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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.
The payment orchestration platform also appoints Lili Piper as Senior Partnership Manager and adds infrastructure and blockchain leads.
Paysecure has appointed Ganesh Iyer, formerly of Entain, as Head of Product, as the payment orchestration platform looks to scale internationally across iGaming and global ecommerce.
Paysecure said Iyer will lead the next stage of product design. At FTSE 100-listed Entain, he led Global Payments across 20+ regulated markets, managing a team of seven Product Managers and distributed engineering squads.
The company also named Lili Piper as Senior Partnership Manager. Piper previously worked as Business Development Director at Volt.io and Senior Business Development Manager at Paysafe, and will focus on growing revenue from Paysecure’s partner network and adding strategic partners to expand payment method choice for clients.
Paysecure added that it has made further hires over the last two months, including Head of Infrastructure and Head of Blockchain, as it expands its technical footprint.
Ganesh Iyer, Head of Product, Paysecure, commented, “After time at Entain, I am pleased to join the Paysecure team and having worked on the operator side of the orchestration space, I can’t wait to get started. I’m looking forward to refining our products to clearly address the deep needs of our client personas, and surface clear product and functionality feature sets that differentiate us in our market as a challenger brand.”
Amit Hooja, Co-Founder and CEO at Paysecure, said: “We’re excited to welcome Ganesh and our new colleagues to the Paysecure team. Ganesh will spearhead our product development, and there’s a shared sense of purpose towards the work we are doing, which we believe is game changing in the payment orchestration space. We look forward to bringing new products to the market and continue to lead the way in the sector”.
The post Paysecure hires Entain’s Ganesh Iyer as Head of Product appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
Winners will be announced on July 2 during iGB L!VE week in London.
Affiliate management platform ReferOn has been shortlisted for “Best Affiliate Management Platform” at the iGB Affiliate Awards 2026. The winners will be announced live on July 2 during iGB L!VE week in London.
ReferOn said the nomination reflects its recent growth and product development, positioning the platform for high-volume affiliate programmes. The company said it processes “millions of data points” across partner networks and automates operational workflows to reduce admin overhead for operators and affiliates.
Alex Bukin, CEO at ReferOn, commented on the shortlisting: “Being shortlisted for an iGB Affiliate Award is a significant milestone for our team. As affiliate programmes scale, complexity often becomes the biggest obstacle to growth. Our goal is to remove that complexity by giving operators clearer insights, stronger automation, and full control over their affiliate operations. This nomination reflects the direction in which we’re continuing to invest in.”
The company also pointed to a recent platform update, Refie, described as a new user experience layer aimed at simplifying navigation of complex workflows. ReferOn said Refie provides clearer visual guidance across onboarding screens and system state pages, with the goal of improving visibility across operational processes.
ReferOn said it will attend iGB L!VE London to meet partners, operators, and affiliates.
The post ReferOn shortlisted for Best Affiliate Management Platform at iGB Awards 2026 appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
Big Bola Casinos hosts the stop at Hotel Barceló Santa Fe in Mexico City from Aug. 31 to Sept. 11, with online qualifiers running June 28–Aug. 23.
GGPoker has launched online satellite tournaments for WSOP® Circuit CDMX México 2026, a live series scheduled for August 31 to September 11 at Big Bola Casinos in CDMX, México, hosted at Hotel Barceló Santa Fe.
According to the company, the WSOP Circuit stop will include 12 World Series of Poker® gold ring tournaments, alongside side events, VIP activities, and international media coverage.
“WSOP Circuit CDMX calls on the region’s top poker talent to chase glory in Mexico, combining high-stakes competition with the electric, legendary energy of a true global metropolis” said Juan Carreño, Head of Spanish Latam at GGPoker.
GGPoker’s posted satellite schedule runs from June 28, 2026 to August 23, 2026 (UTC +0), with weekday $5 daily satellites feeding $33 steps, weekday $33 steps into a $215 weekly final (2 seats guaranteed), a Saturday freebuy (4x $33 daily steps guaranteed), and Sunday “last chance” and weekly final events.
The company said each event champion in CDMX México will also receive a $5,000 package to this year’s WSOP Paradise in the Bahamas, in addition to the prize pool payout and a WSOP Circuit gold ring.
The post GGPoker opens satellites for WSOP Circuit CDMX México 2026 appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
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