Press Releases

Parimatch: Consumers want stories, not spreadsheets

Published

6 years ago

March 9, 2020

Sergey Berezhnoy, Parimatch¹s Chief Product Officer.

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.

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Spinomenal Debuts “Coin Freeze – Hold & Hit 3×3” for Winter 2026

Published

3 hours ago

January 8, 2026

Wladimir P.

spinomenal-debuts-“coin-freeze-–-hold-&-hit-3×3”-for-winter-2026

Leading iGaming content provider Spinomenal has officially expanded its popular “Hold & Hit” series with the launch of Coin Freeze – Hold & Hit 3×3. Released on January 8, 2026, this compact, high-action title combines a classic winter aesthetic with a sophisticated collection mechanic designed to drive win momentum.

Set against a frosted gold frame with falling snowflakes, the game utilizes a 3×3 grid that belies its significant win potential, capped at a massive x5,000 multiplier.

The Mechanics: Precision and Collection

The game relies on a unique distribution of symbols to trigger its most lucrative features. While 777s serve as the Wild—substituting for regular symbols—the real progression is driven by two specialized bonus icons.

Bonus Symbols: Appear exclusively on reels one and three.
Bonus Collect Symbol: Appears exclusively on the central reel (reel two).

Immediate Value Mechanic: One of the standout features of Coin Freeze is the instant collection. If a Bonus Collect symbol lands alongside Bonus or Jackpot symbols without triggering the full Bonus Game, it still gathers all visible values and adds them to the player’s total win for that spin.

The Bonus Game: Snowballing Wins

Landing the Bonus Collect on reel two alongside one or more Bonus symbols on the outer reels triggers the core feature. All triggering symbols lock in place, and the player is granted three initial spins.

Key Feature Highlights:

Sticky Symbols: Only Bonus and Bonus Collect symbols appear during the round.
Multipliers: Individual coins can land with multipliers of x1, x2, x5, x7, x10, or x15.
Triple Collection: Every time a new Bonus symbol lands, its value is added to every Bonus Collect symbol currently on the grid.
Respins: Any new symbol resets the spin counter to three.
Bonus Blast: A random base-game feature that can drop extra symbols to force a Bonus Game entry.

Four In-Game Jackpots

The title features four fixed jackpot levels that can be triggered by specific symbols during the Bonus Game:

Grand
Major
Minor
Mini

“Every spin with Coin Freeze – Hold & Hit 3×3 delivers real value,” said Omer Henya, CO-CEO of Spinomenal. “By locking coins in place and letting wins grow, we’ve created a feature where momentum compounds and players can see their fortune stack up.”

The post Spinomenal Debuts “Coin Freeze – Hold & Hit 3×3” for Winter 2026 appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

Darts Sponsorship 2026

Mr Vegas Extends Title Sponsorship of PDC Grand Slam and Nordic Darts Masters Through 2027

Published

3 hours ago

January 8, 2026

Wladimir P.

mr-vegas-extends-title-sponsorship-of-pdc-grand-slam-and-nordic-darts-masters-through-2027

Mr Vegas, the rapidly growing online casino brand under the Immense Group umbrella, has officially extended its title sponsorship of two premier PDC events—the Grand Slam of Darts and the Nordic Darts Masters—for an additional two years.

This renewal ensures that Mr Vegas remains at the forefront of the “darting revolution” through the end of 2027, building on a successful association that has seen the sport’s global viewership reach record highs.

2026 Tournament Schedule

The extension secures Mr Vegas as the naming partner for two of the most distinct events on the PDC calendar, spanning both the prestigious ranking system and the international World Series circuit.

Event	Location	2026 Dates
Mr Vegas Nordic Darts Masters	Forum Copenhagen, Denmark	June 5–6, 2026
Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts	WV Active Aldersley, Wolverhampton	Nov 14–22, 2026

The “Littler Effect” and Explosive Audience Growth

The decision to extend comes as darts experiences a “breakout” era of mainstream popularity, largely driven by the emergence of Luke Littler.

