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Why studios need to promote their games

Elliott Resnick, Head of First Look Games, says that due to the highly competitive nature of the industry studios need to get their games in front of players if they are to succeed in the long term
Slot studios are fighting for operator attention in a highly competitive marketplace. There are literally hundreds of developers pushing thousands of games with endless new titles launching every month. So being heard above the noise made by rivals is a vital key to success.
Developers also face fierce competition when it comes to directing players to their games. Operator lobbies are stocked with thousands of titles, with game positioning often the difference between whether a title sinks or swims.
But what if affiliates could not only fulfil their traditional objective of new traffic to operators but also drive awareness of a studio’s content and have players specifically look for the game regardless of where they are positioned in casino lobbies?
To do this, studios must promote their games to players as well as operators, but that isn’t easy given developers take a small proportion of the revenues made on their slots. Above-the-line marketing is simply not an option for the majority of studios, so they have to look to other ways of gaining the attention of operators and players.
But due to the expensive nature of traditional game development, and the time it can take to bring a slot from concept to market (this can take anywhere from four to twelve months) studios must not leave game discovery to chance and instead proactively promote each of their most anticipated titles.
It is also important for studios to provide operators with easy access to information and assets about their games, not just for the purpose of selling their titles but also for other areas such as inclusion in the operator’s marketing and CRM. Without this, developers are missing the final but crucial step in launching their game – which is proactively letting players know about it.
This has led several studios to partner with slot streamers but while that now hangs in the balance pending Twitch’s upcoming announcement on 18 October, others are leveraging the incredible reach that traditional affiliates can provide. But striking partnerships with publishers can be labour intensive – something that already stretched teams have little time to dedicate to unless they hire someone dedicated to affiliate outreach pretty much full-time.
That is where First Look Games comes in, providing the world’s first platform that directly connects studios with all registered affiliates in the iGaming space who regularly craft detailed new game reviews designed to generate referrals to one or more online casino partner.
A publisher’s access to First Look Games is free, allowing all game studios to deploy finished/approved creative packs direct to an entire affiliate community within minutes. It puts the power in the developer’s hands, giving them control over the information and assets they share, and when they share them.
Affiliate marketing allows studios of all sizes to put their games in front of players and potentially build anticipation around future releases. For established studios that have highly sought-after content coming, affiliate marketing can drive large numbers of reviews along with significant awareness that a new game is set to land. For small studios starting out, it can make a difference between being prioritised for an operator integration or being left out. For those in the growth phase, game promotion can assist with realising greater ROI.
Studios can additionally use the feedback they receive from affiliate game reviews to guide future slot development by understanding what has and has not hit the mark with the player community. This feedback is incredibly valuable.
What’s more, affiliates are very cost-effective when compared to other forms of B2C marketing and can help studios to reverse engineer interest in their games where reviews are strong and the audience has a clear appetite for their content.
But right now, studios are not maximising the potential that affiliates provide. The studio-affiliate relationship is still relatively new which is why this marketing channel can be overlooked in terms of the value it can deliver.
First Look Games has been designed to do much of the heavy lifting on behalf of the studio, providing them with access to more than 800 approved publishers with their combined reach being more than 20 million players around the world.
Studios simply upload game information and assets to their dedicated library, and then our network of approved affiliates can access these files and use them to produce content such as game reviews or video content. The entire platform has been designed to be easy to use by any member of a studio’s team.
Despite this, we often find the studios do not know where to position us within their business – sometimes we are seen as a marketing resource, other times as a tool to support the commercial team. We can be both, but it shows just how new this area of game promotion is.
Over time this will change, especially when studios start to see the incredible success their rivals are having in the affiliate space by unlocking more of the potential in their games.
Getting any title in front of more of the right people is simply good business and in such a competitive market, that can be the difference between a studio succeeding or failing.
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Dr. Ralph Thomas
Quick Custom Intelligence Secures Eight-Figure Investment from Curve Partners to Accelerate Growth

