On May 13th, the Eastern European Gaming Summit (EEGS) hosted a dedicated affiliate webinar exploring one of the most pressing challenges in iGaming today: how affiliates can stay commercially effective while adopting an increasingly responsible role in player protection. The session, titled “Balancing Compliance and Conversion: The Affiliate’s Role in Responsible Gaming” featured Gjorgje Ristikj, Founder of Gamblers Connect and Co-Founder & CEO of RankRadar, as keynote speaker.

The conversation unfolded against a backdrop of intensifying regulatory oversight and market saturation, highlighting the transformation of the affiliate segment into an essential part of the iGaming ecosystem. As emphasized during the discussion, affiliates are no longer peripheral actors but full-fledged digital media businesses, operating with considerable investment in content, compliance, analytics, and brand credibility.

Ristikj pointed out that modern affiliates are increasingly absorbing roles traditionally associated with internal marketing teams, from advanced SEO operations and audience segmentation to responsible gaming communications and transparency standards. These shifts are not merely cosmetic. As the speaker noted, operators now rely on affiliates not only to acquire traffic but to reinforce brand integrity, especially in competitive or newly regulated markets.

One of the core themes discussed was the growing expectation for affiliates to support safe gaming environments, both through the content they produce and the brands they choose to promote. In a concrete example, Ristikj introduced a Responsible Gambling Scoring Index, developed by Gamblers Connect. The tool evaluates operators on the presence of key responsible gaming features and publicly displays a score to inform and empower players. This kind of initiative reflects a broader industry movement to embed responsible gaming principles at every stage of the user journey.

Another major focus was the mounting operational pressure faced by affiliates. While operators remain accustomed to revenue-share partnerships, Ristikj argued that fixed listing fees are becoming necessary to sustain professional affiliate operations. Investment in content, platform development, video production, and tracking infrastructure has significantly raised the cost of doing business, especially as privacy regulations and attribution challenges reduce the reliability of traditional performance models.

The webinar also touched on the emergence of video-driven affiliate strategies and personal branding as a differentiator in a crowded landscape. As new players, many backed by agencies or former operator teams, enter the market with aggressive strategies, trust and transparency are becoming the critical assets for sustainable success.

The session concluded with a clear message: affiliates who want to remain relevant must adapt to a new standard of accountability. That means embedding responsible gaming principles not only as a compliance checkbox but as a core part of the brand experience, something players, regulators, and operators will increasingly expect.

The EEGS Affiliate Webinar is part of a broader initiative by EEGS to provide actionable insights and elevate the strategic role of affiliates in the global iGaming industry.

For those who missed the live session, the on-demand video is now available. You can watch the full session here: https://youtu.be/MJeYZfPI6Rs?si=BVp0yA0Vcpu9FDJx

The EU and slots focused casino affiliate Slotsoo.com joined the social casino craze in June 2024 when they launched their first social tournaments. Now, almost one year later, they are back in the headlines with a new proprietary social tournament platform.

Slotsoo social tournaments 2.0 launched its first real money tournaments last week on the 15^th of May. The new format with fixed spins and fixed balance tournaments introduce a strategy element to slot gaming, making it more interactive and engaging for players. The new platform has been developed in-house and supports games from multiple providers – opening up the door for future expansion.

Innovation Inspired by Existing Greatness

Slotsoo’s talented team of developers have been busy in 2025 building the system and API for slot tournaments. In the press release, Markus Björk, Head Writer, presents the new platform to industry media. He emphasises that this is a type of incremental innovation:

“Slotsoo is not trying to reinvent the wheel, but instead we do improvements on already existing great ideas. For example, in 2023 we launched casino stories inspired by Instagram’s stories and last year we went live with smart user filtering of casino lists inspired by Amazon. The new tournament platform has also taken inspiration from other actors both inside and outside the iGaming industry.”

The main difference with Slotsoo tournament 2.0 from its predecessor is the multi-provider support, but the new system also brings strategy into slot gaming.

Introducing the Strategy Element to Slot Tournaments

Traditionally speaking, winning in slot machines has been purely a question of luck. Most slot tournaments give players a set amount of spins and they are not allowed to change the bet size, so they can only press the spin button and hope for the best.

Slotsoo’s new tournaments allow players to be strategic. Players can change the bet sizes and they can also choose if they want to use the bonus buy feature or not.

In fixed spins tournaments the money is also limited, just like in the fixed balance tournament. So players can choose to do just a few spins with max bet, or to keep the bet size on a level so that they can afford to play all spins before balance runs out.

Introducing the strategy element to the tournaments make them more interactive and engaging. The Slotsoo team hopes this will help attract the younger generations of adult casino players, who grew up playing video games. Markus Björk, Head Writerends by saying:

“Only a small percentage of humans enjoy playing 100% strategy-based games such as chess, and it’s the same with 100% luck-based games. The most popular games by the general public combine strategy and luck.”

Expanding with More Providers in the Future

The past year the casino affiliate has been focused on establishing partnerships with game providers and the team has attended several industry events for this reason, including the Mare Balticum Gaming and Tech Summit 2024. Slotsoo launched their first social tournaments last summer in cooperation with Pragmatic Play, one of their media partners. The team is really grateful to have been given this opportunity and gives the people at Pragmatic Play their warmest thanks.

Slotsoo’s new tournaments are not tied to a specific game provider. Instead, multiple providers can join the platform. Currently two game providers, Qora and Eurasian, have completed the integration and their games are now featured in the live tournaments. Markus Björk informs that there is no upper limit on how many providers can be connected simultaneously and that the team is actively working on getting more providers on board.

A mutually beneficial partnership is the goal. The Slotsoo tournaments reach players from all over Europe and is a good way for smaller providers to make players familiar with them. After all, people are more inclined to test new games when they don’t have to spend their own money – especially when there is real money to be won.

For Slotsoo, the hope is that the tournaments will help grow their brand and create a loyal fan base. Markus Björk says it is also a low threshold way for new people to try slots and potentially convert them into real casino players.

Game providers interested in joining Slotsoo’s tournament platform can reach out to [email protected] for more information.

ReferOn, a state-of-the-art affiliate management system, continues its positive momentum in 2025 with its recent nomination for the prestigious “Best Affiliate Management Platform” category at the upcoming iGB Affiliate Awards 2025.

The iGB Affiliate Awards is one of the biggest and most respected ceremonies in iGaming, gathering the industry’s brightest minds and influential figures. This year’s iteration of the event anticipates over 400 affiliates, programmes, and vendors for a night of celebration and networking.

ReferOn’s operational focus for 2025 has been on innovating and updating the platform to provide best-in-class tools and solutions for its users. The company has implemented multiple new features, such as the recent Payments Module overhaul to empower affiliates and operators by helping them maximise their campaigns. This dedication to excellence has established it as a frontrunner for the “Best Affiliate Management Platform” category.

David Harris, ReferOn’s Operations Lead, commented on the nomination, “This nomination for such a prestigious category demonstrates the ReferOn team’s hard work throughout the year. We’ve emphasised delivering the best possible solutions and services for our clients, including bolstering our customer support and implementing all-new tools. We look forward to attending the event and congratulate all our peers who have been shortlisted.”

The iGB Affiliate Awards will take place on July 3rd, 2025, at The Troxy, London. The ReferOn team will attend the ceremony and looks forward to connecting with industry peers and a night of celebration.