Industry News

NSoft Global Expansion

Published

6 years ago

January 10, 2020

NSoft made international growth one of its investment priorities for 2019 and the global expansion plan is smoothly reaching its targets on the world’s largest markets.
The company’s presence has steadily increased in accordance with the action plan and now, besides the HQ in Mostar and Maglaj office, NSoft has offices in Croatia, SAR, Costa Rica, and Singapore.

NSoft’s CEO, Igor Krezic commenting on the company’s strategic plan says: ‘’ NSoft has begun building successful teams outside its comfort zone in its core region. This ambitious global expansion plan is fueled by the industry’s recognition and awards that are following NSoft’s product innovations. When you think about the betting industry opportunities globally, there’s a massive market out there, a huge number of businesses that you can potentially reach out to.”

The core betting markets are “not tapped, but they’re definitely a little more saturated,” said Krezic: ‘’The company added a new sales force in 2019 that will be in charge of the emerging markets as well. The entire NSoft’s business team has grown exponentially, even over 200%’’, he noted.

Such overseas business development could not be realized merely by the efforts from a single HQ point. The significant manpower had to be hired, the one that can interact with foreign customers, participate in overseas exhibitions and conferences, and even build reliable acquaintances for cultivating sales channels, with the managers themselves traveling overseas.

NSoft’s HQ team has created different internal procedures, tools, and regulatory adherence principles in order to support the teams in NSoft branch offices.

Krezic noted that: “NSoft’s sales playbook for international expansion in future years includes investing in localization, like translating the platform into local languages, offering regionally specific payment methods and letting operators offer products in multiple currencies, as well as market regulatory adherence. The company also hires in the target countries — particularly business development staff.’’

In order to share its know-how, NSoft has, for example, organized conferences and events in Bosnia and Herzegovina. NSoft Days were an excellent opportunity for the existing clients to get familiar with novelties and upgrades of the company’s product portfolio. Aligning sales and marketing forces has led to increased customer care and more sensitivity to customer expectations.

Two years ago, NSoft’s data provisioning requirements have grown tremendously thus the entire full-fledged NSoft Data Service team has been introduced to the everyday operations and is on the client’s disposal. Having a single source of truth in the global market is now mandatory. The NDS team is currently operating a Data warehouse (DWH) capable of nearly real-time processing and ingesting millions of data points per second which then feed into NSoft’s analytics layer.

One of the ways through which data analytics provides value is by improving the existing product portfolio wherever possible. By providing services of statistical analysis, testing product logic, identifying malicious player behavior as well as positive player feedback, the NDS team aims to implement their findings and insights into bettering each of NSoft’s products.

Commenting on NSoft’s next stage of growth Krezic says: “ We change entertainment, security and health with technology. With global internet growth, this NSoft strategy of the global-local approach has become a viable option. NSoft has a model that is working consistently finding ways to tap into growing trends and keeping its ownership position in the betting industry’s innovations.”

AI

Tugi Tark whitepaper puts AI iGaming support at €0.15 per ticket

Published

11 hours ago

May 6, 2026

Wladimir P.

tugi-tark-whitepaper-puts-ai-igaming-support-at-e0.15-per-ticket

Tugi Tark has released a 2026 whitepaper, The economics of AI-powered iGaming customer support, arguing that AI changes the unit economics of player support and can reduce costs compared with human-led operations.

The report cites “verified pricing” of EUR 0.15 per AI-handled ticket. It compares that with fully loaded employer costs for human support in Romania and Bulgaria of EUR 1.73 to EUR 1.88 per ticket. At a “realistic” 70% AI containment rate, the whitepaper claims a blended cost of about EUR 0.67 per ticket, which it describes as roughly a 64% reduction versus a human-only baseline of EUR 1.88.

Tugi Tark says its analysis draws on Eurostat 2024 labour cost data, published research on AI chatbot benchmarks, independent iGaming player behaviour research, and operational data from its own deployments. The company estimates operators can achieve a 55% to 75% reduction in total support expenditure, and argues AI can absorb volume spikes—such as during major sporting events—without additional hiring or training lag.

