Interviews

Exploring the Metaverse and AI’s role in it

Published

4 years ago

August 5, 2021

George Miller

Reading Time: 6 minutes

with modl.ai’s CEO & Co-founder Christoffer Holmgård

How do you define a metaverse?

The metaverse is a challenging thing to define, partly because it’s such an abstract concept, but also as no one has created one yet – so the exact scope of what we’re talking about is a bit blurry. To define the Metaverse, it makes sense to look to fiction, where the term was originally coined. In Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash, the Metaverse is a digital, online universe, perceived from a first-person perspective, that exists independently of whether you are logged into it or not. It’s a persistent place that you can access, change, leave, and return to.

There’s a myriad of possible definitions, but there are common threads between them. The metaverse could be defined as a multi-user real-time virtual space where individuals around the world can connect via a network, co-exist and socialise. Many games and platforms exist already that could fit this description, but what sets apart the metaverse from a traditional multiplayer experience is the ability for players to create and share content to shape the world around them in a more or less persistent setting.

When do you think the first Metaverse will be created?

Some think we’ve already arrived, others think the metaverse will be far grander in scale. If you look at your gaming library today, examples that resemble metaverses will instantly jump out at you in the shape of Minecraft, Dreams, Fall Guys, Roblox and Fortnite. For many people, these titles are no longer considered games but persistent spaces to connect and socialise through virtual experiences – that may or may not include gaming.

Historically, the gaming industry has seen many forms of the metaverse since its inception. World of Warcraft has had its own functioning virtual and digital metaverse in the form of a digital and virtual economy for decades. Second Life is another early example that partly fits the bill, and EVE Online in particular stands out as a persistent universe shared between all the players where large organizations and even an economy have sprung up. Looking even further back, the early Multi-User Dungeons of the 1970s – or MUDs – might be considered proto-metaverses without graphics. Each of these examples contain different characteristics that define the Metaverse, even if they didn’t manage to achieve them all.

European Gaming Congress 2024 (Warsaw, Poland)

How are you seeing the metaverse trend being reflected in the industry right now?

We’re seeing a drive across the games industry toward creating platforms for Metaverse-like experiences. Using either existing technologies or games, and even building new ones. The trend has been going on for quite some years, but it seems we’re reaching a point where the idea of Metaverses is coming together for both players and large industry actors. What’s more, the global pandemic has undoubtedly accelerated some of these trends that were already underway.

Fortnite, Roblox, and other big titles have slowly evolved from games to online spaces where people can interact and spend virtual currency on in-game items to build relationships and experience something fun and unique. Elsewhere, the trend continues thanks to games like Fortnite, which continues to develop more virtual experiences like its famous concerts. What’s more, Fortnite’s publisher, EPIC Games, recently raised $1 billion to support its future vision to build the metaverse.

With nearly 40 million daily users, the online gaming platform Roblox has become an incredibly popular online community. The game allows its users near-limitless possibilities to create, buy and sell, customise and socialise. What’s more, Roblox no longer calls itself a game on its website anymore; instead, it’s now an experience.

In essence, it’s a collection of semi-persistent spaces created by players using the same foundational tools and protocols. They make their spaces uniquely their own by changing and expanding templates and customising them in creative ways that no single game development company could come up with on their own.

Developers who have created popular interactive virtual social spaces have realised the earning potential behind their ‘games within a game’. So the race to perfect the metaverse model is on!

Many believe the metaverse is the next logical evolution of the internet, so it’s easy to see why so many big industry players are racing to stake their claim and take as big a piece of the pie as possible. So much so that even the country of South Korea has begun laying the foundation for its metaverse, as it recently created an alliance between 17 of the country’s industry-leading tech companies. Most recently, Facebook came out and declared itself a contributor to bringing about the Metaverse.

There is currently no single metaverse, but given the recent boom in brand collaborations and cross-platform play, in the future, we may see several of them become interoperable or meld together in a shared vast universe. But the biggest hurdle will still remain getting companies to look past their own interests to drive inter-organisational collaboration.

What do you think will be some of the main hurdles in establishing the first metaverse?

Creating a metaverse is one thing, but keeping players engaged and returning to this new frontier is another. Gaming professionals need to understand what motivates players to contribute and come back to these virtual spaces. The key lies in understanding player behaviour. It may sound obvious, but measuring the way a given player moves through and interacts with a virtual space is a great way to gauge their interests. Their interactions, however seemingly insignificant, reveal the player’s preferences from moment to moment.

