ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE


Four ways to future-proof player engagement, no matter what regulators do next


player behaviour, so they don’t deliver experiences that keep players engaged longer and make your product a preferred choice. True behavioural personalisation lets actual player behaviour guide the experience instead, so that you respond to player behaviour as it happens. For this to happen, you need three things: unifi ed player IDs that connect every interaction across microservices, rich behavioural signals (e.g., behavioural profi ling), and real-time adaptation as those patterns evolve.


By Viktoriia Grygorenko, CEO of The Playa, AI-powered personalization solutions that help iGaming operators increase engagement, revenue, and ROMI by up to 25 per cent.


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n the last 18 months alone, Germany tightened deposit limits, the Netherlands imposed advertising bans, and the UK upended operator economics with a Remote Gaming Duty hike to 40 per cent. When regulations shift suddenly, most operators are forced into reactive mode – cutting costs, pausing initiatives, watching margins erode. But instead of trying to predict which market will be regulated next, we can build infrastructure that handles uncertainty. That infrastructure starts with how we engage and retain players. Here are four ways to help you do so.


1. MOVE FROM SEGMENTATION TO BEHAVIOURAL PERSONALISATION


Most operators still group players by simple rules: “deposited more than $100,” “inactive in the last 7 days.” It’s straightforward, but static segments can’t adapt quickly to changes in


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2. PERSONALISE THE LOBBY The lobby is where players decide what to play, how long to stay, and whether they’ll come back. Yet most lobbies still show identical content to everyone – featured games chosen through commercial deals, or static categories updated every few weeks, the same way for all players. Machine learning models can analyse each player’s behavioural patterns and predict what they’re likely to engage with next, balancing relevance with variety to keep the experience fresh. We recently completed a six-month implementation of personalised lobbies for an operator across two European markets. The results: 12-16% higher turnover per user, 9-12% more active playing days, and players exploring 13-32% more games than the control group. By month fi ve, every cohort experiencing personalized lobbies showed fi ve to seven percentage points higher retention rates, with the effect compounding over time.


3. ACTIVATE NEW PLAYERS WITHIN 24 HOURS


There’s a common assumption that new players don’t generate enough data for effective personalisation, so the typical approach is to give everyone the same generic onboarding for the


fi rst 30 days. But machine learning models trained specifi cally for iGaming can identify meaningful patterns in a player’s very fi rst session. Someone who selects a high-volatility slot with complex bonus features is showing a different risk appetite than someone who picks a simple classic slot. How quickly they place their fi rst bet, how they size it relative to their balance, whether they explore or default – each of these early signals reveals what kind of experience will keep that player engaged. And you can act on these signals within 24 hours.


4. DIVERSIFY ENGAGEMENT BEYOND BONUSES


If your retention strategy relies heavily on bonuses, you’re vulnerable the moment margins compress or regulations restrict promotions. A useful diagnostic: look at what percentage of your users have bonus turnover above 50 per cent. The higher that share, the more of your active base may simply not be profi table for you, and the more exposed you are when promotional budgets tighten or regulators step in.


The alternative is player experience. When players trust the product – because withdrawals are smooth, terms are clear, support is responsive, and the journey feels relevant to them – they come back without needing a bonus to prompt them.


THE PATH FORWARD These four approaches share a common foundation: they make player engagement less dependent on promotional spending and more dependent on understanding individual behaviour. Operators investing in this foundation now will adapt more easily when the next regulatory change arrives.


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