"Our goal for 2025 was never just to grow; it was to become the industry's leading product marketplace"

As the curtain falls on 2025, the global betting and gaming industry reflects on a year defined by a stark transition. The era of unchecked expansion has given way to a sophisticated landscape of consolidation and surgical selectivity.

At the heart of this shift is NYCE International, a company that has spent the last 12 months not just navigating the chaos but building the infrastructure for what comes next. In this exclusive feature for Yogonet, Harmen Brenninkmeijer, Executive Chairman at NYCE, reflects on what 2025 meant for the company.

The year of the "clean slate"

For NYCE, 2025 was a landmark year of internal and external alignment. While many in the sector struggled with legacy structures, NYCE focused on a clear, singular objective: going public and streamlining its shareholder base as part of its plan. 

"The goal was never just to grow; it was to become the industry's leading product marketplace," Harmen Brenninkmeijer, Executive Chairman at NYCE, tells Yogonet. "We recognized that operators don’t just need more options; they need a filter. They need a marketplace that aligns the interests of all parties through clear definitions and shared expectations." 

This strategic goal positions NYCE as a high-stakes bridge. By taking over the heavy lifting of project management, negotiation, and cultural vetting, NYCE has become an outsourced "Head of Strategy" for operators and an "External Sales Force" for suppliers. 

Where demand meets reality

Looking at the operational data from the past year, the demand for innovation has been tempered by a need for stability. While AI and Web3 integration remain high-interest topics, the real "battleground" services in 2025 were Product Distribution, Payments, and Compliance.

This shift signals a maturing industry, Brenninkmeijer tells Yogonet. Operators are no longer chasing the "next big thing" in a vacuum; they are looking for custom, unique game content that can be integrated swiftly despite increasing regulatory friction. 

NYCE’s Advisory Partnership Network (APN) has become the answer to this complexity, providing a vetted ecosystem where complex issues like AML, KYC, and multi-jurisdictional licensing are handled before the first line of code is ever integrated. 

The strategy: Build, buy, or partner?

Perhaps the most critical service NYCE provided in 2025 was guiding the "Build vs. Buy" dilemma. As margins tightened under regulatory pressure, the company’s advice to operators has been firm: Control your core; outsource your complexity. By encouraging operators to maintain ownership of their PAM (Player Account Management) and CRM systems while leveraging the NYCE marketplace for external products, the company has helped clients to scale with less overhead.

For small-to-mid-sized suppliers, this model can be a lifeline, reducing their marketing spend and allowing them to focus on what they do best: building great games. In this model, marketing works as an extension of product and compliance, explains Brenninkmeijer. Creative built from jurisdictional approvals, payment readiness, and CRM plans shortens the gap from demo to deposit. The highest ROI comes from partner enablement and conversion at go-live, not top-of-funnel noise. 

"Also, consider the "one-stop" shop with NYCE as the missing link between providers and operators," says the executive. "It’s not just about the number of products we can offer (100+); it’s about the "art" of procurement, where NYCE helps to save time and budget by aligning requirements, verifying certifications, and sequencing integrations to select the right products while avoiding the cost."

2026: The global scaling frontier

As we look toward 2026, the industry faces a paradox. The opportunity for expansion into emerging markets has never been greater, yet the risk of "regulatory squeeze" in regulated markets remains a significant threat to global scaling and could move activity back into the grey market.

NYCE is preparing for this next phase by leaning into its role as a Venture Builder. By identifying underfinanced or niche companies and providing them with the strategic "APN" support they need, NYCE is effectively helping create the next generation of industry leaders.

"The winners of 2026 won't be the companies with the most money, but the companies with the best partnerships," concludes Harmen. "We are here to ensure those partnerships are built on a foundation of results, not noise."