Understanding a player within the metaverse could be reached by manually picking and studying the individual user, but this approach quickly becomes unfeasible at scale. Alternatively, one can sample representative users, but this form of user research is time-consuming, expensive, and doesn’t pinpoint accuracy at the individual player level. This is where artificial intelligence can help.

What role will AI play in the metaverse?

Put simply, publishers need their players to return, continue investing, and growing with the environment itself. Tools such as AI that learns from and understands the audience could be the key to growing the metaverse as the game industry’s next frontier.

Today we’re already seeing how AI can assist in daily work, assisting with checking, testing, coding, or even generating whole segments of stories automatically. As more people become digital content creators, we expect AI to take a role as a creative assistant working next to human creators, automating boring, repetitive or difficult tasks that are part of the creation process. AI systems will learn from prior examples and patterns in the Metaverse and use the learnt information to assist with new creative processes.

An additional way in which AI will be significant in the Metaverse is that AI systems will get to know you over time and shape your experience of the Metaverse accordingly. A quality of digital universes is that they, by their nature, allow for the observation of just about everything that goes on in them. One method that can help developers understand their players is by recording their behaviour at the action level and using it to create AI Personas – which are essentially models of the players in parts of the metaverse. By first logging and replicating player behaviour, AI Personas can predict how certain players or groups would act, and by extension, what that means in terms of interests, motivations, and preferences.

These predictions can then be used to tailor and adapt the player’s experience with the most engaging content and interactions at the individual level. You could imagine having an AI system that puts together or even generates content and experiences that are tailored just for you.

It even opens the opportunity for you to leave behind imprints of yourself when you’re not signed into the Metaverse. Some video games already offer a version of this today – for instance Forza Motorsport has Drivatars: AI drivers that drive in your style, that your friends can race against if you’re not online to compete. Perhaps, in the future, we’ll have our own AI doubles or assistants filling in for us in the Metaverse, when we’re not around to play.

This idea is really an extension of character customisation, which has become a cornerstone of modern gaming. Epic Games understood early on how character customisation and avatar expression attracted players away from competing titles such as PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. Licensing pop-culture avatars was key to keeping people within the Fortnite metaverse. Interest amongst players is always high because there’s a chance for them to wield a lightsaber one week then wear the infinity gauntlet as Thanos the next.

This level of avatar detail and customisation, and the ability for users to express themselves in new and exciting ways, will potentially be the cornerstone of any successful future metaverse project as players use this as a form of expression.

But as games continue to increase in scope and attract more players to log on, manually managing these virtual worlds becomes much less feasible – especially in the context of a metaverse. So you can quickly see where AI fits into the equation.

From generating digital environments, shaping more realistic AI character behaviours to automated bug finding, the potential applications for artificial intelligence will be near-limitless. With regards to the Metaverse, whatever final form it takes, I believe artificial intelligence will be vital in realising projects of this scale.

Interviews

HIPTHER Community Voices: Interview with Dr. Maria Loumpourdi, founder and Managing Director of Made From Within

Published

23 hours ago

June 16, 2025

George Miller

Reading Time: 7 minutes

In this interview, we speak with Dr. Maria Loumpourdi, founder and Managing Director of Made From Within, a CPD-accredited leadership development provider. She shares her journey into leadership and coaching, the philosophy behind her work, and how evidence-based development can drive real change—particularly in high-growth sectors like iGaming.

What originally sparked your interest in leadership development and coaching? Was there a defining moment that set you on this path?

The spark started very early. As a kid, I was always very curious and loved learning, but more than that, I loved sharing what I learned. I even remember trying to memorise a 24-volume encyclopaedia just so I could drop interesting facts into conversations. Looking back, that passion for learning and helping others grow was always there.

When it came time to choose a university path, education felt like the natural choice. I loved it (and still do), but I quickly started to feel uneasy about how rigid the school system is. More often than not, we teach what’s prescribed, not necessarily what kids want or need to learn. That made me think more seriously about adult education, where people have more agency in their development and are often more personally invested.

That decision led me to corporate learning and development. I started in the Learning & Development department of an iGaming company, and within a year, I moved into a leadership role heading L&D in the manufacturing sector. That role gave me hands-on experience in managing teams and developing as a leader myself. By that time, I had already completed a master’s in educational leadership and had been accepted into a doctoral programme. At that point, I already knew my research would focus on leadership development.

