As the likes of Entain, Flutter Entertainment and other tier-one operators continue to dip their toes into these markets, experts from across the industry gathered in Lisbon to discuss the potential for expansion across the Balkans and Caucasus regions. 

To kick-off a journey around the subcontinent, Max Potomkin, CEO at RISK, explained that Uzbekistan is getting close to a legalised gambling market, presenting potential for a “tremendously fruitful” expansion opportunity. 

The market is set to go live on 1 January, 2025, with regulators having just over three months to propose regulations and create a safe, responsible gaming ecosystem, and according to Potomkin, “the set of rules have already been signed”. 

Expanding on the nation’s regulation, he stated: “This market has been trying to get legalised for the last five years, which is why this is tough.” Potomkin pointed out that the nation’s regulator has considered “best practices from central asian markets” with other Eurasian market’s specific regulations “already on their list”. 

This notion caused Potomkin to encourage any brands wishing to enter the nation to “be compliant with all Central European and Asian regulations that are there already”, with a gambling licence expected to be required. 

Looking into one of Uzbekistan’s neighbours, Potomkin detailed that Kazakhstan is “a little bit tougher”. While being one of the “strongest markets” in the region, he explained that “all the operators there have been operating there for many years”. 

Despite these companies possibly having a stronghold on Kazakhstan’s gambling sector, Potomkin encouraged brands to consider exploring the nation by suggesting that its lack of newcomers will be an “exciting prospect” for those aiming to take the leap into the market. 

“There are a lot of companies that have tried to enter the market solely online and most of those companies have suffered a lot”

Savo Bakmaz, CEO and CFO at Maxbet

He referred to Kazakh players as “very loyal clients”, playing on an average of seven different websites within a short period of time. However, one aspect of the nation’s regulations could cause issues for player retention, as well as an increase in black market activity. 

Potomkin stated: “The government has implemented a very interesting programme. Once you disable your account on one gambling website, it will be cancelled on all operators operating with the same licence.” 

Moving on to Central Europe, Savo Bakmaz, CEO and CFO at Maxbet, provided an expert opinion on the state of Serbia’s igaming market, which he described as “a very social market” that may cause issues for online-only operators. 

Bakmaz noted that Serbian players are fond of sitting in retail shops for a social experience, referring to Maxbet’s various Serbian locations as “sports bars” rather than betting shops. 

“The social component is very important for our customers,” Bakmaz said. “There are a lot of companies that have tried to enter the market solely online and most of those companies have suffered a lot.” 

According to the Maxbet CEO, Serbia is home to over 3,000 retail betting shops, making it “very hard for foreign online operators to compete with the domestic, local guys”.

“Overregulation is common across jurisdictions right now”

Adam Lamentowicz, General Manager for Romania at Superbet

The footfall in retail locations has also created different channels of profit for companies like Maxbet, encouraging the need to place importance on Serbia’s land-based sector. 

Bakmaz added: “We all know that online players are spending more, but they’re sitting in our shops and hanging out with their friends and watching the game. What’s really important is that last year in Serbia we sold three million cups of coffee and three million beers – we are the biggest cafe in Serbia.” 

Despite highlighting the operator’s success in Serbia’s land-based space, Bakmaz explained that the nation’s regulator is currently considering updating its gaming law, a move which he referred to as “overregulation”. 

The notion of overregulation was echoed by Adam Lamentowicz, General Manager for Romania at Superbet, as he informed the audience on the latest updates within Romania’s gambling market. 

“Overregulation is common across jurisdictions right now,” he said. “We’ve seen this in Romania with many amendments in recent years. Since regulation in 2015, we’ve had important changes every year – including a ban on slot machines in shops in regions with less than 15,000 inhabitants.” 

Lamentowicz repeated this sentiment for Poland, describing the nation’s market as “a good example of overregulating”, while having very outdated regulation that was originally established in the early nineties – before online casino gaming was introduced to players. 

Meanwhile, Maarten Haijer, Secretary General of the European Gaming and Betting Association, stressed the need for operators expanding their online casino offerings to the rising igaming hubs in Eurasia to consider localisation.

Haijer detailed: “It’s not that easy to take your product and place it in a different marketplace. You need that local knowledge and you need to know how the regulator functions.” 

This is also a key consideration for compliance, as Haijer explained that “the way that different countries regulate depends on their approach to gambling, which depends on their society”.

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Under the terms of the deal, Hacksaw Gaming’s complete collection of igaming content will be made available via the operator’s Serbian platform. The collaboration will hope to ‘elevate Maxbet even further to becoming the premier operator in Serbia’. 

