Latest News

METANOMIC LAUNCHES ‘THUNDERSTRUCK’ – 1st gamer analysis tool powered by AI

Published

4 years ago

September 6, 2022

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Metanomic, the complete game economy and player analytics company, today proudly announces the global launch of its Thunderstruck player analytics platform; which is poised to revolutionise game developers’ use of behavioural data to improve retention and monetisation.

Thunderstruck is the first ever video game analytics platform to leverage AI-powered behavioural analytics. It makes use of Bayesian inference-backed AI to understand data from real in-game events, drawn directly from game servers. Thunderstruck analyses player motivations, play styles, and reward preferences, providing developers with live information on who their game is for, what types of players have the highest retention, and which players spend the most in-game. Until now, game creators have had to rely on outdated player classification models combined with market research, and plug gaps in insight with assumptions and guesswork.

Metanomic was founded in 2021 by veteran game designers, AI experts, and professional economists, and has successfully secured USD $2.9 million pre-seed funding to-date. Thunderstruck is launching with 7 player types – Killers, Achievers, Explorers, Socialisers, Speedsters, Conquerors, and Scientists – which can be tailored to the priorities of individual game titles. Player types will be refined and added to as the platform analyses data from more titles, while its Bayesian AI means Thunderstruck can even identify the series of events that lead to specific player actions.

Announcing the launch of Thunderstruck, Theo Priestley, CEO and Founder of Metanomic, said:

“For too long, game developers have relied on blunt instruments to understand their players. It’s no exaggeration to say that the bulk of the games industry’s framework for player classification dates back to a 1996 essay by Richard Bartle. A generation later, Thunderstruck is the next big leap forward, taking just a few days to generate more insight than a team of analysts could in a month. We understand that players can straddle multiple personas or even change persona based on their motivations, and use custom AI and live data to accurately anticipate how they’ll respond to metagame changes. Thunderstruck is all about empowering game developers with a better way to identify, acquire, and impact the right players for their game.”

Thunderstruck is equally suitable for mobile, console, and PC; existing as well as new games; and web3 as well as traditional web2 games. It works in tandem with Metanomic’s free Economy Engine platform, which was launched earlier this year to help studios to build, simulate and monitor their game economies.

Thunderstruck is launching with 7 player types.

Killers

These players enjoy killing, creating chaos, and competitive elements most of all. They focus on winning, climbing player rankings, obtaining status, provoking, and imposing drama onto others.

Achievers

These players are competitive and enjoy overcoming difficult objectives, whether set by the game or themselves, in order to obtain prestige, prizes, and other types of material possessions.

Explorers

Those that like to learn as much about the game as possible, Explorers seek to understand the finer details of game mechanics. The thrill of discovery and uncovering hidden areas or objectives motivate these players over points or prizes.

Socialisers

Players that experience fun in interacting with other players through social systems like using chat, managing guilds, or role-playing rather than playing the game itself. They tend to collaborate or join forces with others to achieve objectives than they could on their own.

Speedsters

Cheetahs race to objectives in order to be among the first to reach the end-game content or the highest level. They spend most of their time grinding experience and playing for long hours.

Conquerors

Conquerors enjoy the struggle against adversity and beating impossibly difficult odds. They are persistent, forceful, and repetitive in their pursuit to overcome their objectives.

Scientists

Commonly referred to as ‘Crafters,’ Scientists seek to improve their skills by gathering resources and creating or improving items for themselves and to sell to others. They find enjoyment in more passive forms of game mechanics and objectives.

The Thunderstruck player personas are also influenced by ‘passion’ – how often and how well they play.

They can also be tailored by the game developer or publisher depending on their priorities. For example, in different types of game, ‘Achiever’ could mean the highest skilled, the richest, or the players with the most wins.

In future, Metanomic will frequently add additional and more granular player types to further studios’ understanding of their players.

Latest News

NyesteCasino.com Reports: iGaming Industry Navigates Dual Pressures of Regulation and Growth

Published

4 hours ago

June 15, 2026

Master Editor

Norwich, United Kingdom, June 15th, 2026, PlayNewswire

NyesteCasino.com, a leading iGaming analysis resource, released its latest industry overview, highlighting a week defined by intensifying regulatory scrutiny alongside continued global market expansion.

From U.S. Senate hearings and a widening circuit split to the localisation of crypto casinos and a surge in World Cup betting activity, iGaming operators have been balancing risk management with aggressive growth strategies.

