A LOOK FORWARD Microgaming


sector will look like in 12 months’ time – but one thing we can be absolutely certain about is that ESG (environment, social and governance) factors will continue to become increasingly important for all companies in the iGaming sector and beyond. Having an effective ESG framework in place is – of course – crucial to setting your business up for long term success as it not only enables you to effectively build a more sustainable future for your employees and the communities that you operate in, but also improve the health of the planet in general. With this in mind, Microgaming already has a strong CSR programme in place that we will be continually improving and evolving in a way that is more easily measurable against an ESG backdrop. As a company, Microgaming is now in its


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ith iGaming being such a dynamic and rapidly-changing industry, it can often be hard to predict exactly what the


29th year of operation and during that time, we’ve sought to better understand how we can safeguard our business for the future. The creation of our community campus in 2017 was our first attempt to publicly demonstrate how much the planet means to us and we’ve since published a sustainability pledge that we consistently monitor ourselves against. This year, we intend to dive deeper into that to learn how we’re doing and discover the areas for improvement.


Of course, we’ve also invested in training for our staff to better understand ESG and have appointed a dedicated Environmental Officer to keep our carbon position in line throughout the year – something that has been a major focus for us ever since we achieved BREEAM status and introduced an official Environmental Management


System. Again, with more and more suppliers and clients requesting this type of data, we expect it to become a standard feature for reports in our industry in the coming year.


On the governance and social side of things, meanwhile, our facilities team achieved new ISOs last year and we’ve since introduced policies that will aid a safe working environment. Our staff will be further trained on how to stay safe online and keep data protected and we will continue to only work with like-minded partners to ensure we build quality relationships for the future. Likewise, we’ll continue to collaborate with charities and other worthy causes to meet the sustainable development goals that we’re working towards and ensure our communities get the level of support that they need.


Sporting Risk Andy Phillips, CCO


advent of advanced VR/AR devices from tech giants like Apple and Meta is poised to unveil groundbreaking use cases. This shift will transform our interaction with digital platforms, extending beyond traditional mobile betting apps to immersive and virtually infinite worlds. This expansion of UX real estate will facilitate a deeper engagement in niche markets, such as player props, fully integrated into this new experience. For sportsbooks, offering a vast depth of markets while maintaining their combinability will become increasingly crucial. Another obvious major disruptor redefining UX is AI-powered chat interfaces. The UX of a sportsbook is currently still stuck in web 2.0, a bit like a search engine, you can give it some instructions on what you want but then have to scroll around to find the right thing. Search has already been disrupted by ChatGPT and Bard so that


W 14 JANUARY 2024 GIO


e’re on the cusp of a significant UX paradigm shift in the wider


consumer tech space. The


you just ask the exact question you want and it gives you the exact answer potentially even improving on your question. Sportsbooks haven’t matched that evolution yet. At Sporting Risk, we are betting on being able to streamline the somewhat clunky and tedious Betbuilder process using our CoPilot feature.


Elsewhere, the welcome continued focus on Responsible Gaming will likely soften operator interest in products like tennis and table tennis and promote competition for recreational customers. Operators will need to serve up a differentiated and entertaining product to win the share of the audience that is more of a sports fan, interested in the underlying content. In markets like the UK and Europe, this will increase emphasis on products around televised football. Innovations in Player props, Betbuilder and statistical insights will all be at the forefront of operator plans – these are all areas where we have already placed our chips and will continue to invest heavily to drive home our advantages.


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