

Interviews
Scaling Up in iGaming: Strategic Role of Platform Migration with SOFTSWISS
Platform migration has emerged as a critical strategy for operators looking to scale their operations, enter new markets, or address technical shortcomings. In an interview with European Gaming, Vitali Matsukevich, Chief Operational Officer at SOFTSWISS, delves into the intricacies of the migration process, the challenges operators face, and how SOFTSWISS has positioned itself as a leader in ensuring seamless transitions.
What drives operators to consider migrating from one platform to another? Could you explain the key issues they aim to resolve and why migration becomes necessary?
Vitali Matsukevich: The most popular reason is that the current platform no longer meets technical requirements, especially in terms of scalability and reliability. Operators often face issues like handling user loads they are currently experiencing or planning for. This often forces operators to seek a more stable and technically advanced solution to support their business growth. For example, in LatAm, we know of cases where operators face significant challenges due to downtime or unreliable operations. In some cases, this situation becomes unmanageable, and operators realise they need to migrate to a platform like ours, which offers 99.9% uptime and a seamless user experience.
Another reason for migration is the desire to expand to new geographies. For instance, if the current platform is not certified in a particular country, the operator may consider migrating to a platform that already has the necessary certification. While launching a new project on a different platform is an option, it can lead to operational challenges, such as managing two different projects on different platforms, which is not always convenient. In such cases, if the new market is attractive enough, it may be simpler to migrate to a platform that is already certified, obtain the necessary licence, and continue developing the project.
The third reason is dissatisfaction with the current software provider. This could be due to poor communication with business account managers, slow response times, lack of support, or the provider’s failure to implement client feedback. In the case of SOFTSWISS, we not only offer better service – as confirmed by various studies – but prioritise collaborative partnerships. Our partners highly appreciate our flexibility, openness to their suggestions, and commitment to developing the business together.
Moreover, operators who choose platforms used by major industry players benefit from being part of a community and gain access to features requested by those larger brands. For example, when large operators asked for specific product updates, we later rolled them out to all clients, which received positive feedback. We also have a well-structured workflow for managing client requests, where we gather all ideas, suggestions, and comments from our partners, and our product team evaluates which of them will have the most impact.
What specific technical and operational advantages does the SOFTSWISS platform offer to operators who decide to migrate?
Vitali Matsukevich: I would highlight two key advantages: the high technical performance of our platform and the well-established interaction with our partners. Because our partners don’t experience technical difficulties, they can scale their projects without worrying about the technical aspects of their business. Our recent migration case, where we transitioned over a million players to our casino platform and sportsbook within five hours, further confirmed the high technical level of our solution and well-defined migration process.
A unique feature of migration is that after reopening a project post-update, there’s often a surge in user activity, with more people visiting the platform than usual. This contrasts with the gradual user growth seen when launching a new project, where users join the platform over time.
After migration, a large number of users might access the platform simultaneously. To prepare for this, we conducted numerous stress tests before the launch and executed the migration flawlessly. The number of issue reports was even lower than we expected.
What are the main challenges operators may face during migration, and how does SOFTSWISS help minimise these risks?
Vitali Matsukevich: The main challenge is the inevitable player churn. Before the transition, operators conduct extensive information campaigns about technical changes and migration to a new platform, but not all users take the necessary actions to transfer their accounts. On our side, we assist in communication, share experiences from previous migrations, and make the process as easy as possible for users.
Another challenge is that users might notice differences between the two platforms. For example, even if both platforms offer the same types of bonuses, they might be implemented differently or might have other slight differences. In this case, we strive to visually adapt the new platform to resemble the previous software. We also transfer all possible and significant information about players’ gaming preferences, for example.
Overall, this is a complex process. We need to assess which aspects of the previous user experience should be transferred to the new platform. Sometimes, it may also be decided to enhance certain features.
Another important challenge is maintaining SEO rankings so that the project continues to receive stable traffic from this channel. Our experienced specialists help transfer all necessary information, adapt pages, and take other actions to ensure that search engines either don’t notice the difference or even improve the project’s search ranking.
What steps are taken to minimise player churn and ensure their loyalty after migrating to the new platform?
Vitali Matsukevich: An individual strategy is developed for each project and specific user groups. This can include additional email campaigns offering players bonuses or other unique personalised offers during the transition period. This approach helps retain users and makes the migration process as attractive and seamless as possible for them.
What metrics do you use to evaluate the migration success, and how do you measure its impact on the operator’s business?
Vitali Matsukevich: The key metrics we use to evaluate the migration success include the speed, downtime, player retention rate (how many users successfully transitioned to the new platform), and the load on customer support. These metrics allow us to objectively assess how smoothly the migration went and identify any areas that may need improvement in future migrations.
