AI
UNLV’s PGA Golf Management University Program partners with Las Vegas-based AI technology company Evenplay to study the effects of rewards on skill level

There’s a timeless adage from NBA great Allen Iverson: “Practice?!” But now, almost ironically, AI (that is, Artificial Intelligence) will be helping us replicate big-time pressure in that very scenario.
Evenplay, an AI technology company based out of Las Vegas, has created a patented golf simulator application that creates challenges for all skill levels, with the intention of improving play performance through the use of cash rewards.
“What we have is a machine-learning algorithm that takes all of your shot data and says, ‘What are you going to do next from 175 yards?,’ and creates targets personalized for your skill level with money on the line,” said Sameer Gupta, co-founder of Evenplay. “If you practice with pressure, you’re probably going to get better faster.”
UNLV has partnered with Evenplay, taking on the task of studying the impact of rewards on skill level, and how well this experience translates the gains from practice into practical use on the real course.
“It sounded like a good opportunity to build a relationship and a bridge with this company,” said Chris Cain, director of the PGA Golf Management University Program within UNLV’s Harrah College of Hospitality. “And to see if we can continue to advance off-course golf, improve diversity in the consumer base, and think a little bit differently and daring, which is what UNLV’s all about.”
Upping the Ante on Research
The ability to create a feedback loop – one where you practice in the same conditions as when something’s on the line – is the goal: replicating the jitters that come from staring down a big putt, and then training yourself to handle the pressure before you step onto the course.
Evenplay does this by paying out money depending on the shot, using rewards as a way to create real stress in a controlled setting.
“What we have is a turn-key stress generator,” said Gupta. “Our model projects a thousand shots from every distance, with a target drawn where about half of your shots should be capable of landing. We’ve taken a skill-based activity and are able to predict what you will do next.”
The study at UNLV uses a more controlled version of the wagers. Randomly selected participants will receive various payouts such as lesson or UNLV Gift certificates based on their group assignments and the level of contributions to the study.
“This is a skill-based gaming application that allows someone to make a bet and have fun doing it,” said Cain. “What we’re doing at UNLV is seeing if the variable payouts influence program retention – do they play longer or more often? Does this also influence skill improvement? Wouldn’t it be cool to have some sort of technology in place that actually uses gaming as a way to positively influence skill improvement?”
The study is made possible through UNLV’s Sports Innovation Institute (SII), and the College of Hospitality’s Center for Golf Management, in collaboration with the university’s International Gaming Institute. The SII acts as a hub for all of the faculty who do research in sports, enabling them to work together to find solutions to problems and advance the commercialization of products fitting that criteria.
“With Evenplay’s expertise, as well as the Sports Innovation and the International Gaming institutes, that trifecta makes for a pretty special partnership here in Las Vegas,” Cain said. “There are thousands of data points in every swing that UNLV is looking forward to analyzing to see if this really changes the way we practice.”
Growing the Game
It’s no secret that the game of golf is expensive and often exclusive. The National Golf Foundation estimates the cost of a full round at a public course in the U.S. was $43 in 2023. That’s just getting on the course. When you add hundreds and thousands of dollars into equipment costs, training, and lessons, the financial barrier to entry becomes quite imposing.
“There are about 120 million people interested in the game and only 45 million participating,” said Cain. “Technology’s going to help close that gap, and being able to take lessons without being on the golf course will be part of the future, making it more inclusive, accessible, and affordable.”
Improving the accessibility of the game is one of the desired outcomes for the research, potentially showing a greater translation of the skills developed in a simulator using Evenplay to the course itself.
“It’s winter right now – nobody’s taking swings on green golf courses in Chicago,” said Gupta. “All of those players are using simulators indoors. We’re growing the amount of people who can engage with golf by changing how often people can meaningfully play the sport at all times of the year.”
Changing the game doesn’t end with golf. The patent for Evenplay features a baseball player swinging a bat, and the plan is to roll into bowling next. Its partnership and ongoing study with UNLV is only expediting the interest in this potential shakeup to the practice session.
