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Exclusive Q&A with Alex Morgan-Moodie, Senior Director, Worldpay

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We talk here with a passionate gaming industry professional, mainly about the risks of fraud.

Alex Morgan-Moodie, who currently holds the position of Senior Director, Vertical Growth focusing on Gaming Vertical at Worldpay, offers insightful and precise answers about various facets of fraud.

 

Q. We usually start with a quick bio. Our readers love it. Could you briefly narrate how you landed in the gaming industry and progressed?

A. I started in the gaming industry back in 2009 when I joined PokerStars as an analyst in the payments team. I was soon learning about payment trends and regulatory complexity from Europe to the US, Latin America and other emerging markets. From there I was hooked and after roles in product delivery and corporate development (including working on the integration of Sky Betting & Gaming into the group in 2018 and preparation for the company’s subsequent acquisition by Flutter) I moved to Worldpay to lead our global Gaming vertical strategy.  The role felt made for me and I haven’t looked back. My role may have expanded since I joined, but the gaming industry remains my passion.

Q. You joined Worldpay Gaming in September 2020. Could you describe your role and responsibilities?

A. As I mentioned, my role entails defining the strategy for Worldpay’s presence in the Gaming industry together with my team. We support the commercial teams by defining our value proposition, keeping them abreast of trends and developments, and partner with our account managers to support our tier-1 customers in mid to long-range planning. We also work with Legal and Risk to explore new markets and help Product to define the gaming-specific product roadmap. Finally, we are the team that ensure Worldpay shows up at key events – ICE, G2E or our own merchant workshops for example. As you can see, it’s pretty varied but the vertical itself is hugely important to Worldpay – we’ve been supporting customers here for over 20 years and have masses of experience working within operators themselves as well as being payments partners.

Q. You are talking about global digital fraud in London ICE – especially about how digital fraud in the gaming sector increasing even while the incidence of overall global fraud shows signs of decline. What do you think are the reasons why the gaming sector seems particularly vulnerable to fraud?

A. I think the story around fraud is an interesting one because we see fraud attempts in ecommerce increasing generally across the globe, driven in part by the shift online as people have reduced their in-person spending and usage of cash, so with more transactions online, there is more data. With that said, the increase of fraud in the gaming sector appears to be driven by the competitive nature of new, emerging markets and the types of bonus offers we’ve seen, such as in the US in order to gain market share. This leads to ‘friendly fraud’ or ‘bonus abuse’ where opportunists will attempt to create several accounts in order to take advantage of multiple offers. Thankfully, operators in general manage large teams and develop bespoke tools that go some way to managing that risk – but it is certainly a drag on growth.

Q. What are the challenges and opportunities in front of gaming entrepreneurs in balancing the risk of fraud versus the need to provide an amazingly seamless end-user experience?

A. Gaming consumers are savvy and demanding, and this means their expectations around user experience are high. Seamless and real-time are the key tenets and any additional checks – whether they are regulatory requirements, for fraud or in order to protect players for safer gambling purposes – need to fit into that seamless experience as far as possible. This means identifying tools that can operate in real-time whilst minimising the need for manual intervention. Thankfully payment solutions have come a long way since I first joined the industry and we are now able to offer solutions to ensure how a player pays or withdraws winnings is seamless and real-time wherever possible – something our research tells us drives loyalty for customers, which is essential when the marketplace is as competitive as it is.

Q. Now, tell us about the recent Worldpay FIS Global Gaming Payments Report. What are the key insights from that report that explores payments habits in over 40 markets and real-time payment trends?

A. The GGPR is a much-anticipated round up of industry trends and payments information. So it’s a pleasure to be responsible for its delivery after years as an avid reader. This year, as well as the usual country profiles on key established and emerging markets in the industry, we’ve also done deep dives into trends such as the emergent fraud challenges mentioned above, as well as the opportunity presented by omnichannel gaming as users have returned to physical stores and suddenly operators want a single view of their customers across all of their physical and online stores. We also tackle the opportunities presented by improvements in virtual reality technology that will potentially give rise to gaming metaverses of the future, and our thoughts on how the industry is adapting to cryptocurrency/blockchain technology.