Marcus Cordes, CEO of Hacksaw Gaming, explained: “We are incredibly fortunate to have such amazing partners, and we celebrate adding Maxbet to our growing list of industry leading operators.” 

Maxbet’s Serbian player base can now spin the reels on ‘fan favourite’ Hacksaw slots such as 2 Wild 2 Die, Buffalo Stack ‘n’ Swing, Eye of the Panda, Wanted Dead or a Wild, RIP City, amongst the rest of the studio’s portfolio. 

Vukašin Marelj, Maxbet’s Head of Online Casino, stated: “Our portfolio is enriched with yet another name! We are extremely proud to collaborate with a successful company like Hacksaw Gaming. 

“I believe that their rich offering of modern and creative games will be a real refreshment for our customers, and I look forward to this partnership.”

Enhancing its presence in Eastern Europe has been a recent target for Hacksaw Gaming, having formed deals in Bulgaria with Top Bet Ltd and in Romania with Skywind Group and Soft2Bet since the beginning of 2024.

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Hoping to utilise Maxbet’s ‘significant presence’ in the nation, Push Gaming has extended its Romanian reach by making every single one of its proprietary slot titles available to the operator. 

Fiona Hickey, Director of New Business and Markets at Push Gaming, stated: “Since entering the Romanian market in 2021, our slots have gained tremendous traction among Romanian players. 

“We are thrilled to capitalise on this positive momentum by forging this agreement with Maxbet.Ro.

“The operator’s leading position in Romania will undoubtedly propel our growth in the region, and we are excited to be adding our content to its platform and beginning this partnership with them.”

The integration will allow Maxbet’s Romanian player base access to recent Push Gaming slot releases such as Boss Bear, Fish ‘n’ Nudge and Goat Getter, in addition to established ‘fan-favourites’ like Wild Swarm. 

Matei Secaci, a representative from Maxbet, added: “Push Gaming’s commitment to delivering high-quality, engaging entertainment experiences aligns perfectly with our vision of providing players with the most innovative titles available.

“We are excited to be bringing its portfolio to our players and look forward to seeing the reception both its new slots and groundbreaking classics receive.”  

European expansion has been of recent interest to Push Gaming, having just formed an alliance to target Swiss players with Grand Casino Luzern.

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At the time of writing we have witnessed one further entrant courtesy of a certain Dublin-headquartered operator juggernaut that has purchased 51 per cent of MaxBet for €141m.

However, you don’t need me to ramble on and on about the plethora of transactions that are being witnessed on a global scale. I will simply ask if one key section of the industry has thus far proven to be relatively immune to the acquisition bug?

This was certainly the opinion of one industry veteran, who for the purposes of this piece will remain anonymous, at the recent SBC Summit Barcelona. Despite this, aggregators have seemingly not fallen off the radar altogether, as this particular company has been in the receipt of several approaches. 

“Too many platforms seem far more interested with the numbers that they can boast”

This viewpoint came alongside a boom in aggregation. The model has proven to be invaluable to studios both large and small in getting games to market. Operators are also able to take on numerous games studios through one or a number of selected aggregators, eliminating the excessive and unnecessary costs of direct integrations.

With all of this being said, and swinging back to the issue at hand, it’s not to say that aggregation has not been a part of any purchase witnessed in recent memory. 

One such example that first sprung to this writer’s mind concerns Kindred Group’s 2021 purchase of Relax Gaming in a €320m deal.

This particular company now provides access to a roster of over 4,000 casino games, with aggregated content from more than 70 partner studios provided through its selected Silver Bullet and Powered By Relax programs.

We have often seen aggregation businesses form part of a wider operation within a group, with IGT and NeoGames’ additions of iSoftBet and Pariplay evidence of this.

However, consolidation concerning those that you could say ‘specialise’ in this particular area have proven to be far from commonplace. This will undoubtedly change, but a scattergun approach will lead to undoubted failure. Shock, I know.

More modern and agile aggregators will undoubtedly triumph before the aforementioned carriages begin an inevitable decelaration, while those that fall into the old slots adage will be those that are left behind. 

Quantity versus quality is a debate far too often thrown the way of slots studios, but this is also evident within the realm that we are currently discussing. Too many platforms seem far more interested with the numbers that they can boast, rather than the overall standard of the titles that they are able to integrate.

“…each and every aggregation platform seems to be the ‘go to for operators’”

That being said, each and every aggregation platform seems to be the ‘go to for operators’, so maybe I’m completely wrong and potential purchasers can approach this like a novice picking up a dart for the first time.