Another key realisation came when I started developing leaders. I began to see that while training is a necessary first step, it cannot, on its own, lead to lasting behavioural change. That’s when I realised coaching was the missing piece; it’s what helps people truly internalise and apply what they’ve learned. I became an accredited coach and eventually a coaching supervisor (a coach of coaches), and that shifted how I approached development.

Everything came together when I completed my doctorate and published my book, Leaders Made From Within. That was an important moment for me because it also marked the launch of my company, Made from Within. It was the point where everything aligned: my love for learning, leadership, developing others, and the belief that real change (whether individual or organisational) comes from within.

Made From Within is CPD-accredited and globally active. What inspired you to start it, and what impact are you most proud of so far?

Made From Within wasn’t a business idea; it was the result of over a decade of real-world experience, empirical research, and a deep understanding of what works (and what doesn’t) when it comes to leadership and organisational development. I spent many years building my expertise, holding senior roles in international organisations, and seeing firsthand what drives real performance and sustainable business growth. Just as importantly, I saw the common patterns that hold people and businesses back. Many of the lessons I learned (both the successes and the hard-won mistakes) shaped the foundation of Made From Within.

I started Made From Within because I wanted to offer something practical, evidence-based, and rooted in real experience; instead of unsupported theories, popular opinions, or trends. The leadership and personal development space is currently crowded, and I was very intentional about two things: 1. making sure that my background clearly shows I am not another self-proclaimed guru on social media, and 2. ensuring this wasn’t just another one-size-fits-all offering. At Made From Within, we don’t do off-the-shelf. We work closely with clients to understand their goals, context, and challenges, then build tailored solutions that reflect their reality. We’ve also developed CPD-accredited programmes for individuals and teams who want to grow in a structured and credible way.

What I’m most proud of is how much we’ve achieved in such a short time. Made From Within has already supported leaders and teams across organisations and industries, enabling behavioural and organisational change. We’re now expanding access by offering our accredited courses directly through our website, which allows more people to develop themselves on their own terms, and at their own pace.

Your career spans several industries—from banking and manufacturing to iGaming. What pivotal experiences have shaped your leadership philosophy?

While some leadership challenges (like earning trust, managing conflict, or leading through change) are universal, I’ve found that every industry comes with its own unspoken rules and unique pressures. The culture portrayed on the company website is rarely (if ever) the full picture. Experiencing these differences first-hand has taught me that effective leadership isn’t about following one fixed approach. It’s about learning when to listen, when to challenge, and how to earn credibility in novel environments.

One of the experiences that shaped my approach happened in my very first week as a department head in the manufacturing sector. I was asked to represent the function in a customer audit, even though I had just stepped into the role and barely had any exposure to the industry or the company. During the audit, the client questioned how certain KPIs were calculated. I hadn’t prepared the presentation and didn’t have the answer. It would’ve been easy (and probably expected) to say, “I’m new”, or shift the blame to the person who created it. But I saw it as an opportunity to lead.

I admitted I didn’t have the answer at that moment and promised to come back with it by the end of the day. When I approached the team member who had prepared the figures, they told me they couldn’t remember. This person was already on their way out of the company, having previously received feedback that they weren’t ready for the role I had stepped into. Still, I didn’t point fingers. I worked with the team to find the answer, verified the data, and returned to the client with a clear explanation. We earned the client’s trust, salvaged the audit, and celebrated with the team despite the initial mistake.

That experience grounded one of the core principles of my leadership philosophy: when you lead, you take ownership. You don’t blame others, you don’t throw people under the bus, and you don’t step back when things go wrong. If you’re in a leadership role, you take responsibility and step up even when it’s not directly your fault. That’s the kind of leader I’ve worked to be across every industry I’ve been part of.

In iGaming, rapid growth often outpaces structured development. How can coaching help companies build stronger leadership pipelines during periods of scale?

In iGaming, growth often happens so quickly that people find themselves in leadership roles before they’ve had the time (or the opportunity) to develop the skills or confidence to lead. Coaching helps bridge that gap. It provides a safe space for new and emerging leaders to speak openly about their challenges, reflect on their behaviours, set development goals for themselves and their teams, and work toward those goals with a coach acting as both a thinking partner and an accountability partner.

It’s just as valuable for senior leaders. Coaching can help them build executive presence and avoid slipping into autopilot decision-making, which, in a fast-paced environment like iGaming, can have serious long-term consequences for both individuals and the business.

