Author: Charles Shephardson

Advocacy group Gambling with Lives is among numerous charities affected by a significant cybersecurity breach targeting third-party CRM provider Beacon. The charity, which supports families bereaved by gambling-related suicides, was notified that its data had been compromised as part of the wider attack. Beacon, which works with over 1,500 charities and cultural organisations across the country, had its systems breached by unknown bad actors in late July and early August. Charles Ritchie, chair of Gambling with Lives trustees, communicated the news to stakeholders in an email seen by NEXT.io on 6 August 2026. Ritchie wrote: “Beacon told us that compromised…

The SOFTSWISS Tech Race Summit has expanded its speaker programme ahead of its 10 September event in Warsaw, Poland. Two prominent technology leaders have been confirmed, bringing expertise from globally recognised companies outside the iGaming sector. Javier Verdura, global director of Product Design at Tesla, will deliver a session titled Building High-Performance Teams: Lessons from Tesla. His presentation will explore how Tesla builds teams capable of delivering products at speed while maintaining quality and innovation across a global operation. Also joining the line-up is Mikita Mikado, co-founder of PandaDoc, a unicorn document management platform with international reach and recognition. Mikado’s…

Playtika has reported stronger second-quarter revenue and a sharp profit improvement, while softening its full-year performance expectations for 2026. The mobile-games group retained its annual guidance ranges but signalled that both revenue and adjusted earnings are likely to finish near their lower limits. Revenue for the quarter reached $731.1m, up 5% year on year, though it came in 1.8% below the first quarter of the year. Net income climbed to $48m from $33.2m, while adjusted EBITDA surged 23.4% annually to $206.1m, producing a 28.2% margin. CEO Robert Antokol struck a confident tone, saying: “Our second quarter results demonstrate what has…

Catena Media has carried out another wave of redundancies, this time hitting its regional sites team alongside personnel in its broader tech and marketing functions. The affiliate marketing company confirmed the layoffs to NEXT.io, describing the cuts as part of its continuous streamlining of operations and in line with its strategy to sharpen focus on core products. Multiple sources familiar with the matter told NEXT.io that the regional sites team was eliminated entirely, with its responsibilities redistributed across other groups within the business. Catena confirmed the restructuring has affected five roles in total, with the company stating that those impacted…

Esports betting specialist DATA.BET has signed a new partnership with Hollywoodbets, South Africa’s most prominent sports and entertainment betting operator. The deal gives Hollywoodbets access to DATA.BET’s full esports betting ecosystem, enabling the operator to launch a comprehensive product with minimal integration complexity. Hollywoodbets was specifically seeking a provider capable of delivering depth of coverage, in-house trading expertise, and a fast route to market in the growing African esports betting space. The integration includes a Single Page Application iFrame, Odds Feed, Bet Builder, Widgets, and Streaming, all backed by fully managed risk and trading services. Players will have access to…

Affilka, a leading iGaming affiliate marketing software provider, has closed a landmark first half of 2026 with three major milestones across product development, market recognition, and tournament performance. The global iGaming sector is pausing to assess performance as the midpoint of 2026 passes, reviewing market shifts and setting strategic priorities for the second half. Affilka attended iGB L!VE 2026 in London in early July, joining top-tier operators, affiliates, and B2B providers for high-level networking and strategic discussions. Key conversations at the Affilka stand centred on balancing traffic volume with quality, combating affiliate fraud, and navigating evolving payout models such as…

Pixbet, one of Brazil’s most recognisable pre-regulation betting brands, is actively seeking a buyer as the company battles serious regulatory and operational challenges. The Paraíba-founded operator rose to prominence after its 2020 founding through an aggressive marketing and sponsorship strategy targeting Brazil’s massive football fanbase. At its peak, Pixbet secured front-of-shirt deals with some of the country’s most celebrated football clubs, including a high-profile partnership with Flamengo that ultimately ended early amid reports of late payments. That Flamengo deal has since been replaced by a shirt agreement with market leader Betano, owned by Kaizen Gaming, reportedly worth around $50 million…

FeedConstruct, a global provider of sports data and streaming solutions, has announced an exclusive partnership with the Football Association of Wales. The agreement hands FeedConstruct exclusive global betting streaming and data rights across Wales’ top domestic football competitions. The deal covers the Novira Cymru Premier, the Genero Adran Premier, and the Cymru North and South leagues. These competitions represent the full breadth of Welsh domestic football, from elite men’s and women’s leagues to the competitive regional pyramid below. The Novira Cymru Premier and Genero Adran Premier sit at the top of the Welsh football structure, attracting top clubs and emerging…

Flutter Entertainment reported a 3% revenue increase in Q2 2026, but mounting costs pushed the group to a significant net loss for the quarter. Revenue for the three months to 30 June reached $4.33bn, while adjusted EBITDA fell 45% to $508m and net loss hit $296m. Higher UK gambling taxes, heavier investment in FanDuel, and World Cup marketing expenditure all weighed heavily on the group’s bottom line during the period. Flutter has now reduced its full-year guidance across both revenue and adjusted EBITDA, following a similar downward revision after its first-quarter results. Outgoing CEO Peter Jackson, whose departure was revealed…

Oddin.gg, the B2B technology company best known for its end-to-end esports betting ecosystem, has announced the creation of Oddin Casino, a new dedicated business division. The move represents Oddin.gg’s first major expansion beyond esports and signals casino entertainment as a long-term strategic vertical for the company going forward. The division’s first product will be a digital live dealer built on proprietary models developed specifically for real-time character performance and player interaction. Engineers behind Oddin Casino have previously built systems at Meta, Google DeepMind, HeyGen, and Samsung, bringing significant technical expertise to the project. The team has spent more than a…