Nevertheless, as has been witnessed elsewhere across the industry, as more and more aggregators spring into life, and the inevitable crossovers occur, be that operators and/or markets served, mergers are simply bound to happen.

It is not simply all about the content though, but, as previously alluded to, this must be of the highest standard. A strong global distribution network, the tech support offered, supporting features included and promotion tools available are just a smattering of the qualities of those that will first fall in the M&A crosshairs.

It remains to be seen how M&A will hit the aggregation scene, be it larger entities looking to enhance their product or operators witnessing the potential of cost effective expansion, but as the proverb goes, time is money. And in this example, speed to market and agility could well be the key qualities for interested parties. 

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Looking to utilise the operator’s 30 years of experience in Serbia’s casino industry, BGaming will integrate its full roster of igaming content into Maxbet’s online platform with over 100 games set to become available. 

Vukašin Marelj, Head of Online Casino at Maxbet, commented: “BGaming is one of the fastest-growing providers in the igaming industry. Their games are modern with a lot of features. 

“Also, in their portfolio, they have crash games, Megaways and bonus buy games. This is a paradise for any player. I am happy because I cooperate with this team.”

BGaming slots that will gain visibility on Maxbet’s Serbia-facing casino lobby include recent releases such as Bone Bonanza and Maneki 88 Fortunes, on top of established titles like Gemhalla, Bonanza Billion, and Elvis Frog. 

While becoming available to Maxbet’s Serbian players, the supplier will also tap into audiences from other Eastern European countries that Maxbet has established itself in, including Bosnia, Montenegro, and North Macedonia.

Olga Levshina, CCO at BGaming, added: “Our new content deal with Maxbet could not have come at a better time, as the top operator continues to follow an impressive growth trajectory.

“We have no doubt Maxbet’s players will love all that our portfolio has to offer and look forward to a successful partnership going forward.”

This move adds to a busy period of content acquisition for the Serbian operator, having already formed a similar agreement with ESA Gaming since the operator was bought by Flutter last month for €141m.

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Reaching players in Serbia for the first time, ESA Gaming has agreed to integrate its complete range of ‘non-traditional’ games into MaxBet’s online casino platform. 

Thomas Smallwood, Head of Marketing at ESA Gaming, commented: “We’ve gained great momentum this year, significantly extending the reach of our content and adding numerous new markets to our repertoire.

“MaxBet is a fantastic partner as we debut in Serbia where we see great potential for further growth and we’re excited to introduce our games to local players for the first time.”  

Holding an online market share of 20 per cent in Serbia, MaxBet will receive ESA Gaming’s EasySwipe content offering that includes Pirate Mine, Goal Mine, and Dragon Mine, in addition to upcoming slot releases ‘to be added soon’. 

Vukašin Marelj, Head of Online Casino at MaxBet, added: “ESA Gaming’s portfolio is a great addition to our offering as we seek to diversify our product.

“Non-traditional casino content is becoming increasingly more popular and ESA Gaming provides a fantastic alternative to slots with their mobile-first and quick fire titles.”

The deal marks one of the first partnerships for MaxBet since Flutter Entertainment acquired a 51 per cent share towards the end of last month for €141m, becoming the majority stakeholder in the Serbian operator.

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Peter Jackson, Flutter Chief Executive, noted that this presented  a “compelling opportunity” to deepen its Balkans presence. The operator will be aiming to build on past moves made across Georgia, India and Italy via the acquisition of Adjarabet, Jungle and Sisal.

Flutter will gain the opportunity to acquire the remaining 49 per cent in 2029, with this initial transaction expected to close, subject to customary regulatory clearances, in Q1 2024.

MaxBet, branded a “local hero”, spans omni-channel operations in Serbia, Bosnia and Montenegro, in addition to a retail only footprint in North Macedonia.

The operator’s presence spans 400 retail outlets across these four markets, as well as an approximately 20 per cent market share, and 95,000 average monthly players, across its home jurisdiction of Serbia.

The latter is dubbed as an “attractive, regulated market” by Flutter, with relatively low online penetration of around 35 per cent, and expected online compound annual growth to 2025 of 15 per cent.

During the year to June 2023, the brand generated pro forma revenue of €145m, 44 per cent of which came via the online channel, with adjusted EBITDA of €32m.

In addition, the Dublin headquartered operator group intends to drive MaxBet’s local influence via its Flutter Edge, which became a central focus of Flutter International CEO Daniel Taylor’s keynote at last week’s SBC Summit Barcelona.

