Interviews

Exclusive Q&A with Ivan Lebeau, Founder and President of Gamestream

Published

5 years ago

August 5, 2021

Reading Time: 7 minutes

Ivan Lebeau is a gnawed veteran in the gaming industry, having worked for over 25 years in video games and technology development. Ivan founded Gamestream in 2015 with an ambition to create the most advanced global cloud video game solution for professional industries. t

Here he talks about Gamestream and what it offers. Perhaps, the most illuminating things in the interview are two-fold. First, Gamestop’s rare business model of B2B2C in the gaming industry. Second, its proprietary technology that allows seamless game streaming at internet speeds as low as 4mbps.

He also explains Gamestream’s “magic recipe” of technology. Let’s jump straight to the interview.

Q. We usually begin our founder interviews with a stock question. Here it is: What motivated you to found Gamestream?

A. My key motivation in founding Gamestream was to democratise the joys of video game experiences. I see this as making console-quality gaming available for everyone, anywhere, at any time. Gamestream’s proprietary cloud gaming technology can thrive with relatively low internet speeds, meaning it has great applications in developing countries where expensive gaming hardware and connections aren’t always realistic.

Another strong motivation is to bring video games to the hospitality and healthcare fields. Inspired by the game Re-Mission, which has been shown to help young people navigate their cancer diagnoses and treatments, we at Gamestream firmly believe in the healing power of video games. As such, we work closely with partners such as BePlayer One, which aims to make gaming more inclusive for disabled people, and L’École des Héros, which helps teenagers overcome social anxiety through games. The Gamestream platform is also compatible with the main gamepad adapted for disabled people.

Q. What is the business model of Gamestream?

A. Gamestream is a world leader in cloud video game streaming solutions that provides console-quality gaming experiences on the devices that most people already own, including smartphones (iOS and Android), TV (OTT and Smart TV), PC, Mac and tablets.

We offer our partners a complete end-to-end cloud gaming service. While they are in charge of marketing, billing and hosting, Gamestream supplies our technology, our own highly cost-effective servers, and premium content – AA and AAA titles provided by leading video games publishers – as well as sophisticated data reporting. We help our partners reduce customer churn and increase average revenue per user by enhancing their market position and entertainment hubs.

Following the proven business models of Spotify and Netflix, Gamestream’s partners offer this cloud gaming service to their customers through an affordable multi-device subscription (usually approximately $10 per month). Our customers revert a percentage of this monthly revenue to Gamestream, which we in turn distribute a proportion of amongst the games publishers that populate our catalogue. Aside from this revenue share model, we also receive a non-recurring fee from our telecom partners to adapt, integrate and maintain our service on their network.

Gamestream’s service has been deployed under both white-labelled brands across Europe, the Middle East and Asia through partners in telecoms and hospitality. Examples of this include Telekom Slovenije’s NEO Gaming and Telkom Indonesia’s GameQoo. Customers can also choose to use our consumer brand, Pleio. With Pleio we offer the same proprietary tech and gaming experiences, but under a Gamestream brand which means we take on the community management of our customers’ users who sign up to the service. Bouygues Telecom, one of the largest telcos in France, has been using Pleio since its successful launch in late 2020.

Q. How is Gamestream different from other cloud gaming services e.g. XBOX Game Pass?

A. Unlike many other cloud gaming services which still rely on specialised gaming hardware or purchasing games individually, Gamestream offers console-quality experiences that are entirely cloud based. There are no additional downloads or purchases for our users, and no advertising. Our service is also available on the six main types of device – more than any other operator in the market.

We are one of only two companies in the cloud gaming space that provide a cloud platform with a games catalogue on a B2B2C basis. This means that we typically do not have a direct relationship with the end user – they tend to be customers of our industry partners.

Gamestream’s proprietary technology allows us to offer amazing gaming experiences using internet speeds as low as 4mbps – compared to the 10-15Mbps recommended by other cloud gaming platforms. Unlike other cloud gaming services, we reduce the burden of extra bandwidth usage on telcos by closely integrating with their server infrastructure. By integrating our servers in clients’ data centres, we can offer a much more cost-effective and profitable solution than other providers. It also means our service performs excellently in markets with less developed network infrastructure – but imagine also the incredible experiences we will be able to achieve with 4K, VR and AR as the 5G rollout gathers pace!

