Latest News

Graphyte Acquired by Optimove to Produce Powerful End-to-End Player Engagement Platform

Published

3 years ago

July 13, 2022

Reading Time: 3 minutes

The acquisition will significantly enhance Graphyte’s ability to seamlessly deliver personalized recommendations to players across channels and at scale

Graphyte, the realtime, cloud-based personalization platform built for the betting and iGaming industry, today announced it has been acquired by Optimove, the leading CRM Marketing Platform. The acquisition will cement Graphyte’s leader status in cloud-based personalization in the iGaming market, driving more operators to utilize its capabilities as part of their Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Marketing strategies carried out by Optimove’s multichannel CRM marketing hub.

Trusted by some of the world’s largest operators, Graphyte, founded in 2018 and employing 20, is a London-based startup built to fill the gap in the SaaS marketplace for a scalable Personalization Engine to serve the betting and iGaming industry. Operators like Entain, Sisal, 888, and others use Graphyte’s Personalization platform to serve AI-based product recommendations and dynamically personalize their web, native mobile sites, and mobile apps to engage customers in realtime through owned and paid marketing channels. For example, Gala Bingo has driven a 35% turnover uplift using Graphyte’s web personalization models and seen a 300% increase in site visits when providing intelligent recommendations to players through emails, instead of traditional static emails.

Graphyte applies advanced machine learning to betting, gameplay, and browsing activity in realtime to make every interaction with a customer relevant and in the moment. Unlike other personalization engines that require technical skills to deploy model results, the company’s flexible platform empowers marketers with complete control over how recommendations are made when testing and deploying personalized treatments without needing to make any changes to the core CMS.

The company’s robust offering includes:

Recommend – fully featured realtime, personalized recommendation and rules engine
Intelligent Layouts – web and app realtime AI-based personalized casino lobbies, homepages, banners, and navigation.
Engage – realtime triggered messages.
Momentum – social proof to surface trending and popular content on any channel.
Retarget – personalized ads served up to end-users as they browse third-party sites.
Site Search – instant, full-featured search capabilities for every channel and product.

Graphyte’s offering will now integrate with Optimove’s industry leading CRM Marketing capabilities. With a Customer Data Platform (CDP) at its core, Optimove offers marketing teams direct access to their customer data to build, test, orchestrate, and optimize hundreds of personalized CRM campaigns weekly.

Joint customers will benefit from synergies which will see Graphyte’s models enriched with robust data from Optimove’s CDP, while the models’ results will be readily accessible within customer profiles inside Optimove for segmentation, activation, and analysis. Joint customers will be able to reap these benefits and more, soon.

Furthermore, the acquisition will enable operators to provide players with realtime symmetric and personalized journeys. In addition to providing the end-to-end offering to iGaming and Sports Betting operators, Optimove, which has a significant non-gaming client base, will allocate resources to adapt and expand Graphyte’s web and app personalization capabilities to additional verticals.

Operators using the Graphyte and Optimove joint solution will be able to deliver unparalleled holistic player journeys such as:

Symmetric multichannel journeys: Leveraging Graphyte’s personalized recommendations in outbound campaigns via Optimove’s email and mobile channels and ensuring customers view the same recommendations when clicking through to the brand’s website or mobile app.
Geolocation-triggered personalized recommendations: Maximizing Graphyte’s bet recommendation relevancy by combining it with Optimove’s geo-fencing technology to trigger personalized messages to customers’ mobile apps. For example, triggering relevant sports betting recommendations when players enter a perimeter near a sport stadium.
True 1-to-1 personalization: Selecting one of Graphyte’s 20 distinct AI-models to personalize player experiences based on robust segmentation from Optimove’s Customer Data Platform. For example, deploying a different model for high loyalty players and new ones.

“I’m proud to welcome Graphyte to the Optimove family,” said Optimove Founder and CEO Pini Yakuel. “As evident from this acquisition, and of Kumulos earlier this year, we’re very serious about ramping up our never-ending quest to expand marketing teams’ capabilities and effectiveness. Graphyte’s machine learning and personalization capabilities are way ahead of the curve. Combining those with our native customer data platform and multichannel journey orchestration engine will prove extremely valuable for both our client bases and the iGaming industry.”