Over the past week, the global iGaming sector has faced two powerful and often conflicting forces. Regulators across the United States, Europe, Southeast Asia, and South America have tightened rules around prediction markets, sweepstakes casinos, and credit card usage for deposits. At the same time, online gambling platforms, content providers, and policy advisors have accelerated product innovation and executed timely, region-specific sports marketing campaigns.

According to NyesteCasino.com’s team, these developments signal a broader structural transition across the industry—one in which compliance agility is rapidly becoming as critical to success as product quality. Despite increasing regulatory headwinds, the pace of innovation and market demand continues to point toward sustained sector growth.

Prediction Markets: Courtrooms, Congress, and Cross-Border Bans

The week started with a long-awaited US Senate Commerce Subcommittee gathering. The hearing named “No Sure Bets” took place on May 20 under Chair Marsha Blackburn, and Blackburn indicated more sessions were to come. The debate between American Gaming Association CEO Bill Miller and former Congressman Patrick McHenry quickly turned into a clash over the future of prediction markets. While Miller named the sports event contracts as backdoor betting operations bypassing the state licences, tax regulations, and integrity safeguards, McHenry talked on behalf of the Coalition for Prediction Markets and opposed him, stating that the current CFTC supervision is working perfectly.

On 22 May, a panel from the Ninth Circuit rejected the stay requests filed by both Kalshi and Polymarket, refusing to halt state enforcement proceedings in Nevada and Washington, which complicated the legal situation even more. The court ruled that a federal preemption defence under the Commodity Exchange Act cannot, on its own, establish federal jurisdiction. The ongoing disagreement in the appeals court of New Jersey, which had previously upheld a Kalshi injunction, has gained strength with this decision. Moreover, the process leading to a Supreme Court review of state jurisdiction over event contracts has accelerated even more.

Indonesia’s Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs categorised Polymarket as an online gambling site, disregarding its crypto-based structure, and has requested a national ban on the market platform on May 25. The reason for this request was a viral contract regarding whether President Prabowo Subianto would resign before the end of his term in October 2029. The contract generated a trading volume of approximately $46,000. The number of jurisdictions where Polymarket is inaccessible is growing, exceeding 33 around the world now, including India, Brazil, and Singapore, among other new blockers.

State-Level Regulations: An Anti-Sweepstakes Bill from Tennessee

There have also been state-level restrictions in Tennessee on online gambling law. During the same week, Governor Bill Lee signed two vital bills. Senate Bill 2136 made Tennessee the ninth US state banning sweepstake casinos and dual-currency systems completely, which grants the attorney general the power to enforce it. And according to the SB 1992, the second bill signed by the governor, anyone who deliberately influences the outcome of an event whilst holding a prediction market contract will be charged with a Class E felony. It is expected that these bills will guide other state legislatures who are planning similar regulations at the moment.

Europe and Brazil: Tax Proposals, Ad Restrictions, and Credit Bans

The European Parliament held a plenary debate on May 20 on a proposed EU-level gambling levy. Budget Commissioner Piotr Serafin confirmed the Commission is actively assessing the option alongside digital services and crypto-asset levies as part of the next Multiannual Financial Framework. Proponent MEP Victor Negrescu estimated the levy could raise between €2 and €4 billion annually for education, youth, and addiction prevention programmes. Opponents from EPP and ECR blocs raised concerns over subsidiarity, competitiveness, and national tax sovereignty, with any operational package targeted for January 2028.

Belgium’s Kansspelcommissie and the Netherlands Gambling Authority separately issued formal World Cup advertising warnings to licensed operators ahead of the June 11 to July 19 FIFA tournament. France’s ANJ flagged a year-on-year rise of more than 25% in operator marketing budgets as the tournament approaches. Meanwhile, Brazil formalised rules on May 25 to close off Pix Crédito as a deposit method on regulated betting platforms, a move prompted in part by a Folha de São Paulo audit revealing that major banks including Bradesco and Banco do Brasil, were still processing credit transfers into betting accounts as recently as mid-May.

Editorial Perspective

“What this week makes clear is that the iGaming sector is entering a phase where regulatory IQ is as strategically important as product development,” said the editorial team at NyesteCasino.com. “The prediction markets debate alone spans courtrooms, congressional hearings, and international bans and it is far from resolved. Operators who can track and adapt to this multi-jurisdictional complexity while still executing on World Cup campaigns and localisation strategies will be best positioned for the second half of 2026.”

About NyesteCasino.com

NyesteCasino.com is a leading independent iGaming review and analysis platform. The editorial team tracks regulatory developments, operator news, and product releases across global markets to help players and industry professionals navigate the evolving online casino landscape. Users can learn more at nyestecasino.com.