Q. In what ways do game publishers benefit from associating with the Gamestream platform?

A. Gamestream currently licenses games from more than 60 publishers including Disney, Capcom, Deep Silver, Codemasters, Focus Home Interactive and many others.

First of all, we provide a welcome additional income stream for them, with both brand new and popular legacy games being a good fit for our catalogue. We make this incredibly simple by porting a single version of their games onto our service and allowing users to play it on TV, Android & iOS Smartphones, PC, Mac, and Smart TV.

In addition, we open up exciting new markets for them. This includes emerging economies in Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe – and soon India – as well as hospitality (starting with hotels, which is a brand new stream of revenue for games publishers).

Q. You have formed partnerships with several telecom operators. How important are these partnerships for Gamestream’s growth?

A. We started our white label deployments in 2019 with major telecom operators in Indonesia and Dubai, then in Taiwan, Europe (2020) and very soon in India.

These partnerships are a key part of our growth, providing ready-made access to millions of potential subscribers and existing marketing and billing infrastructure operated by the telcos themselves. The reach of our service will hit 80m potential users by the end of 2021 and 400m by the end of 2022 – how else could we reach so many potential subscribers so rapidly?

Secondly, launching in these markets helps us to better understand the local gaming trends. We add local games to our catalogue, and have a growing expertise on local usages as well as the best marketing strategies for user acquisition.

This global understanding of markets and user bases is allowing us to launch dedicated cloud services for video games publishers themselves. High-quality content is vital to creating successful cloud gaming services – so who better to launch them than the content creators themselves? Using Gamestream’s technology, developers can offer demos of their games in the cloud, or even start their own cloud gaming service to become media brands in their own right.

Q. Gamestream also caters to the hospitality industry, for instance hotels and cruise ships. How has the response of the hospitality industry been, especially during and the aftermath of Covid 19 pandemic?

A. Much of the hospitality industry has of course been negatively impacted by the Covid-19. However, with the wider growth in gaming we have seen throughout the pandemic, it has become even more pressing for hospitality providers to find ways to integrate gaming into their offer to customers.

We have a number of growing partnerships with innovative brands such as Accor, which requested that their cloud gaming services be reactivated immediately after reopening, and expect to cultivate more throughout 2021.

Q. What are the benefits and advantages a business – a hotel, hospital or a cruise ship – can gain from Gamestream?

A. Innovation is a key topic in the hospitality and tourism industries to recover from the global pandemic. We travel to escape, to socialise, to boost our wellbeing. Increasingly, people and families do this via the medium of games. Likewise, encouraging millennials and Gen X to choose a hotel or resort over an AirBnB means catering directly to them.

We’ve already seen brands such as Atari plan gaming-theme hotels. While it isn’t possible for most hospitality companies to tear up their business model and start again, it is very simple to integrate a world class cloud gaming offering for their customers. The upshot is retaining customers and attracting new ones, as well as boosting spend in communal areas.

At Gamestream we can do this for our global customers via data centres or local installation, meaning it’s possible for them to offer a cloud gaming service even without fibre optic broadband. We can integrate the service directly with Samsung, Phillips and a large selection of Android Smart TVs, or via a discreet plug-in where TVs have not recently been upgraded. As with telcos, there is no capital expenditure on the part of the hospitality brand.

As well as in-room we have seen great demand in communal areas such as lobbies and kids’ play areas. Our service is likewise perfect for resorts, holiday camps, cruise ships, ski areas – the list is limitless. We are also exploring how our service can be used to provide esports experiences in shared spaces.

Q. In which countries do you operate now? Any immediate plans of expansion?

A. Our cloud gaming service is available on three continents already. From France and Switzerland to Taiwan, Slovenia, Indonesia, the UAE and soon India, people are enjoying unlimited access to our catalogue.

