Watch: Can regulation, innovation and entertainment truly co-exist in iGaming?
At SiGMA Central Europe in Rome in November 2025, a panel titled Gaming Trend Wars: 2025 Reality vs 2026 Game-Changers, powered by SOFTSWISS, brought these challenges into sharp focus.
Powered by SOFTSWISS and moderated by Ivan Montik, Founder of SOFTSWISS, the discussion featured Heathcliff Farrugia, COO of SiGMA Group, Pierre Lindh, Co-Founder & Managing Director of NEXT.io, and Denis Ristic, CEO of Popiplay, each offering perspectives from regulation, media and product development.
Regulatory fragmentation
Opening the panel, Montik questioned whether regulators and industry players can work together without driving activity offshore. For Lindh, the issue is that Europe lacks a unified industry voice. “In the US, industries come together to collaborate for the better of the entire ecosystem,” Lindh said, pointing to the American Gaming Association as an example of effective collective lobbying. “In Europe, the industry is far more fragmented, which makes us more vulnerable to regulation without industry input.”
While Europe has numerous national trade bodies, Lindh argued they are underfunded and operate in silos. “We don’t have anything that really brings the industry together in one unified voice,” he added, suggesting that meaningful change would require major operators to commit resources and leadership to a pan-European initiative.
Realistic harmonisation
Farrugia agreed that fragmentation remains one of the industry’s biggest challenges. “We moved away from licence passporting across the EU, and I don’t see that coming back anytime soon,” he said.
However, Farrugia did see scope for progress. While tax will remain state-by-state under the point-of-consumption model, he argued that harmonisation in other areas is overdue. “Now that tax is being paid where consumption happens, why don’t we start discussing how European citizens should be protected in a more consistent way?”
He warned that excessive compliance costs are pushing regulated operators into an impossible position. “Operators are spending more money on compliance than on product,” Farrugia noted, adding that overregulation risks empowering illegal operators who face no such burden.
Grey markets and products
Lindh introduced a key shift in thinking with the move from grey markets to grey products. “In Europe, we talk about grey markets. In the US, they talk about grey products, sweepstakes, prediction markets, mystery boxes,” he said.
These products operate under alternative regulatory frameworks, allowing gambling-like experiences without traditional gambling licences. Lindh highlighted how prediction markets in the US, regulated by the CFTC, have disrupted established operators. “DraftKings lost 45% of its market cap partly because of the rise of prediction markets,” he said, underscoring how regulatory loopholes can reshape competition.
He suggested Europe may eventually follow suit. “It’s an obvious opportunity for European operators to look at other legal frameworks to offer gambling-like products,” Lindh said, positioning innovation as both a survival tactic and a negotiation tool with regulators.
Entertainment for the next generation
From the B2B side, Ristic highlighted the growing disconnect between regulation and younger audiences. “Younger generations don’t just want to play, they want entertainment. They want the games streamers are playing, the games that matter,” he said.
Ristic warned that increasingly restrictive rules limit the industry’s ability to innovate. “To create what younger players want, you need time and money. If regulation becomes more restrictive, we will have less of both,” he said.
While regulation brings data, clarity and structure, it also raises costs and lowers ROI, particularly for smaller studios. “By the time a game is approved, you’re already working on version three or four,” Farrugia added, advocating for outcome-based rather than prescriptive regulation.
Looking to 2026
Asked to name a potential game-changer, Lindh expressed cautious optimism. “I hope we see faster discussions around EU harmonisation,” he said. Ristic, meanwhile, focused on product evolution, “Better games, more entertaining products, and more exclusive experiences.”
The panel concluded that coexistence between regulation, innovation and entertainment is possible, but only if the industry and regulators evolve together, rather than in opposition. Join us at one of our next global events, where industry leaders unpack the next wave of regulation, innovation and entertainment in iGaming.