The 2025 Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts final, where Littler defeated Luke Humphries 16–11, became an instant classic, helping Littler secure the world #1 ranking. The broader metrics for the sport reflect this surge in interest:

Peak Viewership: The 2025 World Championship final peaked at 3.1 million UK viewers, the highest non-football audience for Sky Sports in a year.
Global Reach: The PDC reported a 29% year-on-year growth in international audience figures.
Expansion: The Grand Slam of Darts is set to expand from a 32-player to a 48-player field in 2026 to accommodate the growing talent pool.

Strategic Confidence Amidst Regulatory Shifts

While the partnership extension is a celebratory milestone, Marco Trucco, CMO at Immense Group, used the announcement to address the evolving UK fiscal landscape, specifically the recently adjusted gaming duty.

“Our decision to extend our partnership with the PDC is a statement of confidence in the future of legal and safe online gambling in the UK,” said Trucco. “Unfortunately, the new gaming duty will hit the sport leagues and teams that chose to partner with regulated, UK-facing operators… in that context, we are doubling down on our commitment to the sport.”

Adam Perfect, Head of Commercial for the PDC, added that the energy brought by Mr Vegas is “starting to build a strong legacy” for the brand within the darting community.

The post Mr Vegas Extends Title Sponsorship of PDC Grand Slam and Nordic Darts Masters Through 2027 appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

eInstants

Kansas Lottery Partners with IWG to Expand iLottery with Retail-Inspired eInstants

Published

3 hours ago

January 8, 2026

Wladimir P.

kansas-lottery-partners-with-iwg-to-expand-ilottery-with-retail-inspired-einstants

Kansas Lottery has officially selected Instant Win Gaming (IWG) as its primary partner for eInstant game content, marking a major expansion of the state’s digital lottery program. The agreement, announced on January 8, 2026, will see IWG supply its full portfolio of digital “scratch” games to Kansas players, building on the lottery’s successful iLottery launch in February 2025.

Strategic Milestone for Kansas iLottery

Kansas becomes the 33rd NASPL/WLA member lottery and the 9th in the U.S. to adopt IWG’s digital content. The partnership focuses on “digital transformation”—taking the mechanics players love from physical retail scratchers and reimagining them for the mobile screen.

Retail Synergy: IWG will develop games specifically inspired by Kansas’ top-performing retail tickets, ensuring familiarity for long-time players.
Constant Refresh: Using IWG’s InstantRGS (Remote Game Server), the Kansas Lottery will maintain a consistent roadmap of new titles to keep the digital lobby fresh.
Rapid Onboarding: IWG’s server is already integrated with the Pollard Catalyst platform, which powers the Kansas iLottery system, allowing for a seamless technical rollout.

The “Catalyst” for Growth

The Kansas Lottery’s iLottery program originally went live on February 13, 2025, achieving the record for the fastest full-featured implementation in U.S. history (just 10 months from scoping). By tapping IWG, the Lottery is shifting from its “Loyalty-First” phase into a high-growth “Content-First” phase.

“Their experience transforming retail scratch styles into successful digital formats made this partnership an easy decision,” said Stephen Durrell, Executive Director of the Kansas Lottery. “We’re excited for Kansas players to experience the depth and quality of IWG’s portfolio.”

Market Impact and Roadmap

Feature	Details
Partner	Instant Win Gaming (IWG)
Integration	Pollard Catalyst Cloud-Native Platform
Target Audience	235,000+ “PlayOn” Loyalty Members
Game Strategy	Retail-to-Digital “Scratcher” Mechanics
U.S. Context	9th U.S. State to deploy IWG eInstants

Jason Lisiecki, Executive Vice President at IWG, noted that the Kansas strategy aligns perfectly with IWG’s leadership in the North American space, focusing on scaling engagement through high-performing, proven mechanics.

The post Kansas Lottery Partners with IWG to Expand iLottery with Retail-Inspired eInstants appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.