In terms of expansion, we have tripled our revenue over the past year and are on our way to doubling the size of the organisation this year. We expect to continue growing our global customer base in telecoms, hospitality and healthcare – our cloud gaming service can be deployed rapidly in any territory!

Cloud gaming is the best use case for 5G, and you can expect to see us grow particularly in Asia and the Middle East where 5G is rolling out. According to Newzoo, the value of the cloud gaming market is on track to exceed the five-billion-dollar mark in 2023, demonstrating the sheer scale of opportunity available.

Q. Finally, could you share some insights into the technology on which Gamestream platform is built?

A. Gamestream’s magic recipe is a combination of tried and tested, industry-grade technology with a seamless modern interface, leading games catalogue and multi-device strategy.

What enables us to provide such a high-quality experience even on relatively slow connections is our ability to compress and scale graphics using a video compression standard called H265. We also go into the very code of the games in our catalogue to define the processing power they need and are incredibly agile at distributing server load. In essence, we use cloud technology to inject the processing power of the most powerful computers into the ordinary, everyday devices that people own.

apuestas

Una decisión inequívoca para los mercados predictivos en Brasil

Published

2 hours ago

May 4, 2026

GamingAmericas.com

una-decision-inequivoca-para-los-mercados-predictivos-en-brasil

La Resolución 5.298 del Consejo Monetario Nacional de Brasil establece un límite regulatorio claro para los mercados de predicción como Polymarket y Kalshi.

En este análisis, Carlos Akira Sato examina cómo la medida refleja un cambio profundo en la arquitectura financiera de Brasil, redefiniendo qué califica como un instrumento financiero legítimo y estableciendo límites a la financiarización de eventos no económicos.

Carlos Akira Sato es cofundador de Fenynx Digital Assets y especialista en mercados regulados, infraestructura financiera y juego responsable.

En este artículo de opinión, argumenta que la Resolución 5.298 de Brasil no se trata tanto de prohibir Polymarket y Kalshi, sino de definir los límites de la próxima generación del sistema financiero.

La publicación de la Resolución nº 5.298 del Consejo Monetario Nacional establece, de forma inequívoca, un nuevo límite para la actuación de plataformas como Polymarket y Kalshi en el país. La conclusión es directa: estos modelos dejan de encontrar espacio regulatorio en Brasil. Pero la relevancia de la decisión no reside en la prohibición en sí, sino en lo que revela sobre el futuro de la arquitectura financiera.

La Resolución 5.298 no aborda explícitamente los mercados predictivos. Actúa en un plano más profundo, al redefinir qué puede considerarse un instrumento financiero legítimo.

Al exigir que los contratos estén vinculados a variables económicas con formación objetiva de precios, el regulador elimina la posibilidad de estructurar instrumentos —por sofisticados que parezcan— basados en eventos políticos, sociales o conductuales. No se trata de un ajuste periférico, sino de un reposicionamiento conceptual.

Durante años, plataformas como Polymarket y Kalshi prosperaron precisamente en la ambigüedad. No son casas de apuestas tradicionales ni encajan completamente como bolsas de derivados.

Operan en un territorio intermedio: contratos basados en probabilidades, lenguaje financiero y una promesa implícita de descubrimiento eficiente de precios sobre el futuro. Esa zona gris siempre fue su principal activo y también su mayor riesgo regulatorio. Lo que Brasil ha hecho ahora es eliminarla.

El punto más sofisticado de la resolución está en su diseño. El Consejo Monetario Nacional no atacó la tecnología, ni el formato de las plataformas, ni su ubicación. Atacó la esencia: la naturaleza del riesgo negociado.

Al hacerlo, volvió irrelevante si la operación se realiza mediante contratos bilaterales, plataformas offshore o protocolos basados en blockchain. Si el riesgo no es económico, el contrato no es admisible. Es una forma de regulación que privilegia la sustancia sobre la forma y que, por ello, tiende a ser más resiliente.

Esta decisión proyecta efectos más allá del debate sobre apuestas. Dialoga directamente con la discusión sobre tokenización y con la idea, ampliamente difundida en los últimos años, de que cualquier evento podría convertirse en un activo digital.