Harpo Lilja, founder and CEO of TUgi Tark, said: “In 2026, the ‘wait-and-see’ approach to AI is costing operators millions in unnecessary overhead. We aren’t just talking about chatbots; we’re talking about a fundamental shift in the unit economics of player retention.”

The whitepaper also frames customer support as a retention lever, stating that payment issues account for 52% of ticket volume and that slower response times drive churn. It claims a 0.5 percentage point churn reduction could retain an additional 500 players per month for a mid-sized operator, translating to €200,000 in annual revenue based on an assumed €400 Player Lifetime Value. Tugi Tark also claims AI agents average ~7 seconds for first response versus ~60 seconds for human agents, and outlines use cases across Responsible Gambling escalation, KYC/AML workflows, and GDPR-aligned data sovereignty.

The post Tugi Tark whitepaper puts AI iGaming support at €0.15 per ticket appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

Game Development

Games Global outlines May slot roadmap with Snowborn, AreaVegas and Just For The Win

Published

12 hours ago

May 6, 2026

Wladimir P.

games-global-outlines-may-slot-roadmap-with-snowborn,-areavegas-and-just-for-the-win

Games Global has published its May content roadmap, highlighting new slot releases from Snowborn Games, AreaVegas Games and Just For The Win, and a continued push to reuse established mechanics across its studio network.

The supplier said Area Link and Power Combo will feature prominently in May’s launches. AreaVegas Games’ Area Link Chilli uses six chilli symbols above the reels tied to bonus modifiers that can trigger individually or together, including cash prizes and fixed jackpots, multipliers, instant collectors and value boosters.

Games Global also pointed to Just For The Win’s Bison Ridge Power Combo, where Link&Win is combined with Power Combo to create what it described as a more varied bonus structure.

Snowborn Games’ Volcanic Fortune is positioned around bonus modifiers such as collectors and multipliers, plus a Treasure Chest meter designed to build towards higher-value bonus outcomes.

David Reynolds, Director of Games Strategy and Partner Management at Games Global, said: “Our studios bring the craft, and May’s roadmap puts that on full display. It’s built around extending global franchises into new titles across our network, which is how we deliver breadth without compromising quality. The result is a pipeline that gives operators choice and players variety.”

The post Games Global outlines May slot roadmap with Snowborn, AreaVegas and Just For The Win appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

charity-lotteries

ZEAL posts 6% Q1 2026 revenue growth as EBITDA dips on investment spend

Published

12 hours ago

May 6, 2026

Wladimir P.

zeal-posts-6%-q1-2026-revenue-growth-as-ebitda-dips-on-investment-spend

ZEAL Network SE reported higher first-quarter 2026 revenue despite what it described as a weak jackpot environment, while profitability softened as the company increased investment. Revenue rose 6% year-on-year to €54.3 million (2025: €51.1 million). EBITDA fell to €15.5 million from €17.7 million.

“The first quarter of 2026 shows that we are consistently executing our strategy even in a weak jackpot environment: our core business is growing, and we have continued to invest in diversifying our business model,” says Andrea Behrendt, CFO of ZEAL. “Through targeted investments in new charity lotteries such as the Dream Car Raffle, we are laying the foundation for sustainable growth that is less dependent on jackpot cycles. The slightly lower EBITDA compared to the previous year is primarily a reflection of these measures.”

In the core lottery segment, ZEAL said average monthly active users increased 5% to 1,575 thousand (2025: 1,507 thousand), while new registrations climbed 11% to 274 thousand (2025: 247 thousand). Lottery billings edged up 1% to €268.0 million (2025: €264.7 million). The lottery gross margin improved to 17.8% (2025: 17.1%), with lottery revenue up 5% to €48.7 million (2025: €46.3 million).

ZEAL also used Q1 to prepare a new in-house charity lottery product. The company said it launched the Traumautoverlosung (English name: Dream Car Raffle) on 14 April 2026, its third charity lottery in Germany after freiheit+ and the Dream House Raffle.

In Games, ZEAL reported revenue up 14% to €3.9 million (2025: €3.4 million) after expanding its B2C portfolio to more than 740 titles. ZEAL said higher marketing costs (+13%) and personnel expenses (+21%) reflected continued investment in scaling charity lotteries and Games alongside the core lottery business.

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