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YGAM launch ‘Parent Hub’ as university research highlights loot box danger amongst children

Published

5 years ago

July 21, 2020

Reading Time: 2 minutes

National charity, YGAM has joined with research teams from Newcastle and Loughborough Universities to help parents and carers understand the danger of loot boxes, with one young respondent in the Economic and Social Research Council funded project confirming how he spent nearly £500 buying packs of random cards.

The expert insight and advice is being posted on YGAM’s new ‘Parent Hub’ website www.parents.ygam.org. The hub which has been developed thanks to funding received from Lottoland, GVC and Playtech, provides families with the resources, information and activities to help build digital resilience and safeguard children. ‘Parent Hub’ helps explain why children are drawn to purchase loot boxes, ranging from the surprise and suspense of opening a box and the desire to win something rare, to receiving specific items that deliver an in-game advantage or boost their social status.

The research covers the potential harm loot boxes can cause, such as young people’s exposure to and normalisation of gambling style systems, as well as the emotional and financial harm from repeat spending – with one young person telling researchers how he spent nearly £500 in a mobile card game by buying packs of random cards, playing for up to seven hours a day. The advice covers how parents can take important steps to safeguard children, including the use of parental controls and identifying potential signs of harm.

“For some children, the act of opening a loot box is as important as what it contains” explains Dr James Ash, Reader in Technology, Space and Society at Newcastle University, who is leading the research. “Feelings of surprise and suspense lead to the repeat purchase of loot boxes. But this is often short-lived.

“Children and young people have told us how they feel disappointment, frustration, anger, and regret at loot box purchases, yet they are still driven to purchase again. This is concerning, given the deliberate design of these mechanisms – the visual stimulus, the randomised contents, and the very unfavourable odds for unboxing rare items – which can lead to repeat loot box purchases.”

Amanda Atkinson, Head of Parental Engagement at YGAM said the research will help inform and develop the charity’s educational programmes so that all young and vulnerable people are safe from gaming and gambling related harms. She stated: “Certainly the enormous variety of games and in-app purchases that are available can make it confusing for parents to keep on top of safety controls. Through our educational resources, we are focused on providing crucial information to parents so they can identify changes in behaviours and understand the effects this may have on mental and financial wellbeing.”

In collaboration with GamCare, YGAM is delivering the UK’s ground-breaking National Gambling Education and Prevention Programme. Supported by members of the Betting and Gaming Council, the £10 million programme will reach over 3 million young people to raise awareness of the risks of potential gaming and gambling related harms.

B2B Marketing

Beyond Season’s Greetings: GR8 Tech Unveils Strategic ‘Holiday Calendar’ for Operators

Published

2 hours ago

December 22, 2025

Wladimir P.

beyond-season’s-greetings:-gr8-tech-unveils-strategic-‘holiday-calendar’-for-operators

Editor’s Take

Why this matters: Most B2B holiday campaigns are fluff—digital greeting cards that get deleted instantly. GR8 Tech is taking a smarter approach by wrapping high-value strategic advice into a seasonal format. By focusing on 2026 goal-setting (tech upgrades, market wins), they are positioning themselves not just as a platform provider, but as a strategic partner for operators currently in their planning cycles.

The Full Story

GR8 Tech, the award-winning sportsbook and iGaming platform provider, has launched a new initiative designed to turn the holiday season into a period of strategic preparation for operators.

Dubbed the Holiday Calendar, the campaign is an exclusive newsletter experience that moves beyond standard festive greetings to deliver actionable, data-driven insights aimed at helping iGaming champions define and achieve their goals for 2026.

Unwrapping Strategic Insights The initiative runs as a 4-week series, consisting of eight curated email editions. Each edition focuses on a specific “iGaming wish”—ranging from stronger growth and smarter tech to smoother operations.

Instead of leaving these as abstract concepts, GR8 Tech pairs each goal with practical insights from its own data and technology stack, offering a roadmap for how operators can realistically achieve them in the coming year.

Management Commentary Yevhen Krazhan, CSO at GR8 Tech, explained that the campaign mirrors the ambitious mindset of their clients:

“Every operator has a vision for the year ahead: targets they want to hit, markets they want to win, experiences they want to deliver. The GR8 Tech Holiday Calendar is our way of celebrating ambitions and showing how the right insights and technology can turn them into reality.”

How It Works Operators can subscribe via the GR8 Tech website to receive the series. Each message “opens a new tile” on the digital calendar, revealing a specific insight designed to be applied to future business strategies.

The campaign effectively showcases GR8 Tech’s broader value proposition—including its Hyper Turnkey solution and ULTIM8 Sportsbook—by demonstrating how these tools solve specific operator challenges. It comes on the heels of a successful year for the provider, which recently secured the title of Platform Provider of the Year at the SBC Awards 2025.

The post Beyond Season’s Greetings: GR8 Tech Unveils Strategic ‘Holiday Calendar’ for Operators appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry Newsroom.

