BGaming and Strmlytics: "The industry is moving toward a model where understanding the end player is essential, not optional"

In a market where player behaviour changes faster than ever, BGaming and Strmlytics have built a partnership that turns real-time insights into meaningful game design. What started as a collaboration around streamer analytics has grown into a deeper game development collaboration that directly influences some of BGaming’s key releases.

In this interview, Sebastian Khalighy, Co-founder at Strmlytics, and Alex Baliukonis, Game Design Team Lead at BGaming, share deeper insights into the secrets of game creation and what makes their long-term partnership work so effectively.

BGaming and Strmlytics have been collaborating for more than four years. How would you describe the evolution of your partnership? In your opinion, what makes this partnership so effective and sustainable over time?

BGaming: In the beginning, we mainly used the Strmlytics platform to track streamer reach: which streamers were playing our games, how often, and what kind of visibility each title received. For us as a provider, this information was extremely valuable.

Over time, we realised that the Strmlytics team could contribute much more than analytics. Their expertise allowed us to start building truly data-driven games, and that’s when our relationship evolved into a full creative partnership. Since then, we’ve collaborated closely on titles like Aztec Clusters, Snoop Dogg Dollars, and several others. It’s a win-win collaboration!

Strmlytics: BGaming is genuinely open to our ideas and welcomes our data-driven input and research-based player behaviour insights from the live streaming space, which helps us build mechanics that resonate with streamers and players to build the best possible game. Their flexibility throughout development makes it easy to fine-tune mechanics and features together.

Most importantly, working with BGaming is pure fun – the people at BGaming are full of creative energy and have a collaborative spirit that makes every project enjoyable, and we trust each other to bring great ideas to life.

Let’s talk about Wild Wick, a title that became a great example of combining data with expertise. How did the collaboration begin?

Strmlytics: We initiated Wild Wick with our vision, insights and research model, then aligned BGaming’s production and creative directions. Our role was to design a game with solid mechanics, a flawless user experience, and find parts in the gameplay that create memorable moments. The overall objective and scope were to create a game that is designed for streamers and at the same time help to strengthen the BGaming brand among the streaming community.

BGaming: Our collaboration with Strmlytics on Wild Wick began in much the same way as it did on Aztec Clusters. From the very start, we worked together on the core concept and visual direction. I brought several early ideas for the look and mechanics, and through joint discussions, we arrived at the vision of creating a game where the main character directly interacts with the reel grid.

It was a very collaborative, co-creative process, combining their analytical insights with our design exploration to shape the foundation of what Wild Wick eventually became.

Streamer engagement is a core focus for Wild Wick. What elements were designed with that in mind?

Strmlytics: In our research over the years, we have created a “player feeling-matrix” which becomes the foundation for the type of features and mechanics we choose to use in the game. In Wild Wick, we have been focusing on two different “player feelings”, one called “The Unexpected” and another called “The Buildup”, and these are both used in the game.

In the base game, we have a random feature that really can go crazy – creating those memorable unexpected “What just happened?!” moments. Looking at the bonuses, it’s all about stacking up those sticky wilds on the reels and building the multiplier to create maximum potential towards the end of the bonus rounds.

Moving to Merge Up™ 2, what role did the Strmlytics team play in creating the game?

BGaming: Strmlytics played a vital role in analysing the expectations players have on a sequel. Their research showed important insights: that we needed to keep the base mechanics and how to improve them, which is why we added the bomb at the end to give players a “second chance” for new connections.

Alongside this, their research showed players craving for additional features-buys and more potential in the game, upping the max payout to 10,000x. Their knowledge and expertise became a valuable additional source of data for decision-making.

While the internal BGaming team focused on aggregated analytics and overall player feedback, Strmlytics added a layer of expertise that directly influenced the updates in the creation of MergeUp2.

Looking back at the project, what are you most proud of in your contribution to Wild Wick and Merge Up™ 2?

BGaming: I’m proud of Wild Wick’s core mechanics and how polished the improvements to Merge Up™ 2 are as a sequel. Thanks to our collaboration with Strmlytics, the entire gameplay experience is built around what streamers and their audiences genuinely enjoy – moments of anticipation, interaction, and emotional engagement.

Strmlytics: How we manage to transform an idea into an actual product together, both when it comes to creating totally new mechanics, but also how we analysed the player experience when creating a sequel. As always, we are very proud of the creative team at BGaming and how they put together really solid final products, resulting in MergeUp2 and Wild Wick.

How does your collaboration help improve the player experience in the long term? Do you see yourselves shaping new standards for how data and creativity can coexist in iGaming?

Strmlytics: I think this is a must moving forward. We simply need to understand players better, and streamers are the best source of direct player feedback. Your game performance data can take you to a certain step, but you need to understand players on a deeper level: What do they feel when something happens? Do they understand overall mechanics? What is good UX in a slot game?

The questions are many, but the answers vary. I think that combining qualitative research and insights with quantitative data, you will create a better understanding for player behaviours and by doing so you will ultimately create better games.

BGaming: The industry is moving toward a B2B2C model, where understanding the end player is essential, not optional. Strmlytics gives us real behavioural insights – not just numbers – helping us see which moments truly resonate with players and streamers. This allows us to design mechanics that feel natural, engaging, and emotionally rewarding.

In the long term, this approach helps us create better games and sets a foundation for new standards in how data-informed creativity can shape the future of iGaming.