Q. Could you talk about the innovations and strategies Worldpay has adopted or planning to adopt to curb the growing fraud in the gaming sector?

A. At Worldpay, our role is to develop tools that augment operators’ in-house solutions and provide yet more data points to help them identify and prevent fraud. We have seen huge success in the sector with our new Fraudsight tool, which uses machine learning to review the billions of transactions Worldpay is processing per annum and continuously update a set of configurable fraud rules for operators to help flag and prevent fraud, providing yet another layer of protection. This is already in the market with significant adoption in the gambling industry, and we’re continuing to find innovative ways of curbing fraud in the gaming sector.

Q. New Neural Language Models (NLM) applications are emerging after the news-making launch of OpenAi’s ChatGPT. How do you view such developments in the machine-learning sector with respect to the risk of fraud in the gaming sector?

A. As mentioned above, Fraudsight is already harnessing machine learning to improve how it identifies fraud. Beyond that, I think the possibility to harness AI technology advancements to refine existing tools and identify new ones is almost limitless. We invest in product innovation teams that are focused on identifying exactly that; so there are lots more to come!

 

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XGENIA Exits Beta: Debuts Enterprise AI Platform at SiGMA; Built Production-Quality Slot Game in Days

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XGENIA, the AI-native development platform, today announced the debut of its production-ready enterprise tier at SiGMA Central Europe in Rome. The company will showcase “Dark Alice”—a polished, playable slot game built entirely on XGENIA in a matter of days—demonstrating how AI-first architecture is collapsing development timelines from months to days while maintaining full creative control.

Industry professionals attending SiGMA Central Europe (Fiera Roma, November 3–6, 2025) are invited to Hall 2, Stand 2006 to play Dark Alice, experience XGENIA’s Dark AI security methodology featured in SiGMA World, and see live demos of the platform’s AI Workflows and other enterprise capabilities. Book a private 15-minute demo at xgenia.ai/book-a-demo.

“Six months ago, we had a vision. Today, we have a production platform that just built a polished slot game, end to end, in days,” said Mark Flores Martin, CEO of XGENIA“That’s not incremental improvement—that’s a fundamental reset of what’s possible in game development. Studios shouldn’t spend months battling fragmented tools. With XGENIA, they build visually, ship faster, and keep full control.”

What XGENIA will debut at SiGMA:

Enterprise Tier with iGaming Package

Purpose-built for regulated markets and studio pipelines, XGENIA’s new Enterprise Tier delivers advanced controls and integrations tailored for iGaming operations. The iGaming Package includes production-ready game templates for slots, crash games, and more—eliminating repetitive setup tasks and accelerating prototyping and deployment timelines from months to days.

The production-ready platform delivers:

  • Visual Development — Node-based TypeScript with full PixiJS and advanced camera controls
  • AI Workflows — Vibe Coding, on-the-fly image editing, 200+ AI models and 1000s of integrations
  • Professional Animation — Full Spine support for skeletal animation
  • Instant Backend — One-click Supabase deployment
  • Production Templates — Ready-to-use templates for slots, crash games, and more to accelerate prototyping
  • iGaming Maths Engine — Dedicated nodes for RNG, reel strips, balance handling, state management, and result formatting

XGENIA combines the speed of turnkey deployment with the customisation of full development studios—enabling operators to prototype, test, and launch distinctive gaming experiences at a fraction of traditional timelines and costs.

The popular Free tier remains available to indie developers and small studios, with a Premium tier currently in development.

Beyond Gaming: AI-First Transformation for Any Business

While XGENIA powers next-generation game development, its visual, node-based architecture enables any business to become AI-first—not by bolting AI onto legacy processes, but by building AI workflows from the ground up.

“Most companies fail at AI transformation because they’re automating broken workflows,” said Martin. “That’s not AI-first—that’s a slightly faster version of the past.”

XGENIA’s platform reveals hidden bottlenecks in existing processes, allowing businesses to identify core vulnerabilities ripe for reinvention. By leveraging modern cloud platforms like Supabase and Vercel, companies eliminate traditional infrastructure headaches while building AI-native operations.

