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As eSports become more popular, time for the industry to get real about security
Police in Ukraine recently seized 3,800 PlayStation 4 consoles, which currently retail for around 290 each, and found to their surprise that the operation wasn’t mining cryptocurrency as they assumed but was in fact being used to generate content packs for FIFA Ultimate Team, a popular game mode in the FIFA football series.
The raid and its results underline a fact that may escape more traditionally minded members of the gaming community: eSports is a major industry, and like any industry it is susceptible to fraud. The fact that the games themselves take place virtually is irrelevant to fraudsters who can use the familiar toolkit of multi-accounting, bonus abuse and affiliate fraud to earn thousands.
With many sports teams unable to play throughout much of 2020 and 2021, eSports grew massively. League Championship Series (LCS), one of the largest eSports leagues, became the third most viewed professional sports league amongst 18-34 year olds in the U.S and has retained its corporate sponsors at a time when other leagues were shut down. Success stories like these are blunted by how pervasive eSports fraud is,
So, what kinds of fraud are taking place in eSports, what is it costing eSports organizations and what can be done to stop it?
What kinds of fraud are possible in eSports?
eSports attracts very similar types of fraud to regular sports betting, including:
- Bonus Abuse: Like other sports betting companies, eSports companies often give sign-up bonuses such as free bets to new players. By coding automated systems, a fraudster can sign up to hundreds of accounts and use the free bets to win real money. This can cost gaming companies up to 15% of their revenue.
- Multi-accounting: Similarly, a fraudster can use multiple accounts to perform other types of fraud, such as matched betting, ‘smurfing’ or arbitrage of affiliate fraud.
- Affiliate Fraud: Those eSports betting organizations that draw in some of their new players from affiliates are vulnerable to affiliate fraud in which an affiliate creates fake accounts to gain the pay-out.
- Account takeover: Using lists of passwords from data breaches, keyloggers or phishing a fraudster can gain access to a player’s account and drain their funds.
- Chargeback fraud: A player, who may be a legitimate gamer and not a professional fraudster, initiates a chargeback on a transaction. This is common in gaming when gamblers regret a bad bet and claim that their account was hacked.
The costs of eSports fraud
Fraud costs have a way of snowballing, with each $1 lost through fraud actually costing companies $3. The above techniques are hardly equivalent to the major data breaches of major banking and tech companies that cost on average $3.86 million, but the constant barrage of low-level frauds can soon drain your company’s security budget. Aside from the cost of the fraud itself, there are a number of hidden costs such as:
- Chargeback losses: Investigating and disputing chargebacks will take up your risk team’s time, leaving them little time for more valuable activities. More worryingly, a company with a large number of chargebacks is likely to find it difficult securing credit or loans. Visa and Mastercard’s resolution processes are making things even more difficult for merchants, so you are likely to lose even more.
- Affiliate budget waste: You could be paying for useless clicks from bot networks rather than legitimate customers, wasting your marketing budget and reducing overall ROI.
- Reputational damage: Once word of mouth spreads about customers losing the entire bank accounts to account takeovers it will not be long until players start deserting your site.
- Regulatory fines: The regulations around eSports are not as stringent as with other sports betting, but it will not be long before they catch up. With the industry growing it will not be long before countries put regulations in place to protect players, and without stringent security your company could be fined.
The solutions
You will notice that the majority of the types of fraud common in eSports have to do with fake accounts. These are easy for fraudsters to create using the wealth of publicly available data and leaked information, but fortunately artificial intelligence-based tools have been developed that allow companies to spot synthetic identities.
Through device fingerprinting, email profiling and IP analysis a complete picture of a new signup to your site can be created, allowing software to spot the tell-tale signs of a hastily created account. For example, it could find that an email address does not match any social accounts, or that they use VPNs and data centers to conceal their IP address.
Of course, a sophisticated fraudster could create a convincing fake identity, especially with the wealth of information available from data dumps, so modern technology can also spot the use of pre-paid credit cards or even the speed with which information is entered, which could indicate it is being filled in automatically by a script.
By combining data points from a large and ever-growing set a system can determine whether it is likely that any given new account is fraudulent. For the many cases in which it will not be fully clear whether an account is authentic or not adaptive Know Your Customer checks can be used – customers with several red flags will be given full tests to determine their identity whereas other customers will have less obtrusive tests for a smoother site experience.
eSports has gone from a niche concern to an Olympic sport in a few short years, and that success is going to attract fraud, so it is vital for the industry to pre-emptively defend against fraud by adopting the very highest levels of security.
To learn more, visit: https://seon.io/
Evoplay has launched Evoplay Arena, a free-to-play platform designed to bring players together through competitive, community-driven slot tournaments.
Built entirely around demo gameplay, the platform allows users to compete without deposits or real-money involvement. Players can join a wide range of tournaments—including daily, weekly, monthly, and seasonal formats—earning points and climbing leaderboards based on their performance.