“We couldn’t be happier to join forces with Optimove as an integral part of their offering,” said Damien Evans, CEO of Graphyte. “Optimove’s CRM Marketing capabilities are second to none, and its dominance in the iGaming market is well-established. If you add to that equation Graphyte’s market-leading machine learning personalization capabilities, the result is a game changing marketing tool which will create unprecedented freedom for brands to realize their CRM Marketing visions. We’re excited to receive this significant vote of confidence from Optimove, the leading CRM Marketing player in the iGaming market.”

The acquisition is part of Optimove’s continuous investment in expanding its CRM marketing capabilities for the iGaming and Sports Betting industry, following its September 2021 $75 million investment led by Summit Partners and the acquisition of personalized mobile marketing solution Kumulos, in March 2022.

BetMGM

BetMGM and FashionTV Gaming Group Bring Luxury Lifestyle to North American iGaming

Published

7 hours ago

January 6, 2026

Wladimir P.

betmgm-and-fashiontv-gaming-group-bring-luxury-lifestyle-to-north-american-igaming

BetMGM, a leading iGaming and sports betting operator, has officially partnered with FashionTV Gaming Group to launch a curated portfolio of luxury-branded games. This strategic collaboration marks the entry of FashionTV’s iconic aesthetic into the North American iGaming market, exclusively through BetMGM’s platforms.

The partnership merges FashionTV’s global prestige in the worlds of fashion and high-society entertainment with BetMGM’s award-winning digital casino infrastructure.

Immersive Luxury Table Games

The initial rollout features two high-gloss table games designed to provide players with an “immersive, lifestyle-driven” experience that mirrors the sophistication of the FashionTV brand.

FashionTV Blackjack: A premium take on the casino classic, featuring refined visual assets and high-end production values.
FashionTV Roulette: A sleek, stylized version of the iconic wheel, bringing a “fashion-forward” energy to every spin.

The titles are currently live in Michigan, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, with a wider rollout planned for all jurisdictions where BetMGM Casino is active.

Strategic Vision and 2026 Roadmap

For BetMGM, the partnership is part of a broader “branded content” strategy that includes previous successes with major TV and movie franchises.

“At BetMGM, we have redefined what it means to deliver entertainment in iGaming,” said Oliver Bartlett, VP of Gaming at BetMGM. “By partnering with FashionTV Gaming Group, we’re creating experiences that go beyond gameplay and connect players to the brands they love.”

Moshe Cohen, Founder & President of FashionTV Gaming Group, added: “BetMGM’s leadership and scale make them the perfect partner to transform our vision into a North American success story.”

Looking ahead, BetMGM has confirmed that additional FashionTV-branded titles—including slots and potentially live dealer variants—will be released throughout 2026 as part of an expanding content pipeline.

The post BetMGM and FashionTV Gaming Group Bring Luxury Lifestyle to North American iGaming appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

Brazil Betting Law

2026 iGaming Regulatory Roadmap: Key Compliance Deadlines

Published

10 hours ago

January 6, 2026

Wladimir P.

2026-igaming-regulatory-roadmap:-key-compliance-deadlines

As the industry gathers for ICE Barcelona 2026, the regulatory landscape has shifted into a high-execution phase. The following roadmap outlines the critical compliance dates for three of the most influential markets currently undergoing major transitions: the United Kingdom, Brazil, and the Philippines.

Date	Jurisdiction	Regulatory Milestone	Action Required for Operators/Suppliers
Jan 19, 2026	United Kingdom	LCCP Social Responsibility Code 5.1.1 Update	Ban on Mixed-Product Incentives: Offers like “Bet £10, get 20 free spins” are now prohibited. Wagering Caps: Bonus wagering is capped at a maximum of 10x.
Jan 19-21, 2026	Global / EMEA	ICE Barcelona 2026	Flagship event for showcasing 2026 compliance technology and real-time auditing solutions.
Mar 19, 2026	United Kingdom	LCCP Condition 15.2.1 Reporting	Key Event Reporting: Threshold for reporting operator status/shareholder changes raised from 3% to 5%. All loans must be reported regardless of written agreements.
Mar 31, 2026	Philippines	PAGCOR B2B Accreditation Deadline	Final Compliance Date: All B2B providers (studios, aggregators, affiliates) must be accredited. Unaccredited foreign content will be blocked from licensed platforms.
Apr 6, 2026	United Kingdom	DMCC Act 2024 Alignment	Fair & Transparent Terms: Consumer Protection regulations replaced by the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. Terms must align with new definitions of “misleading actions.”
June 30, 2026	United Kingdom	RTS 12 (Financial Limits)	Technical changes to Remote Technical Standards (RTS) regarding how customers set and view financial limits on their accounts.
H2 2026	Brazil	Betting Deposit Tax Vote	Proposed 15% tax on gambling deposits is expected to return to the Senate for a final vote after being pushed back in late 2025.