XGENIA’s four practical rules for AI-first operations:

  • Mandate AI as the Default — Begin every task with an AI tool
  • Make AI a Core Expectation — Position AI usage as essential across all functions
  • Embed AI into Operations — Layer AI onto systems for data-driven decisions
  • Declare AI a Strategic Priority — Reorient products around AI integration from the top down

“The same visual tools that let game developers create complex mechanics in days can help any business transform their operations,” Martin added. “We’re showing companies how to build AI-native infrastructure, using AI.”

“Dark Alice”: Proof at Production Quality

Visitors to Stand 2006 can play Dark Alice, a fully realized slot game demonstrating XGENIA’s end-to-end capabilities. Built in a matter of days using XGENIA’s slot template as a foundation, Dark Alice features hauntingly beautiful art direction, smooth Spine animations, and compelling bonus mechanics—all created using XGENIA’s visual, AI-assisted workflow.

It’s not a tech demo. It’s a game operators can imagine on their platforms.

Dark AI: Security That Evolves With Threats

XGENIA’s Dark AI—detailed in the company’s recent SiGMA World op-ed—goes beyond traditional penetration testing. This controlled “red-team” AI continuously stress-tests game logic, infrastructure, and operational workflows against emerging AI-driven threats, allowing platforms to self-harden and build evidence-based confidence for regulators and operators.

Unlike periodic security audits and penetration tests, Dark AI operates autonomously and continuously, providing real-time hardening against evolving attack vectors—including AI-powered social engineering, code injection, and exploitation of game maths vulnerabilities. The future of cybersecurity is AI versus AI. Live demos will be available at the booth.

From Private Reveal to Production in Six Months

In May 2025, XGENIA unveiled its vision at an exclusive event in Valletta, Malta: replace fragmented, legacy workflows with a unified, creator-first, AI-native platform.

After rapid, community-driven release cycles—including alpha testing, public beta launch in August 2025, and three complete engine rebuilds—the platform now exits beta as a stable, enterprise-grade solution for studios and operators.

XGENIA defines a new product category: AI-native, node-based visual development that fuses collaborative AI, professional 2D engines, iGaming-specific maths tooling and game templates, and instant backend deployment into one seamless canvas.

Experience XGENIA Live at SiGMA Central Europe, Rome

Where: Fiera Roma, Hall 2, Stand 2006

  • Play “Dark Alice” — production-quality slot built in XGENIA in days
  • Experience Dark AI — autonomous security testing in action
  • See platform demos — visual node-based development, AI workflows, on-the-fly AI editing, instant deployment
  • Explore game templates — slots, crash games, and rapid prototyping tools

The post XGENIA Exits Beta: Debuts Enterprise AI Platform at SiGMA; Built Production-Quality Slot Game in Days appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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MyEmpire Reborn: New Look, New Empires, New Features

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MyEmpire, one of the leading brands within the MioMedia affiliate program, proudly unveils its grand transformation. The empire has been reborn — with a stunning new look, an expanded collection of games, and thrilling new features set to redefine the gaming experience.

The redesigned MyEmpire brand unveils a fresh and immersive environment inspired by great civilizations of the past. The new interface offers smoother navigation, enhanced visuals, and a layout that reflects the brand’s evolution and the spirit of the empire. It’s cleaner, faster, and full of life — giving players the feeling of truly stepping into a renewed realm of majesty.

The updated design extends across the entire game world, bringing richer landscapes, detailed architecture, and enhanced character art that adds elegance and depth, drawing players further into play.

Along with the visual transformation, MyEmpire is expanding its portfolio with new games. Each title offers a unique experience while staying true to the empire’s spirit of strategy, adventure, and discovery. Together, they create a broader and more dynamic world for players to explore.

Beyond new games, MyEmpire is expanding with the launch of a dedicated shop — a new destination where players can purchase exclusive items or exchange their in-game bonuses for them. It’s a fresh way to turn progress into rewards and make every victory even more satisfying.

Soon, players will also enjoy new gamification features — SpinRally, Wheel of Fortune, and WonderPot. These additions will introduce even more thrills and rewards, giving players the chance to test their luck, win prizes, and uncover new surprises within the empire. Each feature is designed to enhance engagement and add a fresh layer of fun to the play.

