Dominator Play CEO Ivan Kalashniuk: “Most B2B iGaming providers still don’t get trust”

In this article, Dominator Play CEO Ivan Kalashniuk explains why modern iGaming partnerships are no longer driven by game portfolios alone, but by commercial flexibility, promotional alignment, and measurable post-integration performance.

Five years ago, in the cycle of gambling industry partnerships, a strong portfolio and a polished pitch deck could move a conversation forward. Today, nobody cares how impressive your portfolio volume looks if the numbers don’t move after integration.

According to Dominator Play CEO Ivan Kalashniuk, most operators want to omit the stuff related to internal processes. After more than 7 years inside the industry, across partnerships, white-label iGaming integrations, monetization models, and operational scaling, his view is direct: casinos stopped buying potential. They now expect alignment, flexibility, and visible delivery.

What is the first thing operators actually ask during new iGaming partnerships today?

Ivan Kalashniuk: The first question is almost never about the games anymore.

Almost nobody starts with mechanics, RTP logic, or even roadmap discussions. The first thing every iGaming partner wants to understand is simple: how flexible you are commercially.

Operators today run under completely different pressure compared to even two years ago. Acquisition costs are higher, and retention is more expensive. Every integration within iGaming operations must justify itself in terms of revenue. The time frame for this gets tighter every year.

A casino game provider can have strong visuals, decent math models, and stable infrastructure. But if there’s no flexibility around the deal, promo support, or shared growth strategy, the discussion usually stops there.

Operators increasingly expect providers to participate in promotion and acquisition. Why has that become so critical?

Because traffic became expensive. I would say attention became more expensive. That changed the economics of the entire industry.

Before, many operators were satisfied with a standard integration model. The provider delivered content, the operator handled acquisition, and both sides waited for revenue to stabilize naturally over time.

That model is becoming weaker every quarter. Today, if an iGaming game provider enters a partnership without a promotional mindset, the operator immediately sees additional risk. And operators are already overloaded with operational risk everywhere: from acquisition costs to retention volatility, low-quality traffic, and bonus abuse. Nobody wants another passive vendor relationship.

This is why iGaming commercial deals now include conversations around:

• branded games (with customized UI/UX, sound, and mechanics);

• influencer marketing;

• co-promo campaigns;

• streamer activity;

• affiliate support;

• UGC casino campaigns;

• acquisition mechanics tied to performance.

In reality, many online casino providers still operate with outdated logic. They think integration alone creates value. It doesn’t. Integration only creates access. Growth still needs to be engineered after launch.

Today, attention spans in iGaming are basically goldfish-level. Add to this heavier and more massive content saturation. A game launch without promotional support disappears very quickly, even if the product itself is technically strong. The market now expects providers to think more like growth partners, not content suppliers.

Does anyone still care about the story behind the provider?

Not at the beginning. 

Operators today don’t buy narratives first. They buy visible performance potential. Trust only appears once the numbers are visible in real iGaming operations. Everything else is secondary.

This is exactly why analytics is such a big part of iGaming bizdev. We use Blask analytics extensively because instinct alone is no longer enough. When acquisition costs move weekly, and player behavior changes almost in real time, you need visibility into what is actually happening across traffic, retention, engagement, and monetization.

Operators don’t care how many departments you have or which technologies your developers prefer if the post-integration performance doesn’t move the business.

Once both sides invest in the same commercial outcome, the relationship becomes more transparent very quickly. You stop having theoretical discussions and start focusing on measurable execution. These are retention, conversion, player activity, session depth, and iGaming revenue dynamics.

The important part is that operators quickly notice whether your intention is genuine or performative. If a B2B iGaming provider talks about “supporting growth” but avoids participating in tournaments, the signal becomes obvious immediately.

What does a real provider-operator tandem actually look like today?

For Dominator Play, partnership only makes sense when both sides are focused on the same outcome, the above-mentioned visible commercial delivery.

This is where some iGaming partnerships weaken very early on. One side expects growth collaboration, while the other side behaves like a passive vendor after integration is completed. That model no longer works.

This is why we don’t treat our iGaming partner as just another contract to boast about on LinkedIn. If the operator grows, we grow. If performance slows down, both sides need to react fast. 

And honestly, this mindset also shapes how we build products inside Dominator Play. We don’t create games in isolation from commercial reality. The entire logic behind the product is tied to scalability, promotion compatibility, and a measurable impact on iGaming revenue.

For example, we focus on mobile-first games because this is where the majority of player attention already exists. Volatility and RTP settings are flexible because operators work with different player cohorts. Launch campaigns with streamer and UGC promotions in mind are considered before integration, not after mechanics are designed. The same goes for why we are so flexible with branded games, delivering them in less than 2 weeks. We understand that they give instant recognition in a market flooded with interchangeable slots.

At the end of the day, nobody remembers who had the coolest booth at ICE. They remember who actually brought them the thickest slice of revenue. Dominator Play is fine-tuned for exactly that. What are you doing with your turn?