“The ability of UNLV to effectively structure a relationship with the PGA is very impressive and unique in the market,” said Gupta. “And bringing that knowledge to a private company like ours is essential to our growth.”
The results of Evenplay’s efficacy in providing measurable improvement to player skill will be shared as the study concludes later this year.
The post UNLV’s PGA Golf Management University Program partners with Las Vegas-based AI technology company Evenplay to study the effects of rewards on skill level appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.
AI
Xtremepush’s CRM Services Integrated into EveryMatrix Platform

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EveryMatrix global customers now equipped with seamless access to award-winning loyalty and gamification offering
Xtremepush, the leading provider of CRM and loyalty marketing powered by AI, has announced its latest tier one partnership, having agreed a deal to provide acclaimed igaming provider EveryMatrix with its award-winning CRM and loyalty marketing services.
EveryMatrix, leveraging Xtremepush’s varied product suite, will now be able to offer its customers real-time, hyper-personalised CRM and gamification capabilities via its proprietary platform, helping them to drive engagement, increase loyalty, and maximise the lifetime value of all player types in a seamless manner.
Xtremepush leads the market in its unified, holistic approach to data collection, with its Single Customer View built to extract data from all sources in true real-time, providing an individual view of players to deliver a higher standard of omni-channel personalisation and messaging. Coupled with a gamification engine and AI-powered automation and data insights, operators will be able to leverage these revenue-driving tools via their existing integration with EveryMatrix.
Tommy Kearns, CEO and co-founder at Xtremepush, said of the partnership: “EveryMatrix has built a well-earned reputation for being a provider of best-in-class sports betting and gaming solutions for its operator partners, and we’re pleased to bolster their software and services with our first-rate CRM and loyalty solutions.
“Regulated markets are hugely competitive and Xtremepush has proven its worth in optimising and scaling customer’s loyalty engines and processes in these environments to realise greater engagement and ensure maximum lifetime value of players. We’re very confident that we’ll showcase this once again with EveryMatrix, via its clients, and to make them another customer for life.”
Kevin Furlong, Chief Product Officer, EveryMatrix, said: “Alongside our advanced turnkey platform technologies we have always partnered with best-in-class third-party suppliers such as Xtremepush providing added value to our customers.
“Combining our market-leading gaming infrastructure with Xtremepush’s powerful CRM technology will enable our customers to better understand their players, offer them even more personalised experiences and boost loyalty levels to name just a few benefits.”
Following a successful launch phase with EveryMatrix, Xtremepush will make additional services available to the supplier, including its Agentic AI, which will supercharge marketing processes with intent and iteration, allowing related teams to focus on broader strategy and value-driven projects.
The post Xtremepush’s CRM Services Integrated into EveryMatrix Platform appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
AI
AI isn’t replacing creativity in gaming – it is democratising it

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Tom Smallwood, Chief Commercial Officer at OpenSlots
The growth of AI in the industry is a talking point you cannot ignore. From sceptics to those convinced it will have a big role to play, AI dominates discourse. However, it is widely accepted that it will play a significant role in product development. In our industry, the biggest misconception is that AI will replace creativity in game development. In my experience, it has the power to do the exact opposite. I’ve watched countless studios struggle with the same challenge of transforming creative vision into market-ready slot games without requiring a six-figure budget a six-month timeline only to fail to achieve distribution. Yet that’s exactly what the traditional route to market looks like now.
AI is removing the technical barriers that risk keeping creative minds locked out of our industry. At OpenSlots, we’re beginning to see firsthand how AI can help turn a game creator’s ‘napkin sketch’ into a playable prototype in a fraction of the time.
The hidden costs of traditional slot development
The harsh reality facing game creators today is staggering. Developing and distributing even a basic slot requires substantial budgets and months of specialised expertise. Factor in regulatory compliance, RNG certification, and multi-platform optimisation, and smaller studios face insurmountable barriers.
These costs aren’t just financial, they affect the creative output too. When a single game requires months of mathematical modelling, extensive asset creation, development and technical integration it is inevitable that innovation stagnates. Game developers tend to play it safe, but even then, they risk not getting any ‘airtime’ in the face of the overwhelming quantity of games released by larger studios. The result is a market flooded with similar games, from the same providers, while innovative ideas never see daylight.