What are SOFTSWISS’ plans for further developing and improving the migration process?
Vitali Matsukevich: After each migration, we refine our current workflow, adding new elements based on the experience gained. We are also actively working on obtaining additional certifications, as we are currently doing in Brazil so that our partners can quickly and seamlessly launch their projects as soon as they have the necessary licence.
How does operator feedback play a role in improving the migration process, and how does SOFTSWISS incorporate their suggestions and feedback?
Vitali Matsukevich: We actively gather feedback from our partners and conduct retrospective discussions within our team. During these meetings, we analyse the metrics and identify any delays or issues. It’s important to note that each migration is a unique project, and while the core steps remain the same, the workflow is always adapted to the specific case. This approach allows us to continuously improve our migration process and ensure successful collaboration with our partners.
Can you provide examples of successful migrations where your approach led to significant improvements for the operator?
Vitali Matsukevich: Yes, one of the most compelling examples of a successful migration is when we transitioned over a million players from a competitor’s platform to the SOFTSWISS Casino Platform and the SOFTSWISS Sportsbook in just five hours. This migration was a significant achievement, showcasing our platform’s technical robustness and our team’s ability to manage complex, large-scale transitions with minimal downtime.
During this process, we meticulously planned and executed the migration to ensure that player accounts, balances, and gaming histories were seamlessly transferred without any data loss.
The post Scaling Up in iGaming: Strategic Role of Platform Migration with SOFTSWISS appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Interviews
Scale isn’t everything: Why agility is the new advantage in live casino

Live casino’s rise has been meteoric, but the recent slowdown at the top end of the market suggests the next phase of growth won’t come from scale alone. As the sector matures, Ady Totah, CEO at LuckyStreak, explains why agility, hands-on management and a sharper product focus are fast becoming the new competitive edge.
There is a perception that the biggest live casino providers are the most capable. Is bigger always better?
It’s easy to assume that the biggest brands automatically deliver the best service, but with scale comes complexity. For larger organisations, adding new features or reacting to a regulatory update can take weeks or even months, especially when decisions span multiple time zones or teams have long approval chains.
At LuckyStreak, while we’re an established business with a large, dedicated workforce at our live dealer studio in Riga, our management team remains intentionally small and hands-on. In many ways, we operate more like a start-up, with fast, focused leadership at the core.
Myself and my co-founder Erez Cywier are closely involved in the day-to-day operations. This proximity shortens decision making processes, speeds up product assessments and empowers us to act quickly. We’re not tied down by long-winded protocols or bureaucracy.
A perfect example of this agility came when we saw an opportunity in the growing sweepstakes market. We already had the foundations but needed to adapt quickly. In just one quarter, we delivered compliant user interfaces, multi-coin virtual currency systems and configured both our own live games and third-party content to meet the unique needs of the sweepstakes audience. This is the kind of rapid pivot that is only possible when your decision-makers are hands-on.
How do boutique providers keep product planning sharp and strategic?
Knowing what matters and prioritising ruthlessly is what allows smaller providers to remain competitive in the market, when faced with more established, Tier 1 names. Speed, however, does not mean shortcuts.
We are sharpening our performance across the board and ensuring our roadmap gives us the flexibility to act when new opportunities arise. Effective product planning is all about focus. That means tuning out the industry noise, resisting trends for the sake of trends, and asking: what delivers real impact for our partners?
While some companies struggle under the weight of large and inflexible roadmaps, we have the luxury of being selective in what we build, and that makes our product roadmap more actionable, more tailored and therefore more valuable to our partners.
How can providers keep up with rising regulatory pressures?
Operating across multiple jurisdictions means navigating a complicated patchwork of compliance frameworks, licensing rules and technical standards quickly.
Compliance is not a support function, but a core part of the business. For larger businesses, these regulatory changes may present disruptions, but our size and structure allow us to react quickly and stay ahead of the curve, without compromising on quality.
To maintain both speed and quality, we moved from traditional Agile sprints to a continuous integration and deployment (CI/CD) model. Instead of bundling releases every two weeks, we push updates multiple times a week. This means we can react quickly to feedback, ship improvements faster, and keep our platform evolving without unnecessary delays.
Why is a more focused approach the future of live casino?
The criteria for what operators need from their live casino provider is changing. Reliability, flexibility, speed and compliance support are becoming just as, if not more, important than table count. We design everything with these qualities in mind, and we back that up with a strong culture of ownership and continuous delivery. This mindset allows us to innovate quickly, without sacrificing the robustness our partners expect.