Brasil señala lo contrario: la innovación es bienvenida, pero no ilimitada. La tokenización encuentra legitimidad cuando está anclada en la economía real —crédito, cuentas por cobrar, activos productivos— y la pierde cuando intenta capturar comportamientos, opiniones o eventos sociales como base de negociación.

Es en este punto donde la resolución también revela una tensión institucional. El propio texto normativo asigna a la CVM la responsabilidad de emitir regulación complementaria. La elección es jurídicamente comprensible, pero institucionalmente discutible.

Si el propio diagnóstico del regulador reconoce que se trata de instrumentos híbridos —que transitan entre derivados, valores mobiliarios y estructuras de captación—, la ausencia de una iniciativa conjunta desde el inicio resulta llamativa. La opción de una regulación secuencial, con el CMN estableciendo directrices y la CVM detallando la normativa, introduce un desfase que puede reabrir temporalmente la misma zona gris que se busca cerrar.

La paradoja es evidente. La resolución es sofisticada al atacar la esencia económica de los contratos, pero fragmenta la ejecución regulatoria al distribuir competencias de forma no simultánea.

En un entorno donde la innovación financiera ocurre en la intersección de distintos regímenes —bancario, mercado de capitales y, en ciertos casos, apuestas—, la coordinación deja de ser deseable para convertirse en necesaria. La falta de sincronía puede generar interpretaciones divergentes, inseguridad jurídica y, sobre todo, oportunidades residuales de arbitraje.

Aun así, el núcleo de la decisión permanece sólido. Al restringir lo que puede considerarse un activo financiero, Brasil establece un límite silencioso pero poderoso a la financiarización de la realidad. No todo evento puede convertirse en un contrato. No toda expectativa puede convertirse en un precio. Y no todo lo que puede tokenizarse debe necesariamente negociarse.

Decir que Polymarket y Kalshi no pueden operar en Brasil es, por tanto, correcto. Pero es solo la superficie. Lo que está en juego es la definición de las fronteras de la próxima generación del sistema financiero.

Un sistema que seguirá incorporando tecnología e innovación, pero que, al menos en el caso brasileño, permanecerá anclado en la economía real. Y en ese proceso, la calidad de la coordinación entre reguladores será tan determinante como la claridad de las propias reglas.

Carlos Akira Sato – Cofundador de Fenynx Digital Assets. Especialista en mercados regulados, infraestructura financiera, gobernanza, innovación y juego responsable.

The post Una decisión inequívoca para los mercados predictivos en Brasil appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.

Brazil

An unequivocal decision for prediction markets in Brazil

Published

2 hours ago

May 4, 2026

GamingAmericas.com

an-unequivocal-decision-for-prediction-markets-in-brazil

Brazil’s National Monetary Council Resolution 5.298 marks a clear regulatory boundary for prediction markets such as Polymarket and Kalshi.

In this analysis, Carlos Akira Sato examines how the measure reflects a deeper shift in Brazil’s financial architecture, redefining what qualifies as a legitimate financial instrument and setting limits on the financialisation of non-economic events.

Carlos Akira Sato is co-founder of Fenynx Digital Assets and a specialist in regulated markets, financial infrastructure and responsible gambling.

In this op-ed, he argues that Brazil’s Resolution 5.298 is less about banning Polymarket and Kalshi than about defining the boundaries of the next generation of the financial system.

Brazil’s National Monetary Council Resolution 5.298 sets an unambiguous limit for platforms such as Polymarket and Kalshi in the country. The conclusion is straightforward: these models no longer find regulatory space in Brazil. But the significance of the decision lies not in the prohibition itself, it lies in what it reveals about the future of financial architecture.

Resolution 5.298 does not explicitly address prediction markets. It operates at a deeper level, redefining what can be considered a legitimate financial instrument. By requiring that contracts be tied to economic variables with objective price formation, the regulator eliminates the possibility of structuring instruments, however sophisticated in appearance, based on political, social or behavioural events. This is not a peripheral adjustment. It is a conceptual repositioning.

