GameOn

Virtuals and the TikTok Effect: How Short-Form Play is Redefining the Sportsbook

Published

12 months ago

June 11, 2025

virtuals-and-the-tiktok-effect:-how-short-form-play-is-redefining-the-sportsbook

Kiron Interactive’s Head of Marketing, Patrick Eriksen, on why the future of sports betting isn’t long-form odds and live matches. It’s short-form, always-on, instant-return gameplay.

Short-form content has changed everything. We no longer wait for results, we scroll, we swipe, we move on.

Yet, most sports betting still takes 90 minutes to settle.

Most sportsbooks still rely on long-form bets, match winners, final scores, total points, with outcomes that take an hour or more to resolve.

That may suit traditional punters, but for modern players it’s increasingly out of step.

Virtual sports flip the script. Matches play out fast, bets settle in minutes, and the action never stops. They offer the sports betting equivalent of short-form video.

Operators who have added virtuals are already seeing the benefit. They’re gaining faster engagement, a wider player base, and stronger retention. For those who haven’t, the opportunity remains wide open.

Fast by design. Ready for now.

Today’s audiences are used to fast-moving, always-available entertainment. Whether it’s videos, games or live streams, the expectation is instant access and quick outcomes. Virtuals deliver both.

Players engaging with virtuals tend to prefer faster outcomes and simpler formats. Many are looking for quick resolutions and low-friction experiences. They don’t want to sit through a full match. Virtual matches last just a few minutes, with a wide range of betting markets to explore.

And it’s not only about speed. Simplicity matters too. There’s no fixture list to follow, no downtime between games, and no dependence on real-world scheduling. Players can place a bet, get a result, and move on. All of this takes less than five minutes.

That’s why virtuals align so well with how players consume content today.

Short sessions. Easy returns. Ongoing engagement.

Unlike traditional sports, virtuals aren’t restricted by time zones, calendars, or matchday delays. They run 24/7, all year round.

We regularly see player activity climb when real events are off the board, whether that’s during the off-season or on a quiet weekday afternoon.

Because matches are short and always available, virtuals invite casual, repeat engagement. Players dip in for a quick play, try new markets, and often come back for more.

This leads to higher bet frequency and longer session times. It gives players more reasons to stay and explore. And in today’s landscape, where acquisition costs are rising, that kind of stickiness is key.

Like short-form media, virtuals offer fast, familiar loops that players can jump into anytime. They’re fast, easy to understand, and satisfying to return to. That’s how today’s audiences engage with content across the board. And that’s why this format feels familiar to digital-first players.

The next wave of virtuals

In regions where virtuals are already well established, we’re seeing a new phase of innovation.

This includes live-style virtuals with in-play markets, branded leagues with recognisable identities, and hybrid formats that combine sports with game mechanics.

At Kiron, we’re building visually rich, quick-play virtual formats that reflect how audiences already consume mobile and interactive content.They give operators a new way to deliver something fresh and distinctive. And in a category where standing out matters, that’s a big advantage.

A proven way to meet the moment

As always, the best results come when content is engaging, responsible, and designed with the player experience in mind. Virtuals aren’t throwaway content. They’re a core pillar of the modern sportsbook experience.

They work alongside live sport by keeping the lobby active when real matches aren’t taking place. They’re easy to access, simple to understand, and always available.

Virtuals aren’t just catching up with the way people play. They’re meeting it head-on.

The post Virtuals and the TikTok Effect: How Short-Form Play is Redefining the Sportsbook appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.

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Bede

Movers and Shakers – Jessica Marrs

Published

2 days ago

May 29, 2026

GamingAmericas.com

“Movers and Shakers” is a dynamic monthly column dedicated to exploring the latest trends, developments, and influential voices in the iGaming industry. Powered by GameOn and supported by HIPTHER, this op-ed series delves into the key players, emerging technologies, and regulatory changes shaping the future of online gaming. Each month, industry experts offer their insights and perspectives, providing readers with in-depth analysis and thought-provoking commentary on what’s driving the iGaming world forward. Whether you’re a seasoned professional or new to the scene, “Movers and Shakers” is your go-to source for staying ahead in the rapidly evolving iGaming landscape.