The OpenSlots approach
At OpenSlots, we are building a platform aimed at non-technical professions in which every element of the development process is optimised. Our AI-powered system lets operators and game designers create professional slot games through an agentic interface and AI-powered game creation workflows all on a tried and trusted RGS. You describe your vision, say, a high-volatility Norse mythology theme with cascading reels, and OpenSlots, backed by human expertise, handles everything from the creation of your game design document to the game build itself. We even have an WYSIWYG editor prior to publishing.
Real democratisation means accessible innovation
True democratisation isn’t just about making existing processes slightly easier, it is about changing who can participate. When we enable game creators to describe their vision in natural language and watch AI generate playable prototypes, we’re not replacing human creativity, we’re amplifying it. The most successful implementations don’t replace human expertise, they eliminate tedious and costly tasks that prevent creative professionals from focusing on innovation. This is as true for an operator as a studio. We do not see AI as a magic wand, to make everything easy, especially in a highly regulated industry. However, it is an enabler that can create a certain originality and independence for B2Cs and a voice to smaller game design studios.
Why this matters now
The timing for this transformation couldn’t be more critical. The slots market generates over half of total casino revenue, with operators facing pressure to deliver personalised, engaging content at speed. As mobile gaming dominates consumer spending and competition grows, the traditional development model can’t keep pace with market demands.
This creates an opportunity for platforms that can democratise game creation while maintaining quality and compliance. The industry needs solutions that allow rapid iteration and testing, branded content creation, and market-specific customisation, all without the costs that have historically limited who can participate in game development.
Building the future of game creation
The winners in this transformation won’t be the companies with the most advanced AI algorithms. They will be the ones who best understand how to apply AI practically to real challenges.
The future belongs to platforms that combine industry knowledge with cutting-edge AI capabilities. It’s not about auto-generating second rate game assets, just to for the sake of speed and cost, but leveraging the power of AI to amplify human expertise and give the chance for innovation. In many ways we are giving people the chance to make mistakes. And that, of course, is how we grow.
The question isn’t whether AI will transform gaming development. It’s whether we allow the broader ecosystem be part of that transformation or left behind by it.
The post AI isn’t replacing creativity in gaming – it is democratising it appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
AI
OpenSlots to power new dawn of content creation with AI development platform

Reading Time: 2 minutes
OpenSlots, a new AI creative platform for game development, has made its market debut, designed to empower operators, studios, and developers to build bespoke, high-quality titles faster and more efficiently than ever before.
The first iteration of OpenSlots has been launched for internal use by the team of experienced executives behind content aggregator and slot studio ESA Gaming, with it leveraging artificial intelligence to remove barriers to creativity and game delivery.
Expected for commercial release in mid-2026 the platform will enable non-technical professionals to design, test, and publish fully compliant slot games with intuitive, modular tools, without compromising on graphic quality or gameplay innovation.
Its simple interface will allow for aspiring game creators to input key specifications, such as theme, game type, mechanics, reel matrix, RTP and much more, before generating a game design document, concept art and publishing a game in a game editor for on-the-fly changes.
Customers are then able to gain access to ESA Gaming’s distribution network of more than 160 operators across regulated markets, to ensure rapid deployment to the end user.
With a leadership team bringing a wealth of experience in the sector and a product roadmap set to include more than 20 game types, multilingual support, and 100+ currencies, OpenSlots is poised for rapid global growth.
Thomas Smallwood, CCO at OpenSlots said: “We see OpenSlots as a game changer in the game development space. Our mission is straightforward in that we want to unlock creativity for non-technical professionals and empower operators and studios to create their own content quickly and easily.
“Our platform makes slot creation faster, more efficient, and conducted in an environment where success can be replicated at will. With the addition of the distribution network via ESA Gaming’s Game Aggregation System (GAS), we’re confident that OpenSlots can signal the next phase of game production.”
The post OpenSlots to power new dawn of content creation with AI development platform appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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