In this new landscape, being lean, focused and responsive isn’t a limitation. In live casino, a genre requiring significant on-going operational investment, the providers that thrive are not always the biggest, but the smartest and the ones who can adapt fastest.
The post Scale isn’t everything: Why agility is the new advantage in live casino appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
CRM for online casinos
Getting to Know Incline Gaming Marketing with Chief Commercial Officer Jo Dennis

Incline Gaming Marketing is redefining how gambling brands scale and succeed worldwide. Founded by industry veteran Peter Laverick, the agency delivers end-to-end digital marketing services across user acquisition, CRM, and creative. In this interview, CCO Jo Dennis explains how Incline acts as an extension of operators’ in-house teams, helping them acquire players, boost retention, and compete globally.
Incline Gaming Marketing. Tells us what we need to know about the business.
Incline Gaming Marketing (Incline) is a full-service digital marketing partner dedicated exclusively to the regulated gambling industry. We’re not just a supplier of campaigns or assets, we run marketing operations end-to-end for our partners, functioning as an extension of their in-house team.
Our expertise spans user acquisition, CRM, and creative, delivered by specialists who’ve worked inside top operators and suppliers. With offices in San Francisco, Philadelphia, and London, we provide market-specific strategies and execution for brands in North America, Europe, Africa, Australia, and beyond.
Founded by industry veteran Peter Laverick in 2020, Incline is part of The Conexus Group alongside Pentasia (recruitment) and Partis (strategy and M&A). Our partners range from household-name operators to ambitious new entrants, all looking for a team that can step in, own the process, and deliver measurable results from day one.
Who are the main players running the business day to day?
Peter Laverick, our CEO and founder, has led marketing at some of the industry’s biggest names, including BetVictor, Aristocrat, and PlayStudios. Chief Commercial Officer Jo Dennis joined through our acquisition of Random Colour Animal in 2024 (RCA was originally founded in 2018) and brings more than 25 years in brand and marketing strategy.
Chief Marketing Officer Oren Langburt has over 15 years’ experience in real-money gaming, including leading marketing at FanDuel. VP Partner Success Haig Sakouyan is a 20+ year industry veteran, ensuring our partnerships deliver beyond marketing.
Talk us through Incline Gaming Marketing’s core service offering.
We operate in three connected disciplines that together form a complete managed marketing service:
- User Acquisition (UA): We plan, execute, and optimise campaigns across Meta, Google, TikTok, Snapchat, Apple, and programmatic networks, managing multi-million-dollar budgets. As an approved Facebook Business Partner, we’ve been rated the most effective media buyer in North America’s online gaming sector, achieving a 99.9% efficiency score.
- Customer Relationship Marketing (CRM): Our CRM specialists handle the full player lifecycle — from onboarding and first-time deposit conversion to long-term retention and reactivation. We combine data-led segmentation with targeted offers and creative to grow lifetime value while controlling bonus spend.
- Creative: We produce more than 1,000 assets per month, from brand identities and websites to broadcast-quality TV spots, slot game creatives, supplier content packs, and conference materials. All creative is performance-driven and integrated into UA and CRM campaigns for maximum impact.
When combined, these services allow us to act as a partner’s complete marketing department – – strategy, execution, and optimisation under one roof.
Which markets are you focused on? Are you pushing into any new regions?
We built our reputation in North America, where we work with leading land-based and online operators across casino, sportsbook, lottery, social gaming, and daily fantasy sports. We now deliver integrated managed services in Canada, the UK, continental Europe, Africa, and Australia, tailoring each approach to local regulations, player behaviours, and market dynamics.
For many partners, this means we handle all marketing in new markets from day one – avoiding the time and cost of building a local team – and then continue as their long-term, embedded marketing function.
Why are your services particularly valuable to operators in the current industry climate?
Player acquisition costs are rising, retention is harder than ever, and regulatory pressure is mounting. Building and managing an in-house team with the full range of skills required – from media buying to lifecycle marketing to creative production – is expensive and slow.
Incline solves that. We provide an instant, proven marketing department with deep gambling expertise, multi-channel capabilities, and global reach. Our managed services model means we don’t just advise, we execute, optimise, and deliver results. Whether launching in a new jurisdiction or scaling in a mature one, we know the levers to pull for sustainable growth.
What can we expect from Incline in the second half of the year?
We’re deepening our presence in Europe, Africa, and Canada while cementing our leadership in North America. Several major launches and brand refresh projects are underway, alongside scaled acquisition and retention campaigns for our long-term partners.
Our focus remains the same — provide operators and suppliers with a high-performing, fully managed marketing function that delivers measurable results faster, and with more certainty, than building it in-house.