Quick Custom Intelligence (QCI), a leading provider of Generative AI-driven analytics and operational software for casinos and resorts, today announced that it has secured a significant minority growth investment from Curve Partners. This strategic funding backs QCI’s current management team – led by co-founders Dr. Ralph Thomas and Andrew Cardno – to continue their remarkable growth trajectory and will fuel further acceleration of product expansion and global reach markets.financialcontent.com. The investment underscores confidence in QCI’s vision and provides significant capital to extend the company’s market leadership in the gaming resort technology sector.
QCI’s co-founders weighed multiple investment offers over the past year before selecting Curve Partners as their growth partner. “For us, finding the right investment partner was critical,” said Dr. Ralph Thomas, Co-Founder and CEO of QCI. “We engaged with several potential investors, but Curve Partners stood out with their understanding of our industry and their commitment to helping companies like ours scale responsibly. This investment is not just capital – it’s a partnership that validates our vision and gives us additional firepower to accelerate product development and customer success.” QCI’s leadership was impressed by Curve’s focus on high-growth, founder-led companies and their enthusiasm for the resort systems space – the sophisticated software and analytics powering modern casino resorts. Curve’s team recognized QCI as the clear market leader in this domain, given QCI’s extensive deployment and innovation track record markets.financialcontent.com. The growth capital infusion not only validates QCI’s success to date but also positions the company for even faster expansion in the coming years.
Landon Jaussi, Founder and Managing Partner at Curve Partners www.curvepartners.co, expressed his excitement about the new partnership. “QCI is everything we look for at Curve,” said Jaussi. “It is a bootstrapped, founder-led, and product-first company that is deeply respected by customers. As investors, we have been looking closely at the resort systems and gaming technology sector, and QCI stands out as a clear leader. Ralph and Andrew have built a powerful vertical SaaS platform with real technical depth and multi-product scale, all while remaining high growth and profitable. Their reputations in the industry are unmatched, and Curve is proud to support them as the first institutional investor and board member.”
QCI’s recent growth and product diversification have been nothing short of remarkable. Key milestones over the past year include:
- Global Expansion: QCI’s platform is now deployed in over 300 casino resorts worldwide, collectively managing more than $40 billion in annual gross gaming revenue markets.financialcontent.com. The company’s operational footprint spans 17 countries and 30 U.S. states, a reach that “cements the company’s position as a global leader in casino and resort intelligence” markets.financialcontent.com.
- Product Suite Growth: In July 2025, QCI acquired VizExplorer, a renowned casino analytics and dispatch management software provider. This acquisition expanded QCI’s product suite and capabilities markets.financialcontent.com, establishing QCI as a “powerhouse in the casino and resort data activation world” with deeper solutions for the fast-diversifying gaming industry markets.financialcontent.com.
“Having Curve Partners on board is a huge validation of what our team has built,” added Andrew Cardno, Co-Founder and CTO of QCI. “Curve’s support will help us double down on our product roadmap and global expansion plans. We believe this partnership will translate into even greater value for our customers as we continue to lead the market with cutting-edge solutions for the casino and resort industry.” According to Cardno, the funding will enable QCI to accelerate R&D in new features and AI capabilities while maintaining the company’s focus on customer success and innovation. Both co-founders emphasized that Curve’s investment aligns with QCI’s long-term strategy of sustainable, tech-driven growth in the hospitality gaming sector.
The post Quick Custom Intelligence Secures Eight-Figure Investment from Curve Partners to Accelerate Growth appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.
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DATA.BET Launches Hot Bundles

DATA.BET, a trusted sportsbook solution supplier, has launched Hot Bundles – pre-built betting combinations powered by advanced statistical models. Displayed through an intuitive widget, these data-driven selections span multiple events and are designed to boost both express betting activity and operator income.
These combinations provide either separated selections (including Player Props markets) or consolidated ones within single matches through the Bet Builder. Each event set displays a combined odds with a simple one-click interface, streamlining the path from discovery to wager placement.
Hot Bundles addresses a critical opportunity in the betting ecosystem by simplifying the experience, particularly for newcomers. For operators and platform providers, Hot Bundles drive increased revenue through boosted stake volumes and improved engagement. In turn, bettors gain access to data-driven selections that maximize winning potential through optimal combinations. The pre-built nature eliminates the guesswork and complexity typically associated with creating express bets.
“Hot Bundles transforms how users approach express betting by showcasing the most compelling combinations our data identifies,” said Rostyslav Likhtin, Head of Product at DATA.BET. “By powering statistical analysis with intelligent curation, we’re helping partners capitalize on the higher margins while giving players the guidance they seek for more profitable wagers. We have an ambitious roadmap for the technical expansion of Hot Bundles to meet the demands of both our clients and their users.”
Hot Bundles strengthen DATA.BET’s portfolio of experience-enhancing tools that translate user engagement into partner revenue. The feature’s cross-vertical design showcases the company’s holistic approach: creating a product solution that elevates user satisfaction and business performance.
The post DATA.BET Launches Hot Bundles appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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Turbo Duck takes flight in Stakelogic’s newest release

Feathers fly as a fearless duck dukes it out in a cyberpunk arcade in this exhilarating video slot!
Stakelogic has released its most action-packed slot to date with Turbo Duck, a high-octane title that blends intense gameplay with cinematic visuals and a winged hero who refuses to back down.
Set in a post-apocalyptic retro arcade, Turbo Duck follows Quack-9, a fearless duck mecha-pilot ready for action. As the gameplay unfolds, players join Quack-9 in the fight for control and massive multipliers.
Played across a 5-reel, 4-row grid with 15 fixed paylines, the game introduces a mix of Mystery Wilds, instant-win multipliers and three escalating Bonus Game modes.
Mystery Symbols land on reels 2 and 4, revealing either a Blue Wild, a Red Multiplier Wild up to 10x, or directional arrows that place additional Wilds nearby. During Free Spins, Blue Wilds can also award +2 extra Free Spins.
Landing three Bonus Symbols triggers 10 Free Spins and activates the Bonus Wheel, which determines one of three Free Spin variants: Bonus, Mega or Ultra. Each mode increases win potential through higher multiplier frequency and persistent Mystery Symbols. The most volatile mode, Ultra, removes all low-value multipliers and guarantees one high-value multiplier on every spin.
Multiplier Symbols appear in three tiers: Blue (2x–50x), Green (5x–100x), and Red (5x–500x with MAX WIN potential) and award instant prizes based on the base bet. The Turbo Blast feature, which can trigger on any spin, sees one to three multipliers onto the reels, with at least one guaranteed to be from the highest tier. When Multiplier symbols land on the reels Quack-9 will fire into life, destroying them for reveals that keep you on the edge of your seat.
For players who want to take control, Turbo Duck includes a Buy Bonus option with three entry levels, as well as the option to activate Super Stake™, doubling the chance of triggering Free Spins.
James Jelliffe, Head of Slots at Stakelogic, said: “Turbo Duck is a slot that really plays to our strengths. From the stylised visuals to the cinematic pacing, it’s built to stand out. While the theme adds plenty of character, it’s the underlying math that drives the experience, with a carefully balanced mix of volatility, momentum and feature depth designed to keep players engaged.”
The post Turbo Duck takes flight in Stakelogic’s newest release appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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