NEXT.io Podcast18 Joulu 2025

Phil Pearson: iGaming Industry 2025 in Review

🎙 NEXT.io Podcast #256 with Phil Pearson, iGaming Consultant.

Another year. Another cycle of hype, pressure, pivots, and hard lessons.

In this episode of the NEXT.io Podcast, Phil Pearson joins Pierre Lindh to unpack what really happened across iGaming in the past 12 months beyond the headlines.

Together, they explore the widening gap between innovation headlines and real progress, the pressure leaders are facing behind the scenes, the growing importance of focus over scale, and why many companies are quietly reassessing their priorities.

It’s a grounded conversation about what moved the needle, what didn’t, and what lessons are worth carrying into the year ahead.

⏰ Timestamps:

00:00 - Intro

00:41 - Sponsor messages

02:04 - Welcome Phil Pearson

04:06 – Yolo’s move into regulation: why it matters

06:38 - Personal reset: health, sabbatical & perspective

11:55 - Biggest industry stories of the year

14:19 - Charity, Dar Bjorn & responsibility in iGaming

16:17 - Investigative journalism

33:27 - Game Studio Awards: overview

33:33 - Best studio of the year

39:29 - Best newcomer studio

40:39 - Worst studio of the year

44:01 - Most underwhelming game releases

49:56 - Live game of the year

51:21 - RNG game of the year

52:36 - Best industry freebies & swag

57:23 - Grey products explained

58:12 - Sweepstakes, prediction markets & loopholes

01:12:56 - The defining trend of 2026: grey products

01:30:02 - Events review: what worked, what didn’t

01:49:00 - Final outlook: where the industry is heading

🔔 SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/409DefE06IKPhZzhDIDpH3?si=bf60dedab34e45bc

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/next-io-podcast/id1515442333

CONNECT WITH NEXT.IO

✩ Website - https://next.io/

This episode of NEXT.io is brought to you by:

Pragmatic Solutions – Leading iGaming platform technology.

https://pragmatic.solutions/

Pragmatic Play – Industry-leading content provider.

https://www.pragmaticplay.com/en/

Jaksot(473)

📺 Weekly News - M&A updates on Flutter, Playtech, Kindred, EveryMatrix

This week on NEXT.io Weekly News, Conor and Nico discuss a plethora of iGaming M&As, including Flutter's £2.3bn purchase of Snaitech, FDJ's acquisition of Kindred, and more. Tune in to Weekly News liv...

20 Syys 202439min

Vladimir Malakchi: How to seek investment in iGaming

🎙 NEXT.io Podcast #201 with Vladimir Malakchi, CEO of Xanada Investments Pierre Lindh and Vladimir Malakchi, CEO of Xanada Investments, discuss the keys to successful fundraising, the importance of ...

19 Syys 202454min

Carolina Estrada: 200 Podcast Episode!

🎙 NEXT.io Podcast #200 with Carolina Estrada Duque, Account Manager at Evolution. Carolina's story is one that will leave you in awe — despite enduring a tumultuous childhood and adolescence, she h...

17 Syys 20241h 16min

Daniel "Jungleman" Cates: Poker as a microcosm for life

🎙 NEXT.io Podcast #199 with Daniel "Jungle" Man, professional poker player. Daniel "Jungleman" Cates, one of the most iconic figures in the #poker world, shares his journey and insights in our late...

12 Syys 202454min

Vested Interest #15: Micro-betting Extravaganza with Joey Levy & Tomash Devenishek

🎙️ Welcome to episode #15 of Vested Interest, with Pierre Lindh, Lloyd Danzig & Benjie Cherniak. Special Guests: Joey Levy - Founder, Simplebet & CEO, Betr Tomash Devenishek - Founder, Kero Sports...

10 Syys 202443min

📺 Weekly News: Kambi and Genius Sports deny acquisition rumours

This week on NEXT.io Weekly News, we address Kambi and Genius Sports refuting acquisition rumors and what that means for the market. We also look into the Philippines' intensified actions against ille...

5 Syys 202434min

Karolina Pelc: There is no work-life balance as a founder

🎙 NEXT.io Podcast #197 with Karolina Pelc, VP at BEyondPlay, FanDuel 🎧 𝗛𝗼𝘄'𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸-𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲? Karolina Pelc shares how she balanced intense workloads at a startup and ...

4 Syys 20241h 21min

📺 Weekly News: DraftKings acquires Simplebet plus the biggest stories of the week!

Catch this week’s NEXT.io Weekly News for a quick rundown of significant iGaming updates. Highlights include DraftKings' acquisition of Simplebet, enhancing its betting technology. We also cover Evoke...

29 Elo 202452min