The post Getting to Know Incline Gaming Marketing with Chief Commercial Officer Jo Dennis appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.
Interviews
Getting to Know Incline Gaming Marketing with Chief Commercial Officer Jo Dennis

Incline Gaming Marketing is redefining how gambling brands scale and succeed worldwide. Founded by industry veteran Peter Laverick, the agency delivers end-to-end digital marketing services across user acquisition, CRM, and creative. In this interview, CCO Jo Dennis explains how Incline acts as an extension of operators’ in-house teams, helping them acquire players, boost retention, and compete globally.
Incline Gaming Marketing. Tells us what we need to know about the business.
Incline Gaming Marketing (Incline) is a full-service digital marketing partner dedicated exclusively to the regulated gambling industry. We’re not just a supplier of campaigns or assets, we run marketing operations end-to-end for our partners, functioning as an extension of their in-house team.
Our expertise spans user acquisition, CRM, and creative, delivered by specialists who’ve worked inside top operators and suppliers. With offices in San Francisco, Philadelphia, and London, we provide market-specific strategies and execution for brands in North America, Europe, Africa, Australia, and beyond.
Founded by industry veteran Peter Laverick in 2020, Incline is part of The Conexus Group alongside Pentasia (recruitment) and Partis (strategy and M&A). Our partners range from household-name operators to ambitious new entrants, all looking for a team that can step in, own the process, and deliver measurable results from day one.
Who are the main players running the business day to day?
Peter Laverick, our CEO and founder, has led marketing at some of the industry’s biggest names, including BetVictor, Aristocrat, and PlayStudios. Chief Commercial Officer Jo Dennis joined through our acquisition of Random Colour Animal in 2024 (RCA was originally founded in 2018) and brings more than 25 years in brand and marketing strategy.
Chief Marketing Officer Oren Langburt has over 15 years’ experience in real-money gaming, including leading marketing at FanDuel. VP Partner Success Haig Sakouyan is a 20+ year industry veteran, ensuring our partnerships deliver beyond marketing.
Talk us through Incline Gaming Marketing’s core service offering.
We operate in three connected disciplines that together form a complete managed marketing service:
- User Acquisition (UA): We plan, execute, and optimise campaigns across Meta, Google, TikTok, Snapchat, Apple, and programmatic networks, managing multi-million-dollar budgets. As an approved Facebook Business Partner, we’ve been rated the most effective media buyer in North America’s online gaming sector, achieving a 99.9% efficiency score.
- Customer Relationship Marketing (CRM): Our CRM specialists handle the full player lifecycle — from onboarding and first-time deposit conversion to long-term retention and reactivation. We combine data-led segmentation with targeted offers and creative to grow lifetime value while controlling bonus spend.
- Creative: We produce more than 1,000 assets per month, from brand identities and websites to broadcast-quality TV spots, slot game creatives, supplier content packs, and conference materials. All creative is performance-driven and integrated into UA and CRM campaigns for maximum impact.
When combined, these services allow us to act as a partner’s complete marketing department – – strategy, execution, and optimisation under one roof.
Which markets are you focused on? Are you pushing into any new regions?
We built our reputation in North America, where we work with leading land-based and online operators across casino, sportsbook, lottery, social gaming, and daily fantasy sports. We now deliver integrated managed services in Canada, the UK, continental Europe, Africa, and Australia, tailoring each approach to local regulations, player behaviours, and market dynamics.
For many partners, this means we handle all marketing in new markets from day one – avoiding the time and cost of building a local team – and then continue as their long-term, embedded marketing function.
Why are your services particularly valuable to operators in the current industry climate?
Player acquisition costs are rising, retention is harder than ever, and regulatory pressure is mounting. Building and managing an in-house team with the full range of skills required – from media buying to lifecycle marketing to creative production – is expensive and slow.
Incline solves that. We provide an instant, proven marketing department with deep gambling expertise, multi-channel capabilities, and global reach. Our managed services model means we don’t just advise, we execute, optimise, and deliver results. Whether launching in a new jurisdiction or scaling in a mature one, we know the levers to pull for sustainable growth.
What can we expect from Incline in the second half of the year?
We’re deepening our presence in Europe, Africa, and Canada while cementing our leadership in North America. Several major launches and brand refresh projects are underway, alongside scaled acquisition and retention campaigns for our long-term partners.
Our focus remains the same — provide operators and suppliers with a high-performing, fully managed marketing function that delivers measurable results faster, and with more certainty, than building it in-house.
The post Getting to Know Incline Gaming Marketing with Chief Commercial Officer Jo Dennis appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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