What operators brought oo Lisbon: NuxGame’s read on digital entertainment plans for 2027

Three days in late September saw digital entertainment professionals gather in Lisbon for a series of face-to-face meetings to outline their strategies for 2027. The SBC Summit provided the platform for these discussions, during which NuxGame, a business-to-business platform provider, reported that their agenda was filled with continuous meetings.

NuxGame found the meeting experience at Networking Lounge A326 in Hall 1 to be their best edition in Lisbon. Operators were notably focused on developing and enhancing their systems and platforms, rather than rebuilding them. Management was particularly interested in the concrete plans operators had, with many aiming to launch specific products by defined deadlines.

NuxGame's insights revealed five key trends for the upcoming year:

1. Demand for promotional prize experiences is increasing.

2. New brands are seeking turnkey launches for 2027, while existing operators add content aggregation and sports data APIs.

3. Multi-brand groups want digital content via API and are unwilling to migrate platforms. Their content aggregator boasts over 18,500 titles.

4. Crypto is one of several available payment methods, alongside local payment options for the same customer.

5. Promotional offer protection is being integrated directly into products, rather than relying on the back office. Content developers are also creating competitions, missions, and rewards into their products.

The final day of the summit witnessed a panel discussion on the misuse of promotional offers, led by NuxGame's Chief Product Officer, Denis Kosinsky. Most instances of misuse are still reviewed manually, which sometimes frustrates legitimate customers by freezing their accounts for further verification. Kosinsky suggested that blocking customers might push them towards competing platforms instead.

Kosinsky emphasized that the product controls at operators' disposal allow them to identify customers who repeatedly exploit promotional offers. Instead of closing their accounts, it's suggested to flag high-risk activities before a promotion goes live and set different participation requirements for each activity. However, he noted that chasing all instances of misuse usually costs more than the abuse itself.

Despite the trade-off of retaining regular users and limiting attrition, a hard closure might be the safer choice for operators dealing with organized fraudulent activity. NuxGame has also recently introduced competitions, leaderboards, and interactive challenges across its digital entertainment platform, which are now available independently of content providers. The company has over 100 customers and received the Digital Platform of the Year award at the iGaming News Awards.