Contact

Author

Anita Haugen

Nyestecasino

[email protected]

Compliance

DraftKings renews multi-year geolocation deal with GeoComply

Published

7 hours ago

June 15, 2026

Wladimir P.

draftkings-renews-multi-year-geolocation-deal-with-geocomply

DraftKings has renewed a multi-year agreement with GeoComply to continue providing real-time geolocation and compliance services, the companies said.

The extension comes after DraftKings’ Super App launch, a unified platform approach that lets customers access either sportsbook or sports predictions depending on their location. The press release positions the renewal as supporting scale, fraud controls, geolocation and compliance requirements tied to that rollout.

GeoComply said its geolocation signals are embedded into DraftKings’ internal risk workflows, including step-up authentication and automated decisioning. The vendor said it processes 2.5 billion checks a month across its platform.

Under the extended agreement, the companies said GeoComply will continue to support DraftKings with dedicated forward-deployed engineering support.

“The operators winning this next cycle are treating geolocation intelligence as critical trust infrastructure,” said Kip Levin, CEO of GeoComply. “DraftKings has done that for years. This extension reflects how seriously they take the architecture behind player trust—and it’s what lets them keep moving fast on everything else.”

The post DraftKings renews multi-year geolocation deal with GeoComply appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

Brazilian License

Groove Secures Pivotal Brazilian License, Cementing LATAM Expansion

Published

7 hours ago

June 15, 2026

GamingAmericas.com

groove-secures-pivotal-brazilian-license,-cementing-latam-expansion

Platform pioneer unlocks one of the world’s most dynamic iGaming markets, offering operators and providers a seamless, compliant gateway to millions of new players.

Groove, the award-winning iGaming aggregation platform, has today announced a monumental leap in its global expansion strategy with the official granting of its license to operate in Brazil.

This landmark regulatory approval marks a decisive moment in Groove’s strategic blueprint for Latin America, a vision further reinforced by the significant strengthening of its established and fully regulated infrastructure in Argentina. Together, these developments create an unrivalled dual-hub strategy, positioning Groove as the definitive gateway to the continent.

This hard-won license provides a fully compliant and powerful conduit for Groove’s partners to engage a market on the cusp of historic growth. For operators, it translates to a frictionless, single-integration pathway for capturing market share in this coveted region. They can now leverage Groove’s robust platform to deploy a fully localised and compliant casino offering at unparalleled speed, complete with curated game portfolios tailored to local preferences, integrated local payment processing, and bespoke marketing tools designed to captivate Latin American players. This eliminates years of complex regulatory legwork, allowing partners to go to market in a matter of weeks, not years.

For game studios and content providers, the Brazilian license acts as a direct and streamlined conduit to a vast new audience. Groove offers a managed route to market, taking on the heavy burden of complex regulatory technical standards and certification processes. This allows creators to focus on their core mission of developing world-class entertainment, secure in the knowledge that their content will be efficiently placed in front of a massive, engaged audience through a trusted and fully compliant pipeline.

Rachel Tourgeman, Head of Partnerships at Groove, emphasised the transformative nature of this development. “The green light in Brazil is more than a license; it’s a key that unlocks a kingdom of opportunity for our partners. We’ve built a platform capable of not just entering, but driving in regulated markets.”

Tourgeman put the new license in perspective, saying: “Operators can now immediately tap into Brazil’s immense potential, while providers gain a trusted pipeline to a passionate new player base. This is a definitive moment that accelerates the entire LATAM iGaming ecosystem.”

This strategic expansion is a direct reflection of Groove’s commitment to being the most reliable and agile aggregation partner in the world’s most promising emerging markets. With over 20,000 games available and a raft of over 150 games partners, Groove brings unrivalled choice to the Brazilian market.

Yahale Meltzer, Co-Founder and CEO of Groove, commented, “Our vision has always been to build the bridges that connect great content with passionate players, wherever they are. Securing our Brazilian license and reinforcing our Argentine operations is a testament to our team’s relentless execution and our long-term commitment to LATAM.”

Meltzer concluded: “We are not just following trends; we are actively architecting the future of iGaming in the region, providing a secure, scalable, and sophisticated platform for our partners to grow with us. The door to Latin America is now open, and Groove is the key.”

For further information visit the new web domain at www.groovetech.com

The post Groove Secures Pivotal Brazilian License, Cementing LATAM Expansion appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.