In the iGaming industry, it’s no secret that forming meaningful partnerships is a key ingredient for ongoing success; but with myriad platform providers, software suppliers and payments companies vying for operators’ business, these relationships often come in many different forms.

Within some organisations there’s a tendency to prioritise speed-to-market above all else, and while there’s definitely merit in helping operators get up and running as fast as possible, when you do so without first gaining an in-depth understanding of their strategic goals, you risk relying on out-of-the-box solutions that fail to provide the same value as taking a more tailored approach.

It’s for this reason that Bede has always sought to provide a service that’s every bit as unique as our partners’ individual market ambitions. Although our agile and adaptive platform architecture enables us to deliver results quickly and efficiently, we ensure we always take the necessary time to gain a full understanding of our clients’ objectives before supplying them with a solution that’s customised to their needs – and it’s for this reason that we’re a true partner for long-term success.

Built On Strong Foundations

At Bede, our approach to providing 360° partnerships begins long before the integration process has even started. In every market that we operate in, we work closely with regulators and other organisations to ensure that we have a full picture of the local landscape before we approach any operators. Doing so enables us to gain a deep level of insight that can be leveraged to streamline market entry, and also puts us in a great position to acquire certifications when it’s time to launch.

To give just one example, the relationship that we’ve fostered with the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) over the years has enabled Bede to position itself as a trusted and dependable partner in the province. Stretching back to before the market was even opened for non-governmental operators, the groundwork we’ve put in with the regulator has not only allowed us to build up an extensive knowledge of local requirements, but also provided us with the key learnings that will be necessary for our future expansion in Canada in the years to come.

Whereas other platform and technology providers may find themselves coming into the market cold, the fact we already have this relationship in place has helped us make further in-roads with local partners and set ourselves up as an established presence in the province. Our acquisition of Security Control Standard Level 2 certification from the World Lottery Association last year only improved this reputation, and further supports the value of taking a regionally-focused approach.

Tailored To Partners’ Needs

Of course, no matter the market our partners are targeting, having this solid foundation in place is just the beginning. We work closely with each operator that we support to align our strategies with their own specific ambitions and identify the areas that our advanced platform offering, robust integration toolset, regulatory know-how and subject matter expertise can provide the greatest benefit. To do this, we talk to partners 1-on-1 instead of merely offering blanket solutions.

Working this way allows us to conduct a thorough gap analysis that identifies any strategic opportunities and the best solutions to position operators competitively from their Day 1 launch. Not only do we consider the range of verticals that our partners are planning to offer and how our products and engagement tools can help support their efforts, but we also provide a range of services to ensure that their offering is both relevant and uniquely tailored to the market they’re targeting, all of which are further bolstered by Bede’s rich downstream data analytics capabilities.

Whether it’s financial analysis, player segmentation or real-time performance, Bede’s data intelligence captures the key details partners need to optimise every area of their operations, while also giving them the flexibility to apply this information to their own tools. Partners are also free to use our data reporting back office as they see fit, meaning they can enhance their decision-making with real insights, generate further business efficiencies and better support their players.

A Truly End-To-End Service

A key differentiator in Bede’s partnership approach is our ability to maximise value regardless of an operator’s structure or preferred provider ecosystem. Bede’s technology operates seamlessly within any setup, ensuring operators consistently get the best out of our platform and product, from the initial onboarding process to the ongoing optimisation we provide for long-term success.

Rather than simply supplying tools, Bede takes an active lead role in delivery. Each partner benefits from dedicated compliance expertise alongside ongoing support from our product and technical teams, ensuring that their custom platform remains aligned with evolving regulatory requirements while also continuously driving value across our core feature set.

Integration support also extends far beyond the initial setup. A centralised documentation hub, combined with hands-on technical guidance, enables partners to build and consistently evolve their frontend experiences with complete confidence. Operators can either leverage Bede’s existing front-end capabilities or develop their own, which are supported by our APIs, tooling and integration expertise, ensuring a flexible approach to delivering best-in-class player experiences.