Regional Deep Dive: Strategic Compliance

1. United Kingdom: The “Safety & Simplicity” Era

The UKGC’s January 19th update is the most immediate challenge for marketing teams. By decoupling sports betting from casino bonuses, the regulator aims to reduce “cross-product friction” that could lead to unintended gambling harm.

Strategy: Pivot toward product-specific loyalty programs (e.g., “Bet £10 on Football, Get a £5 Free Bet”) to maintain compliance while driving retention.

2. Brazil: Sustaining the .bet.br Ecosystem

Following the January 1, 2025 launch of the regulated market, 2026 is about operational maturity. The focus has shifted to the mandatory use of the .bet.br domain and rigorous AML/KYC reporting to the Secretariat of Awards and Betting (SPA).

Strategy: Ensure all advertising features the mandatory license logo and that all protagonists in marketing materials are visibly over 21 years of age.

3. Philippines: The B2B Supply Chain Lockdown

PAGCOR’s new framework is a move to professionalize the region, mirroring the supplier-licensing models seen in Ontario and Malta.

Strategy: Foreign studios that missed the December 2025 “early bird” three-year accreditation window must expedite their applications before March 31st to avoid a total blackout on Filipino-facing sites.

The post 2026 iGaming Regulatory Roadmap: Key Compliance Deadlines appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

AI in Gambling

2026 iGaming Outlook: Regulation, AI Personalization, and the Return of “Originals”

Published

10 hours ago

January 6, 2026

Wladimir P.

2026-igaming-outlook:-regulation,-ai-personalization,-and-the-return-of-“originals”

The iGaming industry has officially entered a new era of discipline. As we move through the first quarter of 2026, the “wild west” growth of previous years has been replaced by a focus on sustainability, hyper-localization, and AI-driven player protection. From the finalization of the PROGA framework in India to the massive turnover records set by World Pool, the market is no longer just growing—it is maturing.

The Rise of “Explainable AI” in Player Retention

In 2026, AI has moved beyond simple game recommendations. Leading operators are now utilizing “Explainable AI” (XAI) to bridge the gap between engagement and compliance. Unlike traditional “black box” algorithms, XAI allows operators to understand why a player is being flagged for risky behavior or why a specific loyalty nudge was triggered.

This transparency is critical for maintaining trust in highly regulated markets like the UK and Ontario, where the UKGC’s 2026 Social Responsibility updates now demand more rigorous evidence of proactive player interaction.

“Originals” and the Rebirth of Video Poker

While high-volatility slots like Joker’s Jewels Hold & Spin continue to dominate headlines, a significant shift is occurring in the “non-slots” vertical.

The PowerPoker Revolution: Strategic partnerships, such as the recent QTech Games and Speedy Tomatoes deal, are revitalizing video poker. By adding features like “Swap-A-Card,” these games are capturing high-value player segments who prioritize skill and strategy.
Branded Originals: Platforms like MINT are proving that “Originals” (Mines, Crash, and Plinko) are no longer secondary products. Fully brandable house games are now a core foundation for crypto-first and Web3 operators, driving session frequency through provably fair mechanics.

Brazil and Ontario: The Battle for Market Supremacy

The geographic focus for 2026 remains firmly on Brazil and Ontario.

Brazil’s Advertising Evolution: With the newly regulated market in full swing, groups like Esportes Gaming Brasil joining IAB Brasil signal a shift toward responsible communication. Advertising is now a tool for helping consumers identify licensed platforms, moving away from aggressive acquisition tactics.
Ontario’s Content War: The region has become North America’s most dynamic hub. Agreements like the Peter & Sons and Casino Time deal highlight the demand for “indie-inspired” content that stands out in a saturated market.

Conclusion: The “Champion Mindset” for 2026

Success this year isn’t about volume; it’s about coherence. As highlighted by GR8 Tech’s “Champions Club” initiative for ICE Barcelona, the operators winning in 2026 are those who treat technology as a performance ecosystem. By aligning real-time data with compliant storytelling, brands are finding that “trust” is the most valuable currency in the modern iGaming world.

The post 2026 iGaming Outlook: Regulation, AI Personalization, and the Return of “Originals” appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.