although it is still an emerging concept in the country, and a controversial one in neighboring markets, this model, which combines elements of financial markets, technology, and user behavior, has already demonstrated its potential in other regions by offering collective estimations of future events.
However, its development has been uneven across Latin America.
In markets such as Argentina, for example, it has faced restrictions and even bans, amid regulatory debates over its nature and its possible similarity to traditional betting.
In this context, Brazil emerges as a market still in formation, where the recent regulation of sports betting opens the door to discussions around new probability-based digital formats.
It is in this scenario that the figure of Carlos Santos emerges, CEO and one of the promoters of this segment in the Brazilian market with the launch of Previlabel.
With prior experience in the betting ecosystem, Santos chose to move beyond the traditional model and focus on building a new category in the country: prediction markets.
Through his vision and his project, the executive aims not only to introduce this concept in Brazil, but also to develop the technological infrastructure needed for new operators and companies to participate in this emerging ecosystem.
In this interview, Carlos Santos discusses the potential of prediction markets in Brazil, the challenges of their development, and the opportunities that could shape the future of this segment in the region.
Prediction Markets in Brazil
The prediction market is still relatively unknown in Brazil. How would you explain this concept to someone who has never heard of it?
Prediction markets are platforms where people trade probabilities about future events. Instead of simply betting on an outcome, users buy or sell positions based on the likelihood of something happening.
The price of these positions ultimately reflects what the market believes is the probability of that event.
That’s why many people describe this model as a kind of stock exchange for probabilities, where information, opinion, and money come together to form a collective estimate of the future.
Why do you believe Brazil could become a relevant market for prediction platforms?
Brazil has several factors that strongly support this type of market.
First, it is a highly digitally connected country with strong adoption of new financial technologies. Second, there is a strong cultural interest in sports and public events, which naturally drives interest in predictions.
Additionally, the recent regulation of sports betting has opened the door to discussions around products related to probabilities and digital markets.
The country has just regulated sports betting. Are prediction markets a natural evolution of this, or a different industry?
They are related, but not exactly the same. In traditional sports betting, probabilities are set by the bookmaker. In prediction markets, however, users themselves create those probabilities by trading positions with each other.
This creates a dynamic closer to a financial market, where prices change as new information emerges and as people adjust their expectations.
What types of events do you believe could become popular in this market in Brazil?
Sports will likely be the most natural entry point, as there is already a large audience interested in this type of content.
But over time, these markets can expand into areas such as politics, economics, entertainment, and even technology.
In other countries, prediction markets already exist around elections, economic indicators, and major global events.
This shows that the model has the potential to go beyond entertainment.
Is there a risk that prediction markets could be confused with traditional betting?
Yes, especially in the early stages. Since both involve money and probabilities, some confusion is natural. However, the key difference lies in the market dynamics.
In prediction platforms, users can trade probabilities and react to new information, making the system closer to a financial market than a traditional bet.
Over time, as users better understand how it works, this distinction tends to become clearer.
Abroad, prediction platforms have existed for some time. What can Brazil learn from these experiences?
The main lesson is that these markets work best when there is transparency, liquidity, and clear operational rules.
International experiences show that, when well structured, prediction markets can generate highly accurate estimates of future events.
However, they also highlight the importance of integrity mechanisms and a regulatory environment that keeps pace with innovation.
Brazil has the advantage of being able to observe these examples and adapt best practices to its own context.
What made you look at prediction markets instead of continuing only in the traditional betting industry?
At the last SBC in Lisbon, I had a very clear moment of realization about the market.
I understood that I was trying to compete in a very difficult environment for new companies, going directly against well-established giants in the betting sector.
The regulated betting market in Brazil is extremely competitive and dominated by companies with significant capital.
It’s like trying to swim alongside sharks in an ocean that already belongs to them.
That’s when I realized that the opportunity might not be to compete in that market in the traditional way, but rather to help build a new category within the industry.
Prediction markets are still at an early stage in Brazil, which creates space for innovation, technology, and leadership.
I saw that I could bring all the knowledge I developed in the betting sector to help structure this new phase of the market in the country.
When did you decide to turn this into a business?
When I returned to Brazil after SBC Lisbon, my business perspective changed completely.
I began studying prediction markets more deeply and realized that this was not just a global trend, but also a real opportunity to build infrastructure for this sector in Brazil.
From that point, we started a partnership with Mercado Bitcoin, leveraging the company’s expertise in Web3 and digital infrastructure to develop this technology.
The idea was to combine this blockchain experience with our product and market vision, creating a technological foundation capable of bringing more competitiveness and innovation to this new segment.
What were the biggest challenges when starting in this sector?
The main challenge was building the technology.
Prediction markets require very specific infrastructure, including probability trading systems, liquidity management, event handling, and integrity mechanisms.
Since this is still a very new market in Brazil, there were virtually no ready-made solutions adapted to the local reality.
This required a significant development effort to build a robust technology capable of supporting the growth of this ecosystem.
Is the Brazilian public ready to understand and use prediction markets?
I believe so. Brazilians have already demonstrated a strong ability to adapt to new digital products.
Just look at the growth of sports betting, cryptocurrencies, and financial platforms in recent years.
When the model is well explained and the user experience is simple, adoption tends to happen quickly.
What exactly does Previlabel do within this market?
Previlabel is a technology company focused on infrastructure for prediction markets.
We develop the technology that allows entrepreneurs to create their own prediction platforms and build businesses within this new segment that is starting to emerge in Brazil.
Our goal is to make it easier for new operators to enter this market.
You don’t operate just one platform, you sell technology for others to build their own. How does this model work?
Exactly. Previlabel operates as a technology provider for this market. Instead of running a single platform, we develop the infrastructure that operators can use to launch their own brands within the prediction market space.
This allows entrepreneurs and companies to enter the sector much faster, without needing to build the entire technology from scratch.
Do you believe we will see many prediction platforms emerging in Brazil in the coming years?
I believe this will happen very quickly. In the coming months, we should already see several platforms emerging in Brazil.
Historically, the country has always attracted new digital business models due to the size of its market and the high level of technological engagement.
When a promising new segment appears, Brazil often becomes one of the main markets for experimentation.
Is there a kind of “race” to create the first major Brazilian prediction market?
Yes, this is natural in any emerging industry.
When a new market begins to take shape, there is always an initial competition between companies to see who can position themselves first and become a reference.
We are likely at the beginning of this process in Brazil, and those who manage to build solid technology, gain user trust, and scale quickly will have a significant advantage.
The post Prediction Markets Gain Ground in Brazil as Previlabel Enters the Market appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.
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