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Incentive Games makes key hire to take data analytics to the next level

Published

4 years ago

May 30, 2022

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Tiago Vieira has been headhunted from TVSquared and will help the freeplay developer provide clients with insights into the games’ contributions to their acquisition and retention metrics

Incentive Games, the provider of premium Free-to-Play acquisition and retention games, has further expanded its data department with the appointment of Tiago Vieira as Head of Data. Tiago was headhunted from TVSquared where he combined the roles of senior Data Scientist and Technology Lead.

Attracting talented workers is getting harder by the day and convincing Tiago to join has not been any different. Once he saw the innovative products and the role data is playing in developing them, he was convinced Incentive Games is the right choice for him.

Data analysis has been the heart of Incentive Games’ success for many years, it is used to analyse player behaviour, feature performance and User Experience. The games generate a huge volume of data daily, and up till now, that has mainly been used to improve the game design and user experience. Moving forward Incentive Games is focused on generating reports and insights for their operator clients on how the games contribute to their acquisition cost and retention metrics.

Incentive Games has millions of monthly active users across its games which in turn generates billions of data points to be collected and analysed. These insights help clients better understand user behaviour, improve the effectiveness/stickiness of games and ultimately boost revenues.

“We’ve been aware of Tiago’s remarkable talents for a while now,” said John Gordon, CEO of Incentive Games, “and have taken our time to get this key hire in place. By the end of this year Incentive Games products will have over 100 million active monthly users and be generating many billions of data points, and we believe few companies in the industry have a deeper knowledge of customer behaviour in our space. Whilst those learnings have already been used to improve game design and user experience, we’re now focusing on specific customer insights and state-of-the-art, real-time reporting advances that, we believe, will revolutionise the industry’s acquisition and retention strategies.”

Tiago Vieira, Head of Data at Incentive Games, added: “In a very short space of time Incentive Games has established itself as the global leader in the field of free to play games, and I’m hugely excited and intrigued to join a remarkable team. Their products are now generating huge amounts of incredibly rich data that are being harnessed to develop a phenomenal roadmap of upcoming products. The challenge of helping elevate those games to the next level was one I couldn’t resist.”

Compliance Updates

MGA Representative Appointed Co-Chair of GREF InfoStat Working Group

Published

19 minutes ago

May 26, 2026

Wladimir P.

mga-representative-appointed-co-chair-of-gref-infostat-working-group

Erika Spiteri Bailey, the Senior Executive of Business Intelligence & Data Analytics at the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA), has been officially appointed as the Co-Chair of the InfoStat Working Group within the Gambling Regulators European Forum (GREF).

Erika Spiteri Bailey will serve in this role alongside Anssi Airas, representing the National Police Board of Finland.

GREF is a forum for European gaming regulators, facilitating the exchange of views and the development of approaches to common regulatory challenges. Within this framework, the InfoStat Working Group provides a platform for regulators to collaborate and exchange insights on the use of data in support of effective policy development and decision‑making across jurisdictions.

In her role as Co-Chair, Erika Spiteri Bailey will contribute to shaping the group’s work programme and fostering cooperation among members, with a focus on strengthening data‑driven regulatory approaches.

The post MGA Representative Appointed Co-Chair of GREF InfoStat Working Group appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

Chris Thornton

GamCare Appoints Chris Thornton as its New Director of Operations

Published

19 minutes ago

May 26, 2026

Wladimir P.

gamcare-appoints-chris-thornton-as-its-new-director-of-operations

GamCare has announced the appointment of Chris Thornton as its new Director of Operations, with overall responsibility for the delivery and performance of GamCare’s national and regional services, including the National Gambling Helpline. Chris joins the Executive Leadership Team at a pivotal time for the gambling support sector.

Chris brings extensive senior leadership experience spanning the NHS, voluntary sector and health commissioning. He joins GamCare from the British Red Cross, where as Director for the North of England and Isle of Man he led multi-disciplinary health and care operations, managing around 100 staff and £3m in annual income from NHS and local authority commissioned services, delivering measurable reductions in emergency department attendance, hospital readmissions and reliance on formal social care.