The Flutter Edge, he said, aims to build on the headway made by “highly engaged local teams”, with the application of this highlighted as comprising product expertise, capital injection, tech platforms and leading talent.

“I am excited to announce the addition of MaxBet to the Flutter portfolio. This acquisition continues our progress against the strategic priorities we have set for our international division; to buy and build podium positions in regulated markets,” Jackson commented.

“We believe MaxBet is an excellent opportunity to replicate the success we have achieved in markets like Georgia, India and Italy by acquiring a strong brand in a podium position, where we see a compelling opportunity to combine that extensive local expertise with the power of the Flutter Edge to accelerate and transform growth.”

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This will see the online casino content supplier expand its presence in what is billed as the “competitive Romanian market,” as the operator follows up similar deals with Stakelogic and Nolimit City that have been disclosed across recent weeks.

Gabrielle Star, Hacksaw Gaming’s CCO, said: “This news represents another leap forward as we look to bolster our standing in regulated markets.

“Romanian players have already demonstrated a thirst for our extensive portfolio of games, and we’re delighted to reach an even broader audience through this deal with a leading player in MaxBet.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Hacksaw, which was awarded the SlotCatalog’s ‘Outperforming Game Studio of the Year – Medium’ award at May’s CasinoBeats Summit, will integrate a range of titles.

This will see the igaming studio integrate slot titles, such as Wanted Dead or a Wild, Dork Unit, and Hand of Anubis, into the operator’s Romania-facing platform.

“It is a joy and pride to welcome Hacksaw in our gaming portfolio,” added Alexandru Ghiurcau, Marketing Manager of MaxBet Romania. 

“With the goal of offering MaxBet.ro players an experience at another level, the Hacksaw slots will provide a unique experience 24/7. And there is plenty more to follow in this partnership.”

Last month, expanded reels showcased in Hacksaw Gaming’s new game mechanic, Stackways, debuted in the studio’s jungle-dwelling slot title, Mayan Stackways, and claimed SlotBeats’ Slot of the Week title.

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This will see the igaming and online sports betting operator, which was founded in 2016, gain an added influx of in online gaming titles in a collaboration that both parties stress an expectation of being “a seamless success”.

Matei Secaci, Promotional Manager at Maxbet, said: “We strive to offer the most popular slots that are available in the market. The games that Nolimit City has to offer to our clients already have a strong word to say in the market, and at this point, we can only be thrilled to have them live on our platform.”

The Nolimit City portfolio includes games such as the recently released Disturbed, as well as titles including Folsom Prison, Remember Gulag, Tombstone RIP, The Rave and Rock Bottom.

In addition, December 2022’s Dead Canary is also shortlisted for Slot of the Year at the upcoming Game Developer Awards, which forms part of the CasinoBeats Summit. The event is to take place at Intercontinental Malta from May 23-25.

“Words cannot express our excitement about this partnership! Collaborating with a prominent brand like MaxBet is a tremendous source of pride and joy for us at Nolimit City,” stated Malcolm Mizzi, COO & Commercial Director.

“It demonstrates our commitment towards expanding our presence in Romania, a key market which has shown significant growth.”

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Lauding by Pragmatic as a ‘truly important milestone’, the deal follows on from several ‘key integrations’ secured by the company, including with firms such as Betgame, Palms Bet and MaxBet.

Yossi Barzely, Chief Business Development Officer at Pragmatic Play, said: “We’re very pleased to take multiple verticals live with the Casino Epic brand in Sweden – a key regulated market in which we are constantly looking to expand in.

“As one of Europe’s most mature markets, our titles are always received well there, and finding more partners to bring our games to players in the region is something we continue to strive for. We really look forward to this positive relationship.”

The Malta-based igaming provider – which also entered the sportsbook space this year, signing DAZN as a client – will also provide its Baccarat, BlackJack and Mega Roulette products to the Swedish brand. 

Slot titles included under the agreement are John Hunter and the Quest for Bermuda Riches, Barn Festival, Wolf Gold and Gates of Olympus, the latter of which was awarded with the CasinoBeats’ Slot of the Year Award last night. 

Jennifer Wiljen, CRM Manager at Kanon Gaming, added: “Pragmatic Play’s slots and Live Casino titles are enjoyed by a huge number of players globally and we’re very excited to be able to add them to our formidable offering.

 “Through the single API integration, we’re able to add products swiftly and quickly scale the potential of the deal, which is something that allows Pragmatic Play to stand out through its numerous product tranches.”

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