MioMedia Affiliates continue to stand at the forefront of iGaming innovation, bringing together top-performing brands and world-class affiliate partnerships. As MyEmpire enters a new era with its refreshed look and features, MioMedia Affiliates celebrates the brand’s dedication to excellence, creativity, and pursuit of entertainment that both inspires and rewards.

For more information and guidance, contact the team: https://www.miomedia.com/contact-us

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53% OF PC DEVELOPERS WORRY ABOUT STEAM RELIANCE, AS PC DISTRIBUTION DIVERSIFIES

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Rokky, the PC game distribution platform delivering publisher-approved keys to global markets, has today unveiled its landmark whitepaper, The State of PC Distribution. The report, based on an independent study of 306 game industry execs, reveals how Steam’s continued dominance of PC game distribution leaves developers fearing their over-reliance on the platform and exploring alternative channels.

For years, Steam has deservedly been synonymous with PC game distribution. A striking 72% of developers believe Steam operates as a monopoly, with more than half (53%) concerned about their overwhelming reliance on a single platform. With over 18,000 new titles hitting Steam in 2024, the dominant storefront is drowning in games, and this fierce competition fuels developers’ concerns for game distribution. Market saturation (35%), and the ever-present challenge of discoverability (33%) are cited as key challenges, although the rise of the free-to-play model (40%) was named as the number one concern.

In response, developers are diversifying their distribution channels, with a significant 48% utilising the Epic Games Store. E-stores (38%) and marketplaces (30%) are also key channels for PC distribution, offering avenues to sell Steam keys outside of Valve’s platform, and appreciated by a third of developers for their access to hard-to-reach markets. The report also dives deep into the often-misunderstood gray market, where discounted keys are resold from low-priced regions in marketplaces and e-stores. With 73% of developers concerned about players reselling keys, “The State of PC Distribution” Report details how studios can reap the perceived benefits of e-stores and marketplaces without falling victim to the gray market.

Vadim Andreev, CEO and Co-Founder of Rokky, said:

“With a growing prominence of e-stores and marketplaces, PC game distribution is more varied, vast, and complex than it has ever been. New opportunities are everywhere – as are pitfalls and challenges. And most of the old guard remain relevant. Understanding the nuances has never been more important, and so we created this report to highlight the trends that matter.”

Key Findings from “The State of PC Distribution”:

  • Today’s challenges: The rise of free-to-play games is the biggest challenge of selling PC games today (40%), followed by market saturation and competition (35%) and discoverability (33%)

  • Steam’s dominance: 88% of studios say Steam accounts for over 75% of their revenue. 72% feel Steam effectively exists as a monopoly and 53% are concerned about their level of reliance on that single platform.

  • Beyond Steam: 48% have distributed a title to the Epic Games Store, 30% to marketplaces such as G2A and Kinguin, 38% to e-stores such as Fanatical or Humble Bundle, 10% have distributed with GOG, and 8% with itch.io.

  • Marketplace Benefits: Developers relate marketplaces with benefits such as ease of use (45%), pricing control (35%), promotional support (33%) and international reach (31%).

  • E-Store Benefits: Developers relate marketplaces with benefits such as ease of use (41%), pricing control (35%), promotional support (33%) and international reach (35%)

  • Marketplace Concerns: Developers relate marketplaces with the gray market (24%), loss of control (22%), and loss of revenue (22%).

  • E-Store Concerns: Developers relate e-stores with the gray market (23%), loss of control (23%), and loss of revenue (19%).

  • Alternative distribution outlook: 75% of developers anticipate at least a 10% revenue uplift from using e-stores and marketplaces; 80% expect alternative channels to become a regular part of their distribution mix within five years.

  • Defining the gray market: Only 22% believe the gray market is the concept of unauthorised reselling. For the majority of respondents (73%), the gray market is not a practice but a place. 24% perceive that marketplaces themselves are the gray market, 24% define it as e-stores, and 25% believe the gray market is a combination of both.

  • Resale concerns: 73% of developers are concerned about players reselling keys.

The post 53% OF PC DEVELOPERS WORRY ABOUT STEAM RELIANCE, AS PC DISTRIBUTION DIVERSIFIES appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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