For years, platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi thrived precisely on ambiguity. They are not traditional bookmakers, nor do they fit neatly as derivatives exchanges. They operate in an intermediate territory, contracts based on probabilities, financial language and an implicit promise of efficient price discovery about the future. That grey zone was always their main asset, and their greatest regulatory risk. What Brazil has now done is eliminate it.

The most sophisticated aspect of the resolution lies in its design. The CMN did not target the technology, the format of the platforms, or their location. It targeted the essence: the nature of the risk being traded. In doing so, it made irrelevant whether the operation occurs through bilateral contracts, offshore platforms or blockchain-based protocols. If the risk is not economic, the contract is not admissible. It is a form of regulation that privileges substance over form — and is, for that reason, likely to prove more resilient.

This decision projects effects well beyond the gambling debate. It speaks directly to the discussion around tokenisation and the widely held idea in recent years that any event could be converted into a digital asset. Brazil signals the opposite. Innovation is welcome, but not unlimited. Tokenisation finds legitimacy when anchored in the real economy, credit, receivables, productive assets, and loses it when it attempts to capture behaviour, opinion or social events as the basis for trading.

It is at this point that the resolution also reveals an institutional tension. The normative text itself assigns to the CVM the responsibility of issuing complementary regulation. The choice is legally understandable, but institutionally questionable.

If the regulator’s own diagnosis recognises that these are hybrid instruments, moving between derivatives, securities and fundraising structures, the absence of a joint initiative from the outset is notable. The option for sequential regulation, with the CMN setting guidelines and the CVM filling in the detail, introduces a lag that may temporarily reopen the very grey zone it intends to close.

The paradox is evident. The resolution is sophisticated in attacking the economic essence of contracts, but fragments regulatory execution by distributing competencies non-simultaneously.

In an environment where financial innovation occurs at the intersection of different regimes, banking, capital markets and, in certain cases, gambling, coordination ceases to be desirable and becomes necessary. The lack of synchrony may generate divergent interpretations, legal uncertainty and, above all, residual arbitrage opportunities.

Even so, the core of the decision remains solid. By restricting what can be considered a financial asset, Brazil establishes a silent but powerful limit on the financialisation of reality. Not every event can be turned into a contract. Not every expectation can be converted into a price. And not everything that can be tokenised should necessarily be traded.

To say that Polymarket and Kalshi cannot operate in Brazil is therefore correct, but it is only the surface. What is at stake is the definition of boundaries for the next generation of the financial system. A system that will continue to incorporate technology and innovation, but that, at least in the Brazilian case, will remain anchored in the real economy. And in that process, the quality of coordination between regulators will be as decisive as the clarity of the rules themselves.

Carlos Akira Sato is co-founder of Fenynx Digital Assets and a specialist in regulated markets, financial infrastructure and responsible gambling. In this op-ed, he argues that Brazil’s Resolution 5.298 is less about banning Polymarket and Kalshi than about defining the boundaries of the next generation of the financial system.

The post An unequivocal decision for prediction markets in Brazil appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.

Baltics

Kanggiten: From B2C Insight to B2B Performance in iGaming

Published

8 hours ago

May 4, 2026

Wladimir P.

kanggiten:-from-b2c-insight-to-b2b-performance-in-igaming

As TechXperience Stage Sponsor of HIPTHER Baltics: Riga 2026, Kanggiten brings its performance-focused platform and operational expertise to the heart of the event’s technology discussions. We spoke with Ivan Korkin, Head of Account Management at Kanggiten, about translating B2C experience into scalable B2B solutions and driving measurable growth in today’s iGaming landscape.

How would you position Kanggiten today, and what core value does your platform deliver to partners?

– Kanggiten today is a modular iGaming platform built specifically for teams that operate on the B2C side. The core idea behind the product is simple: we take over 10 years of real operational experience and translate it into technology that helps partners turn traffic into measurable revenue.

From a technical perspective, the platform combines all key elements: casino and sportsbook engines, aggregation, payments, analytics, CRM, and affiliate management – within a single ecosystem. This allows operators to manage the entire lifecycle without fragmentation.