I’ve seen the impact of coaching firsthand. I’ve worked with people who were on performance improvement plans (essentially on their way out), and within six months, they were promoted into leadership roles. What changed? Their mindset, their behaviour, how they communicated, how they built relationships, and how they demonstrated their competence. Coaching made that shift possible.

Coaching meets people where they are, which is exactly what’s needed during periods of rapid scale. Especially in iGaming, where employee turnover often reaches or exceeds 30% (meaning one in three employees leave each year) offering coaching, even as a smaller operator or supplier, can be the difference between losing talent (often to competitors) and building a strong leadership pipeline.

What advice would you give to iGaming companies looking to invest in leadership development for the first time? Where should they start?

My key piece of advice is this: don’t buy off-the-shelf leadership development programmes. Every year, over $360 billion is invested on leadership development globally, but only 10–20% of that has a measurable return on investment. The reason? Most programmes aren’t tailored to the actual needs of the business and its leaders.

If you want real impact, you need to start with a proper analysis of your organisation’s current leadership needs and challenges. Get clear on what effective leadership looks like in your organisation, involve senior leadership teams from the beginning, and design a programme that fits; not just something that looks good on paper. When done right, tailored programmes can achieve up to 10x the ROI.

In my book Leaders Made From Within: The Blueprint for Developing Leadership in Individuals and Organisations, I share the 5D Leadership Development Process (Define, Design, Deliver, Deploy, and Debrief), a model grounded in my doctoral research. It’s a practical, evidence-based process to building leadership capability, and it’s especially relevant for high-growth sectors like iGaming.

What skills or leadership traits are most important for success in iGaming—and how can coaching help develop them?

Success in iGaming requires a combination of leadership skills due to the industry’s fast pace, volatility, and competitiveness. In my experience developing talent in this industry, some of the most critical skills include:

Self-awareness and self-regulation: Leaders need to manage themselves under pressure and stay grounded. Coaching supports this by helping individuals recognise patterns, triggers, and habits; and understand how these affect their performance and relationships in a structured way.

Building relationships and networks: In a fast-moving and relatively young industry, strong cross-functional collaboration is essential. Coaching helps leaders improve their communication, influencing, and trust-building skills, especially when leading international teams where alignment is harder to achieve.

Creativity and innovation: iGaming leaders often face ambiguous situations without a clear playbook. Coaching provides space to step back, think differently, challenge assumptions, and explore new solutions, which is something daily operations rarely allow time for.

Decision-making: Rapid scaling requires leaders who can make informed, timely decisions without having all the answers. Coaching helps leaders gain clarity, improve their judgment, overcome indecision, and build confidence in high-stakes or complex situations.

Business acumen: Leaders need a broader understanding of how the business operates, not just within their own function. Coaching encourages a more strategic mindset by connecting day-to-day decisions to long-term business outcomes. For example, a commercial leader should understand product development, and vice versa. Everyone needs at least a baseline understanding of the financial and regulatory side of the business.

In short, coaching develops these skills not through theory, but through structured reflection, real-world application, accountability, and feedback.

The post HIPTHER Community Voices: Interview with Dr. Maria Loumpourdi, founder and Managing Director of Made From Within appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

Business Development Manager at Infingame

Curated for impact: How Infingame is redefining games aggregation

Published

7 days ago

June 10, 2025

GamingAmericas.com

curated-for-impact:-how-infingame-is-redefining-games-aggregation

In an exclusive with Gaming Americas, Katsiaryna Shuhai, Business Development Manager at Infingame, explores how the supplier’s curated approach to casino content is redefining the games aggregation space.

Katsiaryna, can you begin by introducing yourself – what does your role at Infingame entail?

As the Business Development Manager at Infingame, I lead strategic partnerships and integrations with game studios and content providers. My role focuses on identifying standout gaming content that fits our platform’s vision, negotiating collaboration terms, and ensuring smooth onboarding.

With a background in advertising, I bring a strong focus on relationship-building, open communication and a personalised approach to each partner. I believe that genuine connections and tailored solutions are key to driving successful, long-term collaborations.

Infingame has recently integrated with innovative game studios, including TaDa Gaming and Popiplay. What factors influenced your decision to partner with these two studios in particular? How have they impacted your partners’ engagement and retention across Latin America?

Our decision to partner with TaDa Gaming and Popiplay was driven by each studio’s ability to deliver innovative, high-performing content that resonates with players across our key markets, including Latin America. Popiplay offers energetic, entertainment-led slots, while TaDa brings a diverse mix of popular formats such as crash and fishing games.

