Press Releases
Parimatch: Consumers want stories, not spreadsheets
Parimatch’s Chief Product Officer Sergey Berezhnoy spoke at ICE London 2020 about how the operator plans to evolve the traditional sports betting experience with a focus not just on technology, but on storytelling. With a history in the video gaming industry, Sergey can see many narrative-building concepts that would translate nicely to the betting sector, although he believes the main overlap – esports – still has a few mountains to climb.
Following a strong 12 months in its home markets, Parimatch attended ICE London 2020 with a clear vision in mind for the future of its sports betting offer.
The international operator has grown its market share with bold marketing campaigns and a strong product backed by great tech, but the main focus for Parimatch’s Chief Product Officer Sergey Berezhnoy over the next year is to research, develop and evolve sports betting’s current customer journey. Many of the innovations at ICE provide the backbone of that journey, providing several payment methods, hundreds of ways to bet, and thousands of events and markets to bet on, with other exciting developments such as VR and AI further bolstering to the industry’s toolbox in recent years. For players, the customer journey is smoother than ever before, but for Sergey, that’s not enough. His background is in the video gaming industry, and he believes that to tap into the widest possible market, the sports betting sector has to develop a story around the act of betting that is as engaging and rewarding as current popular mobile games.
“I use one word, and it’s narrative,” said Sergey. “I joined this sector from the video gaming industry, and there the focus is not on waiting for the end result, but providing as much entertainment as possible on the way to it.
Unfortunately, sports betting is currently the opposite; you come, you bet, you leave. There is no story, no great focus on the clubs involved, and often there are very few relevant events to bet on. Players who are engaged with the betting culture might bet on anything, but new and casual players need a story to bring them in. Look at Snapchat, Instagram and Tik Tok, they only show short stories, but it’s enough to get consumers engaged.”
In fact, the immediacy of sports betting is something else Sergey wants to move forward. While the rise of in-play betting has helped, many results can take between a few hours or a few days to come through depending when bets are placed, so Berezhnoy intends to make sports betting on Parimatch something players can jump into and be rewarded whenever they choose.
“In betting, the distance between betting and reward can be very high, whereas in video games the award is more achievable. We are trying to shorten that distance, but not as short as casino games,” he said. “In our research, we have taken a lot from casual gaming. If you are riding the subway or tube, everybody plays casual games or goes on social media. The big question is, why don’t they bet? It’s about a customer journey, but many sports betting sites still look like excel spreadsheets. Instagram has changed the way we consume photos, it’s our ambition to change the way people bet on sports.”
Berezhnoy added that this will involve asking players human-centric questions on pre-selected content, providing a personal touch to short, targeted stories for players to bet through. Like in video games, they won’t be faced with a thousand choices, but with a few highly engaging ones based around content they already enjoy, whether that be through live, fantasy or virtual sports – or even esports. This is another aspect of gaming that Berezhnoy has a lot of experience in, however he still believes there’s a few challenges ahead before the rapidly rising pastime becomes a key vertical for the sports betting sectors.
“Games publishers are in control of esports and they are not interested in the regulations that are needed to elevate the level of trust required for bookmakers,” he explained. “Publishers want more players, and tighter regulations can put up barriers to that. With a few exceptions, they also don’t give access to their data feed, which makes it very difficult to trade. Sports betting operators are interested in the most popular games with the biggest events, but those publishers don’t need to include sports betting into their model to be successful, and these are major roadblocks for its expansion in the industry.”
Sergey hopes that this will change over the next decade, but in the meantime, he is looking forward to weaving the storytelling ability of video games into all of Parimatch’s sports betting offers.
“At the end of the day, most of us prefer to be told stories than to scour over spreadsheets, and that’s what I want to offer to our players,” he concluded.
Latest News
Grupo EGB projeta aumento de 45% no volume de atendimentos durante a Copa do Mundo
Para absorver pico de demanda, companhia amplia operação interna em 55% e reforça áreas de risco, suporte e monitoramento preventivo
A proximidade da Copa do Mundo levou o Grupo EGB, responsável pelas marcas Esportes da Sorte, Onabet e Lottu, a preparar sua maior estrutura operacional desde o início da regulamentação do setor no Brasil. A companhia projeta um aumento de 45% no volume de interações durante o torneio, com expectativa de salto de 230 mil para 335 mil contatos mensais em canais de atendimento como chat, e-mail e voz.
Para absorver esse crescimento, o grupo ampliou em mais de 55% seu quadro total de colaboradores ao longo dos últimos doze meses, passando de 378 funcionários, em junho de 2025, para 586 profissionais em junho de 2026. As contratações foram concentradas principalmente nos polos de Recife (PE) e São Paulo (SP), com foco nas áreas de atendimento, tecnologia, risco e jogo responsável.
Duas áreas estratégicas concentraram metade das admissões realizadas no período: Atendimento, com 97 novos profissionais, e Risco e Jogo Responsável, que recebeu 60 novos especialistas para reforçar o monitoramento preventivo e a capacidade de resposta durante o Mundial.