Naturally, scalability is built into our platform’s foundation. As our operators grow, Bede’s flexible architecture supports demand without the need for costly or disruptive change. Performance is maintained at scale, providing a reliable infrastructure that evolves in line with all business needs.

Together, this delivers a true end-to-end service that combines strong market foundations with continuous support throughout the partnership lifecycle. By blending out-of-the-box capability with flexible integration options, we ensure each partnership is tailored to operator’s objectives.

The post Movers and Shakers – Jessica Marrs appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.

Avanti

Movers and Shakers – Attack Of The Clones

Published

2 weeks ago

May 14, 2026

Wladimir P.

movers-and-shakers-–-attack-of-the-clones

“Movers and Shakers” is a dynamic monthly column dedicated to exploring the latest trends, developments, and influential voices in the iGaming industry. Powered by GameOn and supported by HIPTHER, this op-ed series delves into the key players, emerging technologies, and regulatory changes shaping the future of online gaming. Each month, industry experts offer their insights and perspectives, providing readers with in-depth analysis and thought-provoking commentary on what’s driving the iGaming world forward. Whether you’re a seasoned professional or new to the scene, “Movers and Shakers” is your go-to source for staying ahead in the rapidly evolving iGaming landscape.

With the Live Casino landscape continuing to evolve in new and technologically exciting ways, Avanti Studios’ Jonas Delin explains how the use of digital clones is helping a traditionally costly vertical remove its adoption barriers and supply a much more scalable experience for operators

As a multi-billion dollar industry, Live Casino has long been one of the most prized product categories in online gambling. Built on a simple proposition of delivering the trust and spectacle of authentic, dealer-dealt games through the small screen, it’s one of the few verticals that can recreate the thrill of a bricks-and-mortar casino experience in an online environment – but until now, offering such engaging entertainment to players has come at a high price point for operators.

With recent advances in AI and MetaHuman technologies, however, this is starting to change. The movement to replicate real dealers using sophisticated digital clones or replace them entirely with real-time avatars and large language models is gathering pace; and while there are certainly arguments to be made for the benefits of both approaches, Avanti sits firmly in the former camp. In this article, I’ll look to explain why and outline the benefits that our unique approach can bring.

The Suspension Of Disbelief

For Avanti, choosing to work with clones rather than avatars was an easy decision. In our opinion, the moment a player perceives something to be artificial or uncanny, the trust relationship that makes Live Casino so valuable in the first place begins to erode. As such, in order for them to become fully invested in your product, all dealers need to be ultra realistic and completely human-looking. AI-built dealers aren’t quite there yet, but, by their very nature, digital clones are.

In our sophisticated motion capture studio, we record the performance and mannerisms of professionally-trained dealers and use this as the basis for our clones. Brought to life using Unreal Engine and the MetaHuman toolset, they’re then streamed directly into games, providing an experience that’s virtually indistinguishable from the real thing. Cards are also dealt in real time rather than being simulated, with every outcome being shared and dictated by provably fair RNG.

This second point is particularly key to the structural integrity of the live format itself. Real-time dealing – where multiple players make independent decisions against a shared dealer hand – is something that’s not easily replicated by a pre-rendered character, and this constraint currently puts a meaningful ceiling on what pure AI can deliver. At Avanti, there are no such concerns about our approach, helping us provide an authentic experience that all players can truly participate in.

Lower Costs, More Flexibility

Among those in the pro-AI camp, I’ve seen it posited that one of the biggest advantages of using this technology is that it substantially reduces traditional Live Casino costs for operators. While it’s certainly true having generated dealers eliminates set-up fees, removes the need for fixed-term contracts and reduces ongoing overheads, I’d argue Avanti’s approach is equally capable of delivering these competitive benefits without having to compromise on realism or visual fidelity.

Just like AI providers, we also offer a revenue share-only model; and the fact that we use a motion capture studio to create our clones doesn’t have any bearing on the that price operators pay. As opening one table costs just the same as opening 100, we provide an infinite level of scalability that comes with no studio rental, no staffing and no risk of sick days – and the fact that dealer language can be localised at the flick of a switch makes it easy for operators to enter new markets.

