The 800-day countdown: iGaming's race to personalisation
The global iGaming market is approaching $100 billion, and the leading operators are rapidly expanding their data science and AI teams. And it makes sense. Players now spend most of their digital lives on platforms like Netflix, TikTok, and YouTube – ecosystems that adapt to them in seconds. When they play, they expect the same level of relevance, speed, and recognition.
“The countdown has begun,” says Viktoriia Grygorenko, CEO of The Playa. In her view, the iGaming industry has less than 800 days before personalisation becomes a baseline functionality rather than a differentiator. The next two years, she says, will determine which operators lead this transformation – and which struggle to keep up.
Why personalisation matters now
Across developed markets, customer acquisition costs continue to rise – driven by advertising restrictions, tighter regulations, and growing competition for player attention. At the same time, entering new markets demands greater investment in compliance, localisation, and licensing, making expansion slower and more resource-intensive.
A generational shift is also reshaping the industry. Most casino players today are between 35 and 45, but within the next decade, Gen Z will start moving into that group and become a major source of revenue. Having grown up with TikTok, YouTube, and Spotify, they’re used to digital experiences that adjust to them instantly. Static casino lobbies or one-size-fits-all bonus schemes feel increasingly out of step.
“We see across our clients that personalisation improves unit economics and financials of the business,” says Viktoriia Grygorenko. “Spending more on acquisition isn’t always possible, and it’s rarely a sustainable strategy – so the focus shifts to activating already acquired players and keeping them engaged longer. Behavioural data enables personalisation to do that: it reveals what players actually do and value, helping teams to improve turnover and retention rates, and prioritise the features that continue to boost player experience.”
The Playa’s approach to personalisation
Founded by a team with iGaming backgrounds in analytics, product development, and machine learning, The Playa develops AI-powered personalisation solutions that help operators turn player data into relevant, adaptive experiences.
The company offers three core solutions, each targeting a different stage of the player lifecycle:
- Lobby Personalisation – daily game recommendations deeply personalised for every player.
- Newbies Boost – early personalisation for new users (even with no player history) to activate them faster during the first critical month and retain them longer.
- Active Players Boost – predictive models that suggest proactive retention strategies to engage players and prevent churn.
Each solution is the result of the machine learning and analytics team’s experience – refined through continuous experimentation with existing clients and trained specifically on operators’ data. When customised to a company’s data, the relevance for both the business and its players reaches its maximum.
According to The Playa, operators using these tools typically see +5–15% growth in bets and LTV and up to 25% revenue uplift overall. One operator working across several regions – from core markets to smaller test geographies – implemented Lobby Personalisation and saw consistent growth across the board: 8-19% in turnover та 2-9% in active days per user. The strongest retention gains appeared in smaller markets.
The reason, says Oleksandra Prozur, Head of Engineering at The Playa, is that smaller or side markets often receive less attention from retention teams because they aren’t the immediate priority. “When players experience a personalised journey, it stands out – and it keeps them coming back.”
The race ahead
With less than 800 days until personalisation becomes a standard expectation, the race is already underway. Some operators are still experimenting, while others are scaling fast – turning data into one-to-one experiences that feel intuitive and relevant.
Whichever path they choose, the direction is clear: in the next two years, personalisation will separate the leaders from the laggards. Those who master it early won’t just compete more effectively – they’ll define what iGaming feels like in its next era.