We’re confident that these integrations will help our partners boost player engagement and retention, particularly in Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia. Both studios align perfectly with our goal of delivering meaningful and localised content.

With 16,000+ games from 200+ providers available via Infingame’s platform, how do you ensure that new titles don’t just add volume but deliver real value to your operators?

While our platform boasts a vast library of games, we prioritise quality over quantity. It’s important to deliver content that we know players will enjoy, rather than just sheer volume.

When adding new content to our platform, each new title undergoes a rigorous evaluation process to ensure it meets our standards for player engagement, technical performance and market relevance. By focusing on curated content that aligns with operator needs and player preferences, we ensure that every addition enhances the overall value proposition for our partners.

Infingame is now taking a much more curated approach to game studio integrations. What sparked this change in strategy?

The shift towards a more curated approach stems from our commitment to delivering tailored, high-quality content that meets the specific needs of our operators and players. We want to make sure that the games on our platform are suited to local player behaviours, technical requirements and localised to each individual market.

As the iGaming industry continues to evolve, and more markets begin to embrace gambling regulation, it’s essential to focus on partnerships that offer strategic value, ensuring that each integration contributes meaningfully to our platform’s objectives and enhances the user experience.

With more selective onboarding of game providers, how does Infingame evaluate which studios to integrate with? What criteria do you consider?

We evaluate potential game studio partners using a rigorous set of criteria to ensure quality and compatibility with the Infingame platform. Key factors include the uniqueness and quality of game content, with an emphasis on standout mechanics, visuals and immersive experiences. Technical reliability is absolutely crucial – we assess API stability, integration efficiency, and overall tech performance to guarantee seamless operations.

We also consider the studio’s reputation and regulatory compliance across our target markets, ensuring that they meet legal standards and industry expectations. A strong track record of player engagement and retention is another important indicator of long-term value.

Additionally, we look for a clear commitment to innovation, including new formats or features that enhance the player experience. This selective onboarding approach helps us maintain a diverse, high-performing game portfolio that supports our operator partners and meets the evolving demands of players worldwide.

How will this refined integration strategy impact your existing and prospective partners, particularly in terms of content diversity and speed to market?

This refined integration strategy empowers us to deliver greater value to both existing and prospective partners by emphasising quality over quantity. By curating a portfolio of high-performing, innovative content, we ensure that our partners can offer games that genuinely resonate with their target audiences and stand out in a crowded marketplace.

Our focus on onboarding only top-tier, reliable studios means partners benefit from diverse and engaging content that drives player retention and growth. Additionally, by streamlining technical integration and reducing operational friction, we can accelerate speed to market, enabling our partners to launch new titles more efficiently and capitalise on emerging trends.

This agility is key to maintaining a competitive edge. Ultimately, our strategy is designed to foster long-term success for our partners by delivering not just more games – but the right games, faster.

Finally, what’s next for Infingame? Are there any upcoming partnerships, features, or innovations that you can give us a sneak peek of?

Looking ahead, Infingame is committed to expanding its portfolio through strategic partnerships with studios that deliver innovative, high-impact content. Our focus remains on curating games that not only entertain but also enhance player retention.

At the same time, we’re investing in new technologies and platform features – such as advanced tournament mechanics, real-time engagement tools, and personalised player experiences – to help our partners stay ahead of industry trends.

These enhancements are designed to drive deeper engagement, increase revenue potential, and strengthen the overall value we bring to our operator network as a trusted, forward-thinking iGaming aggregator.

The post Curated for impact: How Infingame is redefining games aggregation appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.

Interviews

HIPTHER Community Voices: Interview with Attorney-at-law and founder at Kancelaria Adwokacka Dr. Justyna Grusza-Głębicka

Published

4 weeks ago

May 22, 2025

George Miller

hipther-community-voices:-interview-with-attorney-at-law-and-founder-at-kancelaria-adwokacka-dr.-justyna-grusza-glebicka

Reading Time: 4 minutes

With over a decade of experience in legal proceedings and a focus on gambling regulation and anti-money laundering compliance, Dr. Justyna Grusza-Głębicka is a leading voice in navigating the legal complexities of the gambling sector. In this interview, she shares her insights on the effectiveness of current safe gambling campaigns, the growing influence of social media in promoting illegal gambling, and the urgent need for regulatory reform in Poland.