In a country like Brazil where Portuguese localisation will be legally mandated, this obviously provides a significant competitive advantage. Rather than scrambling to recruit Portuguese-speaking dealers at pace, we can simply change both the language and appearance of our existing clones to suit local requirements. We can also give operators the scope to open tables at any limits they require, creating a flexible product that can easily adapt to any market conditions.

With Avanti’s games providing the same benefits as their AI-generated counterparts in terms of software economics and scalability, there’s no doubt in my mind that the use of digital clones will have a big role to play in shaping the future of Live Casino. By removing the adoption barriers for operators and giving players a reliable and authentic experience they can trust, our unique approach offers the best of both worlds, helping make the vertical more accessible for everyone.

The post Movers and Shakers – Attack Of The Clones appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

GameOn

Movers and Shakers – Why the UK tax rise has changed the conversation, not the opportunity

Published

1 month ago

April 29, 2026

Wladimir P.

movers-and-shakers-–-why-the-uk-tax-rise-has-changed-the-conversation,-not-the-opportunity

When the UK’s new tax regime came into force on 1 April 2026, with Remote Gaming Duty rising from 21% to 40%, it was always going to force a reset. The scale of the increase meant this was never going to be treated as a marginal adjustment or another background cost for the industry to absorb quietly. It changed the economics of the market overnight, and with that, it changed the tone of the conversation too.

A month on, that pressure is real. Operators are having to look closely at where value sits, how promotional models hold up, which products justify their place, and where risk is now harder to carry. But if this first month has told us anything, it is that tougher conditions do not make the UK any less important. They simply make the market more revealing.

The UK remains one of the most significant regulated markets in our industry. It is mature, highly visible and intensely competitive, but it is also a market where product quality, commercial discipline and long-term thinking matter. That was true before the tax hike, and it is even more true now. For studios and suppliers, this is not the kind of market to retreat from just because the pressure has increased. It is the kind of market that shows who is serious.

At Gaming Corps, that is very much how we see it. The tax rise has clearly changed the environment operators are working in, but it has not changed our belief in the value of the UK market or in the importance of supporting it properly. If anything, it has sharpened that focus.

Backing the UK today is not just about continuing to supply content into the market as before. It is about understanding what operators now need from their partners. That means recognising that product decisions are under greater scrutiny. It means appreciating that flexibility matters more. And it means accepting that suppliers have a role to play in helping operators build a stronger and more resilient mix.

That support can take different forms. Sometimes it means continuing to invest in slot content that is proven, distinctive and capable of standing out on established casino floors. Sometimes it means bringing forward mechanics, themes and gameplay structures that give operators something genuinely different. And sometimes it means widening the conversation beyond the formats that have dominated for years.

That is one of the reasons why we are excited about Instant Blitz.

Instant Blitz is the first release in a new scratchcard-style series for Gaming Corps, and it reflects the kind of thinking that feels especially relevant in the current UK climate. It is designed as a fast, accessible format that blurs the lines between scratchcard and slot, while also giving operators a low-entry addition to their instant win range. With bets starting from as little as 5p, it offers operators greater flexibility at a time when product balance, player behaviour, and in particular bonus abuse, are under closer scrutiny.

That does not mean one format suddenly solves every challenge created by higher tax. But it does highlight a broader shift. In a tougher environment, innovation needs to be practical. New content has to offer operators real flexibility, not just novelty.

That is how we see Instant Blitz. It is not a departure from our wider portfolio, but part of a broader approach to helping operators build a more varied and adaptable mix. Strong slots still matter, as do distinctive mechanics and recognisable content, but there is also value in formats that widen the offer and support different play patterns.

It also reflects how we see our own future in the UK. We are continuing to invest in operator relationships and expand our portfolio in ways that match the market’s changing needs. The Instant Blitz series will grow from here, with future titles drawing on some of the familiar worlds and characters from across the wider Gaming Corps portfolio.

The first month of the tax hike has undoubtedly added pressure. But pressure also clarifies. It shows which products still make sense, which partnerships matter, and which markets remain worth backing, and the UK is still one of those markets.

By Graham Greensmith, CCO at Gaming Corps

The post Movers and Shakers – Why the UK tax rise has changed the conversation, not the opportunity appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.