Another important aspect is adaptability. The platform is designed to support multi-geo operations, including local payment methods, currencies, and compliance requirements, which is critical for performance in different markets.

In terms of collaboration, we provide flexible models – from white label setups for fast market entry within a few weeks, to more customized turnkey solutions depending on the scale and maturity of the project.

What are your next steps for scaling the business and strengthening Kanggiten’s market position?

– Our current focus is split between product evolution and business expansion.

On the product side, we are actively developing new capabilities, including predictive tools that will help marketing teams make more informed decisions based on data patterns inside the platform.

At the same time, we are scaling commercially. We’re onboarding new clients, launching additional brands, and expanding into new markets. 2026 is already showing strong momentum, especially as our visibility in the market has increased and inbound demand continues to grow.

So in practical terms, our priorities are clear: expand geographically, grow the number of active brands on the platform, and continue investing in product development.

How has your experience with end users shaped your B2B approach, and how is this reflected in your product and results? Could you share an example?

– Our B2C background fundamentally defines how we approach product development. We don’t build features based on assumptions – everything is tested and validated through real user behavior.

There are several areas where this is especially visible.

First is retention. Today, sustainable growth is driven more by retention than by acquisition. That’s why we focus heavily on onboarding flows, CRM logic, bonus structures, and reactivation strategies. Retention is not a standalone tool – it’s a system built on continuous testing and data analysis.

Second is segmentation. Personalization only works when it’s built on meaningful segmentation. We test different traffic groups, analyze behavioral patterns, and create tailored scenarios for each segment. This directly impacts monetization efficiency.

Third is the use of AI. At this stage, AI is no longer experimental – it’s embedded into operations. We apply it in fraud prevention, KYC, content generation, and support automation to improve both efficiency and decision-making.

And finally, distribution channels. We work across a wide range of touchpoints, which allows operators to engage users in different environments and adapt quickly when market conditions change.

If we look at a practical example, GEO-specific behavior plays a critical role. In Turkey, even small UI details like how percentage values are displayed can influence conversion.

In LATAM, on the other hand, fraud patterns are more prominent, so we implement additional AI-driven verification layers. These insights are transferable once validated in one market, they can be applied in others with similar characteristics.

What challenges do operators and affiliates most often face after working with other platforms, where do they typically lose revenue or users, and how do you address these issues?

– In most cases, the issues are not unique – they repeat across different operators and platforms.

One of the main gaps is conversion management. Many platforms generate traffic but lack the tools to properly analyze and optimize the funnel. Without clear visibility into user behavior, improving conversion becomes difficult.

Another area is engagement. Gamification is often either too basic or requires additional development. In practice, it should be a core part of the platform, not an add-on, because it directly impacts retention and revenue.

Scalability is also a frequent issue. Platforms may perform well at a smaller scale but struggle under higher load. Without real operational experience, these limitations often appear too late. Our approach combines stable infrastructure with continuous adaptation, allowing us to maintain performance under growth.

Retention is another critical point. It doesn’t happen automatically – it needs to be engineered through segmentation, personalized communication, and ongoing experimentation. This is where our B2C experience plays a key role.

If we break it down further, operators typically lose performance in four areas:

conversion inefficiencies, lack of GEO adaptation, technical limitations, and slow time-to-market.

We address these by building the platform as a flexible system that evolves continuously rather than a static product.

What factors have the greatest impact on growth and conversion today, and how do you see these evolving in 2026–2027?

– One of the main drivers will be hyper-personalization. Platforms will increasingly adapt in real time to individual user behavior, shaping unique experiences for each session.

At the same time, market expansion will continue to fuel growth. New regions and emerging markets will open additional opportunities for operators, along with new approaches to acquisition and engagement.

Another major shift will come from automation. Operational processes will become increasingly automated, reducing manual workload and improving efficiency.

This will be driven not only by AI in general, but by more advanced, agent-based systems that can handle tasks such as content generation, customer interaction, and fraud detection with minimal human involvement.

Overall, the direction is clear: more data-driven decision-making, more automation, and more adaptive user experiences.

The post Kanggiten: From B2C Insight to B2B Performance in iGaming appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.