“A preparação operacional para a Copa envolve não apenas ganho de escala, mas principalmente reforço da qualidade e da segurança da experiência do usuário. Nosso foco é garantir uma estrutura preparada para responder com agilidade e responsabilidade em um período de aumento expressivo da demanda”, afirma Roberta Cinti, Head de Pessoas e Cultura do Grupo EGB.
Além do reforço nas equipes, o Grupo EGB promoveu ajustes na jornada digital de autoatendimento e nas Unidades de Resposta Audível (URA), buscando reduzir fricções operacionais e otimizar o fluxo de demandas estritamente informativas, como dúvidas sobre regulamentos e termos promocionais. A estratégia visa liberar os analistas humanos para interações complexas e que exijam maior sensibilidade analítica.
A estratégia também inclui a ampliação do uso de ferramentas de inteligência artificial voltadas ao monitoramento preventivo de comportamento. Historicamente, os atendimentos relacionados à área de risco e jogo responsável representam cerca de 5% do volume total mensal de contatos da companhia (cerca de 11.500 atendimentos).
Os sistemas utilizados pela empresa analisam indicadores considerados atípicos em tempo real, como tempo excessivo de sessão contínua, frequência elevada de navegação e movimentações financeiras fora do padrão habitual, permitindo que as equipes especializadas realizem avaliações preventivas quando necessário.
O uso de tecnologia aplicada ao monitoramento e à prevenção funciona como uma camada preditiva de proteção ao usuário, fortalecendo a capacidade operacional do Grupo EGB em períodos de alta movimentação. A combinação entre inteligência artificial, acompanhamento especializado e suporte humano são pilares importantes da construção de uma experiência mais segura e sustentável para o usuário.
A movimentação faz parte do planejamento operacional do Grupo EGB para o período da Copa, combinando expansão de estrutura, investimentos em tecnologia e reforço das áreas ligadas à experiência do usuário para garantir que a experiência do Mundial permaneça estritamente no campo do lazer e da aposta segura.
The post Grupo EGB projeta aumento de 45% no volume de atendimentos durante a Copa do Mundo appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.
Canada
St8 expands Octoplay aggregation deal to Ontario and the UK
St8 has extended its content partnership with Octoplay into Ontario and the UK, expanding distribution of Octoplay’s casino games in two regulated markets. The companies announced the move on 2 July, 2026.
Under the expanded agreement, St8 will make Octoplay’s full portfolio available to operators in both jurisdictions through St8’s single API integration.
David Fall, Business Development Manager at St8, said:
“Expanding our partnership with Octoplay into Ontario and the UK is another important milestone as we continue to strengthen our aggregation platform with premium content from leading suppliers.
“Octoplay has built an excellent reputation for developing engaging, high-performing games, and we’re delighted to extend this collaboration into two highly strategic regulated markets. This agreement enables our operator partners to access even more quality content through a single integration while supporting their growth in competitive jurisdictions.”
Ralitsa Georgieva, CEO at Octoplay added:
“We’re pleased to expand our partnership with St8 into Ontario and the UK, making our full portfolio available to even more operators through its aggregation platform. St8 has established itself as a trusted technology partner for regulated markets, and we look forward to building on our successful collaboration together.”
The post St8 expands Octoplay aggregation deal to Ontario and the UK appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
Canada
St8 extends Octoplay partnership into Ontario and the UK
Casino games aggregator and full-service technology provider St8 has expanded its partnership with Octoplay into Ontario and the UK, further strengthening its premium content offering across two of the industry’s most important regulated markets.
Through the extended agreement, St8 will make Octoplay’s full portfolio of casino games available to operators in both jurisdictions, providing partners with seamless access to the supplier’s high-quality content through its single API integration.
The expansion builds on the successful relationship between the two companies and reflects St8’s continued commitment to providing operators with access to leading game providers across regulated markets. By broadening the availability of Octoplay’s portfolio, St8 further enhances the depth and diversity of content available to its operator network.
Octoplay has quickly established itself as one of the industry’s most innovative and fastest growing game studios, recognised for delivering engaging titles that combine premium gameplay with strong player appeal which are now available across 17 jurisdictions. The supplier’s focus on quality and performance aligns closely with St8’s mission to simplify content aggregation while helping operators deliver exceptional gaming experiences.
The latest agreement reinforces St8’s strategy of expanding its premium content portfolio while helping operators simplify integration, accelerate market entry and deliver engaging gaming experiences across multiple regulated jurisdictions.
David Fall, Business Development Manager at St8, said: “Expanding our partnership with Octoplay into Ontario and the UK is another important milestone as we continue to strengthen our aggregation platform with premium content from leading suppliers.
“Octoplay has built an excellent reputation for developing engaging, high-performing games, and we’re delighted to extend this collaboration into two highly strategic regulated markets. This agreement enables our operator partners to access even more quality content through a single integration while supporting their growth in competitive jurisdictions.”
Ralitsa Georgieva, CEO at Octoplay added: “We’re pleased to expand our partnership with St8 into Ontario and the UK, making our full portfolio available to even more operators through its aggregation platform. St8 has established itself as a trusted technology partner for regulated markets, and we look forward to building on our successful collaboration together.”
The post St8 extends Octoplay partnership into Ontario and the UK appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.
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