Getting started is simple. After registering and selecting a tournament, players are automatically entered upon their first spin. Each competition clearly outlines its rules, duration, featured game, and scoring mechanics, while live leaderboards provide real-time updates throughout the event.
Scoring systems vary depending on the tournament format, typically factoring in results such as win values or applied multipliers. Once a tournament concludes, final standings are published and rewards are distributed to top performers.
Depending on the format, players can earn digital certificates or Arena Coins. Certificates highlight standout performances, while Arena Coins act as an in-platform currency, rewarding consistent participation and success.
Evoplay Arena also introduces Legends of Arena, a seasonal leaderboard that tracks performance across multiple tournaments. Players accumulate seasonal points automatically, with top-ranked participants receiving additional rewards at the end of each cycle.
Designed for both experienced slot players and casual competitors, the platform offers structured, leaderboard-based gameplay, risk-free access to popular Evoplay titles, and social features such as player chat to enhance interaction.
Ivan Kravchuk, CEO at Evoplay, said:
“Evoplay Arena introduces a new way for players to experience our games through competition and progression, without the need for real-money play. It’s built around accessibility, transparency, and long-term engagement, reflecting our commitment to delivering diverse and entertaining experiences.”
The post Evoplay expands product portfolio with Arena platform appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
Soft2Bet has been shortlisted in three categories at the SBC Awards Europe, highlighting the strength of its platform, gamification suite, and ongoing product innovation across key European markets. The recognition follows a year of strong performance and sustained business growth.
The company is nominated in the Acquisition & Retention Partner category for its proprietary Motivational Engineering Gaming Application (MEGA), as well as for Platform Provider of the Year. In addition, MEGA Clawee—a nostalgic claw-machine concept reimagined for online play—has been shortlisted for Industry Innovation of the Year.
Driving Performance Through Innovation
Soft2Bet’s recent results underline its strategy, with notable EBITDA growth, increased sportsbook revenue, and strong overall brand performance over the past 12 months. These achievements reflect the effectiveness of its performance-focused B2B model, which combines product innovation, MEGA-driven gamification, localisation, and regulatory compliance to support growth in highly competitive markets.
The Platform Provider of the Year nomination recognises the company’s all-in-one platform, integrating player account management, payments, CRM, segmentation, bonus and loyalty tools, risk management, and gamification into a single, mobile-first system. This unified approach enables operators to launch quickly, adapt to local requirements, and scale efficiently across both casino and sportsbook verticals.
Gamification at the Core
At the heart of Soft2Bet’s engagement strategy is MEGA Clawee, which brings a remote-controlled claw machine into the digital space. By blending skill-based gameplay with instant rewards, it creates a compelling retention loop designed to boost player engagement and long-term value.
Harrison Barrett, VP of Business Development at Soft2Bet, said:
“Being shortlisted in three categories at SBC Awards Europe is a strong endorsement of our vision. We focus on delivering high-performing platforms, meaningful localisation, and engaging product experiences that keep players coming back. MEGA plays a central role in that strategy, transforming engagement into long-term retention and value.”
For Soft2Bet, the nominations mark another milestone in a period of continued commercial growth, product expansion, and industry recognition, as it supports operators in launching, localising, and scaling through advanced platform technology and engagement-driven solutions.
The post Soft2Bet shortlisted in three categories at SBC Awards Europe appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
REEVO has announced a new partnership with StarVegas, a well-established online gaming brand in Italy. Through this collaboration, REEVO’s in-house games are now available on the StarVegas platform, further strengthening REEVO’s presence in one of Europe’s most competitive regulated markets.
This partnership marks another important milestone in REEVO’s ongoing expansion strategy, as the company continues to grow its global footprint by bringing its high-quality gaming experiences to leading operators worldwide. By going live with StarVegas, REEVO reinforces its commitment to delivering engaging, performance-driven content that resonates with players and supports operator growth.
For REEVO, this collaboration highlights its ability to partner with trusted brands in key markets and deliver content that enhances player engagement and platform performance.
Karl Grech, Head of Business Development at REEVO, said: “Partnering with StarVegas is an exciting step for REEVO as we continue to expand our presence in regulated European markets. Italy is a highly competitive and dynamic market, and we are proud to bring our games to StarVegas players. This collaboration reflects our focus on delivering high-quality content that drives engagement, supports operator success, and creates long-term value.”
Paolo Marchi, Brand Manager of StarVegas, added: “The integration of REEVO within StarVegas marks an important milestone in our growth strategy in Italy. By combining a strong content portfolio with trusted partners, we aim to further strengthen our positioning and offer players an even more complete and diversified gaming experience. We are excited to start this collaboration and explore new opportunities together.”
The post REEVO Partners with StarVegas appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
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