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AGHANIM RESEARCH GAUGES DMA AWARENESS AND POTENTIAL IMPACT ON DIRECT-TO-CONSUMER DISTRIBUTION
Aghanim, a mobile gaming fintech company founded by the former CEO and CTO of Xsolla, today reveals fascinating new research among mobile game developers relating to the recently launched Digital Markets Act (DMA).
The research is based on interviews with 300 mobile game developers across the US, UK and Germany in the weeks leading up to the introduction of the Act. The new European Union legislation aims to ensure a higher degree of fairness and competition in European digital markets and designates a number of major tech corporations including Apple and Alphabet (Google) as “gatekeepers”.
The key findings of the study shows:
- 62% of mobile game developers are aware of the Digital Markets Act
- 82% have at least some understanding of how it will impact their business. Almost a fifth (19%) feel they have a complete understanding of the DMA’s impact
- 31% of mobile game developers feel they will have more freedom under the DMA, though just 9% are confident they’ll be able to keep more of their revenue
- Only 13% have ruled out making changes to their payment processes. A third (33%) have begun implementing them
- Awareness of the DMA is highest in Germany (70%), followed by the UK (68%). Less than half (47%) of US developers are aware of the legislation. While the DMA is a European framework, it applies to US developers operating in the EU
Constantin Andry, Co-founder and Co-CEO at Aghanim, commented: “This data shows that there’s an appetite for change among game developers. Yes, the platform holders instigated the $92 billion mobile games industry, but we need to be asking why game developers – the people who make the games – now only see about 10% of this. With direct-to-consumer distribution, there’s an opportunity to ensure a further $18 billion of annualized value remains within the video games industry, with game creators, which will help soften many ongoing issues including layoffs. Otherwise, the business of making mobile games could soon become unviable.”
Konstantin Golubitsky, Co-founder and Co-CEO at Aghanim, added: “The opportunity for game developers is to create a web-based game hub for their titles which provides added value for their most engaged and valuable users, keeping them coming back regularly. Ultimately, players spend where they see the most value, and our goal is to help developers provide them with the greatest value at the lowest cost.”
A key promise of the Digital Markets Act is to provide fairer competition and greater choice to gamers and game studios. However, Apple’s latest business terms introduced a Core Technology Fee which, for many game developers, cancels out the potential benefits of third-party distribution. Despite the game developers being surveyed before the introduction of the Core Technology fee, just 40% said Apple is a positive force for the games industry. 39% were neutral, while 21% felt Apple was having a negative impact. Since the introduction of App Tracking Transparency in 2021, game developers have increasingly explored direct-to-consumer platforms such as browser stores to supplement on-platform monetization with lower-fee options.
An online survey was conducted on behalf of Aghanim by Atomik Research among 305 mobile game developers in the UK (101), Germany (103), and the USA (101). The research fieldwork took place between 18-22 February 2024. Atomik Research is an independent creative market research agency that employs MRS-certified researchers and abides by MRS code.
Booming Games, a leading provider of premium gaming content, has today launched Sacred Buffalo, the latest addition to its popular series of buffalo games. Boasting a 5×4 grid with 30 fixed paylines, the game offers a maximum win potential of 8,000x. It contains a powerful Cash Collect feature and Free Spins with Minor Elimination, Major Upgrade and Sacred Spin features to enhance the gameplay experience.
In the base game, landing Coin and Scatter symbols are collected into the Buffalo Totems, with the Wooden Totem triggering the Cash Collect feature and the Golden Totem triggering Free Spins. Coins can land reels 1-4 and carry awards from 1x-50x. Landing a Collect symbol on reel 5 along with coins will collect all coins in view and award to the player.
Three Bonus symbols landing on reels 1, 3 and 5 will award 15 Free Spins. In the bonus game, when Minor symbols form a win, they are eliminated and removed from the reels, triggering a symbols cascade.
Additionally, Major symbols that form a win will be upgraded to their Spirit form and enhance and double their win value. All Wilds that land will be collected and stored for the Sacred Spin at the end of Free Spins. At this point, the collected Wilds are added to the reels for a huge big win potential finale.
At any time, players can purchase the Buy Bonus for 75x the bet amount.
Craig Asling, Director of Games at Booming Games, said: “Our Buffalo games have been among our best performers, and we are delighted to be adding a new game to the series. Sacred Buffalo combines innovative features with a large win potential, and is the latest example of our efforts to bring new mechanics into our games to maintain high levels of player engagement.”
The post Booming Games releases Sacred Buffalo appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
Study of 1,752 Big 5 league matches finds a 12-point uptime gap; live World Cup leaderboard to run during the tournament.
Bettormetrics has launched what it calls the first World Cup Trading Performance Benchmark, ranking sportsbooks on in-play market uptime ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The sports odds intelligence firm said it will publish a live World Cup leaderboard on its website during the tournament to track trading performance.
The benchmark measures operator uptime on the Total Goals market across 1,752 fixtures in the Premier League, Bundesliga, La Liga, Serie A and Ligue 1. Bettormetrics analysed 22 operators and published a Top 10, reporting a gap of more than 12 percentage points between the highest and lowest performers.
Tipico ranked first overall with 95.9% uptime, followed by Fanatics (95.3%) and Betsson (94.9%). Superbet (94.8%) and Betano (94.7%) rounded out the top five. Bettormetrics said Premier League fixtures generally delivered the highest availability across operators, while La Liga was “the key differentiator” and “consistently produced the lowest availability figures across the field.”
The results also highlighted regional shifts. Bettormetrics noted that none of bet365, William Hill, Ladbrokes or Paddy Power made the Top 10, while Fanatics placed second overall as the highest-ranked US operator. It also flagged Pinnacle and SBOBET as ranking poorly on in-play availability in this analysis despite “strong reputations for pregame pricing and market depth.”
Sabin Brooks, CEO of Bettormetrics, said: “The World Cup represents one of the highest-risk and highest-opportunity periods in the sportsbook calendar. Small differences in uptime, trading performance and market availability can have a material impact on turnover, profitability and even reputation.
“The World Cup leaderboard will answer one simple question: which sportsbook performed best when it matters most?”
The post Bettormetrics publishes World Cup trading benchmark; Tipico leads uptime ranking appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
GoldenRace will exhibit at Peru Gaming Show 2026 at the Centro de Exposiciones Jockey in Lima on 17-18 June, where it plans to showcase its new V5 mobile solution, according to the supplier.
The company said the V5 delivery focuses on performance and operator control, with a unified UI/UX built around “ultra-fast performance”, “total brand authority” through customisation, and “intuitive navigation”, including a “one-click hybrid toggle” to access markets.
GoldenRace also plans to highlight its Hit&Win games, including Arcade Heist—“recently crowned with the Game Innovation Award at the SiGMA Africa Awards 2026”—and Fortune Fighters, which the company said is built to run on the V5 infrastructure.
Other products listed for the stand include In-shop Mobile, a retail feature that enables customers to bet on their own devices while in-store, plus virtual Greyhound and Horse Racing content.
The supplier said it will also feature products from other group brands at the show: Spinmatic, Novusbet and Xpress Tech. GoldenRace said attendees can meet the team at stands 11-14.
The post GoldenRace to showcase V5 mobile betting solution at Peru Gaming Show 2026 appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
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