Chris has built and led services at scale throughout his career. At Primary Care Sheffield he led city-wide clinical services and co-led successful bids worth £22m. At St John Ambulance he created the East Midlands region and grew its charitable output by 365% while reducing costs by 61%. He is a Chartered Companion of the Chartered Management Institute and served for eight years on the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s Fitness to Practise Committee.

Chris Thornton, incoming Director of Operations at GamCare, said: “I’m thrilled to join GamCare at such an important moment for the organisation and for everyone working to reduce gambling harms across the UK. GamCare operates at national scale, running the UK’s only round-the-clock specialist support service for gambling harms, combining the National Gambling Helpline, live chat, online communities and self-guided tools with thousands of structured treatment sessions and prevention and education programmes reaching tens of thousands of people each year.

“That combination of specialist expertise, integrated delivery and frontline impact is rare in any sector, and is shaping how effective support for gambling harms is understood and delivered. I’m looking forward to building on those foundations and to playing my part in ensuring GamCare’s services continue to meet growing demand as the sector evolves.”

Victoria Corbishley, CEO of GamCare, said: “I’m delighted to welcome Chris to GamCare and to the Executive Leadership Team. He brings exactly the combination of strategic and operational leadership that reflects how we work, significant experience of leading complex health and community services at scale, a strong track record of evidencing impact, and a deep commitment to reaching people who are often underserved. I look forward to working closely with him as we continue to deliver and develop our national services.”

The post GamCare Appoints Chris Thornton as its New Director of Operations appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

Christer Fahlstedt

Paf Passes Half a Billion Euros for the Benefit of Society

Published

19 minutes ago

May 26, 2026

Wladimir P.

paf-passes-half-a-billion-euros-for-the-benefit-of-society

Paf increased both its revenue and profit during 2025. At the same time, the company has passed a historic milestone – more than half a billion euros has now been distributed for the benefit of society since its foundation in 1966.

The Paf Group’s revenue increased to 214.5 million euro in 2025, compared to 191.7 million euro the previous year, an increase of 12%. The Group’s profit also increased, from 54.3 million to 57.2 million euro.

“The profit improved by five percent, which means that Paf delivered the strongest result in the company’s history. Our figures are positive across all our markets and our physical operations increased revenue by three percent,” said Christer Fahlstedt, CEO of Paf.

During the past year, the number of active customers also increased by 12%, contributing to the positive development.

The annual distribution of Paf funds amounts to 55.5 million euro. This major distribution means that Paf passes half a billion euros in distributed Paf funds. Since Paf was founded in 1966, a total of 527.9 million euro has been distributed for the benefit of society.

“Contributing more than 500 million euro to building a stronger society in Åland is a new milestone in Paf’s 60-year history. Paf has made a remarkable journey from offering local gaming experiences in Åland in the 1960s to introducing gaming onboard ferries during the latter part of the 20th century. With the development of digital gaming since the early 2000s, Paf is today an established operator in several markets across Europe,” said Jan-Mikael von Schantz, Chairman of the Board at Paf.

“It is the result of long-term and successful work carried out with great expertise by Paf’s management and employees,” he added.

Paf funds are used for various projects and organisations that benefit society, including social activities, culture, youth work, sports, environmental initiatives and more.

“We do not take the measures we introduce lightly, it requires a great deal from all of us at Paf when we implement responsible gaming measures that other operators in the industry do not have. At the same time, we are proud to stand by what we believe is the right and responsible way forward,” said Christer Fahlstedt.

In 2025, Paf chose to lower the loss limit to 16,000 euro for all customers and to 6000 euro for young people aged 20–24. This year in February 2026, the general mandatory loss limit was further reduced to 15,000 euro. The latest reduction means that Paf has now halved the original loss limit that was first introduced in 2018.

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