AML Compliance

ComeOn Group Fortifies C-Suite: Michela Tabone Valetta Named New CPO

Published

2 hours ago

December 22, 2025

Wladimir P.

comeon-group-fortifies-c-suite:-michela-tabone-valetta-named-new-cpo

Editor’s Take

Why this matters: In the current iGaming climate, “sustainable growth” isn’t just a buzzword—it’s a survival strategy. By bringing in a seasoned CPO like Michela Tabone Valetta (ex-Bally’s, Gamesys), ComeOn is signaling a focus on organizational maturity. Furthermore, the specific addition of a Country Manager for Ontario (Mark Cheeswright) suggests a deeper entrenchment in North America’s most competitive regulated market, moving beyond general expansion to targeted regional dominance.

The Full Story

ComeOn Group, the leading international iGaming operator, has announced a significant strengthening of its leadership structure, headlined by the appointment of Michela Tabone Valetta to its Executive Team as Chief People Officer (CPO).

The move is part of a broader recruitment drive that has seen the company fill critical senior roles across Compliance, IT Security, Commercial, and Market Management, positioning itself for a new phase of regulated market expansion.

New Chief People Officer Michela Tabone Valetta brings two decades of HR leadership experience, with nearly half of that time spent in the iGaming sector. Her resume includes senior tenures at major industry players such as Vera & John, Gamesys, and Bally’s Corporation. Most recently, she served at BoyleSports, where she supported a workforce of nearly 3,000 employees.

At ComeOn, Valetta will lead the People & Culture function, tasked with refining talent strategy and organizational development as the operator scales its global footprint.

Strategic Senior Appointments alongside the C-level addition, ComeOn Group confirmed four other key strategic hires made earlier this year to bolster its operational foundations:

Mark Cheeswright (Country Manager, Ontario): A veteran with over 20 years in iGaming (LeoVegas, William Hill, BetVictor), Cheeswright is tasked with steering the company’s growth in the highly competitive Canadian province.
Thomas Mifsud Tommasi (Head of AML): Joining from LeoVegas and BetClic Everest Group, Tommasi brings over a decade of financial crime compliance expertise to the group.
Radek Ostojski (Head of Information Security): With a background in cloud architecture and DevOps at Swintt and KingMakers, Ostojski will lead the operator’s cybersecurity initiatives.
Rebekka Rogers (Head of Commercial, Casino): Formerly of Evolution, Rogers will drive commercial performance and strategic growth within the company’s core Casino vertical.

CEO Commentary Juergen Reutter, Chief Executive Officer at ComeOn Group, emphasized that these appointments are about building depth for the long term:

“We are delighted to welcome Michela to our Executive Team. Her extensive expertise in people and culture, organizational development, and leadership strategy will be instrumental as we continue to grow and strengthen our operations globally.

“Earlier this year, we also welcomed Radek, Thomas, Mark, and Rebekka into key leadership roles… Their contributions are already reinforcing our strategic foundations, and together with Michela’s arrival, they significantly enhance the depth and capability of our leadership team.”

The post ComeOn Group Fortifies C-Suite: Michela Tabone Valetta Named New CPO appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry Newsroom.

243 Crystal Fruits

Tom Horn Gaming Unlocks New Markets with Major Alea Aggregation Deal

Published

2 hours ago

December 22, 2025

Wladimir P.

tom-horn-gaming-unlocks-new-markets-with-major-alea-aggregation-deal

Editor’s Take

Why this matters: In the race for distribution, direct integrations are becoming less common for mid-sized studios. Partnering with a “super-aggregator” like Alea—known for its focus on API performance and data security—gives Tom Horn Gaming instant access to hundreds of operator brands without the technical bottleneck of individual integrations. This move signals a push to maximize the yield from their back catalog of 100+ games in both mature and emerging markets simultaneously.

The Full Story

Tom Horn Gaming, the omnichannel software supplier, has significantly widened its distribution capabilities by signing a new partnership with Alea, the award-winning iGaming aggregator.

The agreement sees Tom Horn’s entire portfolio of over 100 titles integrated into Alea’s aggregation ecosystem. This includes the supplier’s best-performing classic slots such as 243 Crystal Fruits and The Secret of Ba, as well as recent releases like Tao Tree Coins.

Technical & Strategic Fit For Tom Horn Gaming, the deal is a strategic lever to penetrate new jurisdictions more efficiently. By plugging into Alea’s centralized API, the studio gains immediate access to Alea’s extensive roster of operator partners. The collaboration focuses heavily on delivering “localized” content—games specifically tailored to regional preferences and regulatory requirements—without the friction of individual technical setups.

Management Commentary Both companies emphasized the role of compliance and technical reliability in the deal.

Ondrej Lapides, CEO of Tom Horn Gaming, commented on the strategic alignment:

“Partnering with Alea allows us to bring our games to even more operators and players in markets where we’ve long been committed to delivering tailored, reliable, and engaging content. Alea’s focus on compliance and seamless delivery perfectly complements our own ambitions for growth in both mature and emerging regions.”

Eduard Verdaguer, Partnerships Manager at Alea, highlighted the supplier’s reputation:

“Tom Horn Gaming has built a strong reputation for creating accessible, market-tailored content that players know and trust.”

This partnership marks the latest in a series of commercial expansions for Tom Horn Gaming in late 2025, reinforcing its status as a staple content provider for regulated markets.

The post Tom Horn Gaming Unlocks New Markets with Major Alea Aggregation Deal appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry Newsroom.