Do you believe current awareness campaigns about safe gambling are working? What more should be done to educate players?

I do not have detailed analysis or data to confirm whether they are truly effective. However, the problem still exists. First of all, I am contacted as a lawyer by players who feel deceived by gambling operators. Players report violations regarding responsible gambling (for example, offering gambling to individuals who show clear signs of addiction) or in the area of AML (disregarding the fact that someone is gambling from another EU country when the operator does not hold a license there). Moreover, the media reports numerous cases involving the exposure of children to gambling – for example, by placing slot machine like devices in amusement parks or introducing gambling like mechanisms into video games accessible to minors. These violations are numerous, so clearly more can be done. To better educate players, influencers and social media platforms should be involved in the campaigns. These are currently the most effective tools for reaching people.

What are some common ways illegal gambling sites reach Polish players today? Are social media platforms a big part of the problem?

Social media plays a significant role. Influencers are actively involved in promoting illegal gambling and are very effective, especially as role models for younger generations. The live streams they conduct are difficult for enforcement authorities to monitor, and links to illegal casinos or poker sites are often shared in the comment sections during those streams. Currently, there is a trend of creating closed groups on platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp, or Signal, where players are encouraged to participate in illegal gambling and persuaded of its attractiveness. Big Tech companies like Google and Facebook are not helping in the fight against illegal gambling, as they allow such operators to advertise and be promoted through SEO.

Is the current legal system strong enough to go after these middlemen, or does it need updating too?

It is very difficult to prosecute gambling operators that offer services in Poland but are based abroad due to international legal obstacles. However, the current legal system does include tools for prosecuting intermediaries. Article 110a of the Fiscal Penal Code states that anyone who advertises gambling games in violation of the law or benefits from such advertising is subject to a fine. Additionally, under the Penal Code, there is a provision for aiding and abetting a prohibited act. Organizing gambling games without the required license is a criminal offense, and in such cases, the penalty for aiding and abetting is the same as for the principal offender. Aiding can be attributed to virtually anyone who supports the perpetrator in committing the offense.

Do you think most Polish players know whether a site is legal or not? How can they check this easily?

Research shows that only 38% of players know how to identify legal gambling websites. The legality of a gambling operator or website can be verified on the official government website: podatki.gov.pl or in the Register of Domains Used to Offer Gambling Games in Violation of the Law. However, the data indicates that it’s not that straightforward, as more than half of the players lack this knowledge.

What advice would you give to a player who has been scammed by an unlicensed online casino? Is there any legal step they can take?

First, I would advise reporting the crime to the authorities, even at the risk of personal liability, as this may be mitigated. In Poland, participating in foreign (unlicensed) gambling is punishable, so players also bear legal responsibility. Second, players can send payment demands to the entities responsible for organizing the illegal gambling, including payment institutions, although this approach may be ineffective. Under civil law, players are only protected when it comes to claims arising from legal gambling. Criminal proceedings are generally a better path. It’s also possible to seek protection through courts within the European Union.

And finally—do you think Poland is heading in the right direction when it comes to regulating online gambling? What are realistic changes you hope to see in gambling laws in the next year or two?

The last amendment to the Gambling Act was in 2016, so quite a bit of time has passed, and the world of modern technology is advancing rapidly. It is definitely time for change.

Recently, there has been an active debate on the future of gambling regulation in Poland – both within the industry and at the governmental level. A meeting of the Parliamentary Team for Free Market was organized under the topic: Illegal gambling in Poland – Diagnosis of problems in enforcement and proposed solutions, which I had the pleasure of attending. At the end of 2024, a new department dedicated to the gambling sector was also established. These may be signs of coming change.

The most visible demands include the liberalization of online casinos, which are currently under a state monopoly, and a shift from turnover tax to GGR. I believe that liberalizing the online casino market is a realistic development. Poland is struggling with a large grey market in gambling, and experiences from other EU countries show that allowing previously unlicensed operators to operate legally yields positive outcomes in this area.

Focusing on less headline-grabbing reforms, I would point to the need for improving the process through which the Ministry of Finance determines whether a particular game qualifies as gambling, currently, this process is quite costly. In general, facilitating better communication between the industry and the regulator would help avoid many misunderstandings caused by unclear legal provisions.

The post HIPTHER Community Voices: Interview with Attorney-at-law and founder at Kancelaria Adwokacka Dr. Justyna Grusza-Głębicka appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.