Why White Label Is A Trap For iGaming Brands | Oliver De Bono | Quantum Gaming | AIBC Eurasia Dubai

What's the biggest trap brands fall into when they want to choose a white label?

A white label by default is a trap. Why? Because you are committing your player, your brand to another provider. You can launch quickly, but quickly doesn't mean successfully. Launch your brand in 30 minutes doesn't necessarily mean it means I'm going to lock you in in 30 minutes. That's my opinion.

How far is too far? How much is too much? Too much regulation stifles innovation. Too little creates a free-for-all. iGaming Real Talk is excited to share with you we are launching a new interview series that we have recorded at AIBC Eurasia in Dubai. In two days we have had conversations with experts, innovators, and leaders shaping the future within AI, fintech, blockchain, gaming in the region, as well as some of the hot topics like prediction markets.

This series is brought to you by EvoVerse. They are experts in building custom crypto iGaming products that actually grow organically. This series is also brought to you by GBO. Since 2009 they have been helping iGaming businesses with company setup, licenses, banking, and software solutions. So, stay tuned and I will see you within these interviews. Hello and welcome back to iGaming Real Talk.

Today we are here at AIBC Eurasia in Dubai and I have with me Oliver De Bono, who is the founder of Quantum Gaming, who is also someone I really respect and like because we worked together at SiGMA back in the day and we have an amazing relationship. So, you know, Oliver, welcome to the show.

Thank you very much, Surya. Great to be here and it's great to be talking to you again. You know, we worked together for quite a while. We had a lot of exciting times building a brand together that's, let's say, now a giant in the industry. So, it's quite a proud moment I think for both of us.

Absolutely. I remember when you entered into the boardroom with the automation solution.

This was back in 2018. Yeah, '17, '17 actually. Yeah.

Yeah, and then what started off that way has brought you into the group as COO. You have expanded, you have hired a lot of people, and the group just exploded by 2019 to 80, 90 people. You remember? It was an amazing time.

Yeah, actually joined the group based on the logic of supporting the events grow through automation. Once we started looking at the scaling and what we wanted to do with the brand, I mean, I wasn't an events guy. Eman is the events guy and he built an empire. But I really had fun putting things together, hiring the right people, just bringing different synergies into one room, which has now led to something really cool.

And it's like I said, it's a pride moment for all of us, right?

Yes, I was sitting in the press conference this morning and I saw AIBC in the video and I had goosebumps and tears because, you know, I was responsible for creating that acronym in the first place and I was part of the first Malta Blockchain Summit. So, for me to see the brand like that was just beautiful, you know?

I know and you know what really impresses me, a lot of people till today they're not even 100% sure what SiGMA actually means. And you remember it in the early days it was Summit of iGaming Malta. I'm just so happy to see where the brand has come to, still in some ways be part of it. Obviously now I'm a client of SiGMA, so, but just having been part of that is super exciting.

Definitely. Well, jumping onto your area of expertise, you've been in the white label space for a long time, more specifically like maybe from three, four years if I'm not mistaken with Quantum Gaming. So, I would like to understand from your experience what's the biggest trap that brands fall into when they want to choose a white label platform.

So, this is really interesting because it's actually happening now. Let's talk, yeah? I'm not going to sugarcoat it. We get a ton of white labels coming to us today in the current market with, let's call it, different types of hurdles. But the reality is a white label by default is a trap. Why? Because you are committing your player, your brand to another provider.

Wow.

Ultimately it's a lock-in SaaS, right? That's what you're getting. And if you look at it in, let's say, the traditional sense of contracting where you're normally locked in for 24 months, it's not just a question of legal hurdles, it's a question of commitment to a brand. The moment you get into gaming you know that if you've committed your players, if you've committed your affiliate program, if you've committed your brand to a particular platform, it's very hard to move.

By default you are, let's use the word, trapped. So choosing, but you can launch quickly, you know? You can launch quickly, but quickly doesn't mean successfully. You know, this is something we really need to look at. And I think what a lot of white labels don't do is they look at, you know, the short term. A lot of platforms go, "Oh, I'll give you three months no minimums." And then they're like, "Oh, fantastic deal."

And six to 12 months from now you're paying, I don't know, excessive player management fees.

14% on payments.

Those are the real costs. When you're a startup business you're looking at, "Okay, I'm going to save my four, five grand a month for three, four months." When you're a white label generating two, three, four, 500 GGR, you don't care about four or five K. You care about the real numbers. The player management fees, the payment fees, the game fees. That's where the real costs come in. And I think the industry is shifting.

People are beginning to reconsider the white label entry and either go in strong with serious capital or not go in at all.

You mean building in-house?

Not necessarily in-house, but at least the license and the player database and having some level of security.

So, more of turnkey.

Yes. Turnkey is getting bigger. I know platforms that only do turnkey. You know, it's also less stress for the platform provider. We're a white label provider. I mean, one of our biggest headaches is sorting out all the reconciliations of all the PSPs with all our brands. It's not a fun nightmare, but it's part of the service.

If we have to look into some of the biggest hurdles, I know we covered a little bit for brands to grow, is it tech? Is it marketing? Is it regulation? What's the biggest?

It's a bit of everything, but it's good what you mentioned because the reality is when we first launched I used to try to look at all potential clients. And then I quickly realized if that client doesn't have a certain budget, there's no point in looking at them. So, budget is the most important thing I would say.

Well, realistically if you don't have the capital for acquisition, you're not going to get off the ground.

So, the biggest hurdle today is acquisition. Let's be fair, I mean, because a lot of people say retention. Well, yes and no. Retention is a result of saturation in the market because if players don't have anywhere else to go, they won't move and people want to play. But the reality is the cost of player acquisition has tripled in the last half decade. Tripled. I mean, we used to talk about 100 CPA being a lot of money.

You go to Canada today you have affiliates asking four or 500. Some people paying as high as a grand CPA.

Some markets 750 is minimum.

Again. So, at what point do you have to draw the line to say that acquisition cost is greater than the LTV of that market? So, by default you don't need to be an accountant to realize that I'm paying more than the player is actually worth. So, yeah, acquisition, major hurdle. Tech, in my opinion, is less of an entry hurdle because, look, you can launch a brand on an average platform.

It's only when you scale to a certain size you need X more games, you need X more payments, that does technology really come into play. Speed to market and so on and so forth, they help, but they're not going to change your launch. I've known some of the best brands launch on a mediocre platform and then rebuild it after three years. A model that is time and time again proven to the industry.

Talking about the platforms, we have some new trending type of platforms coming up. SaaS casinos. Launch your iGaming business in 30 minutes kind of positioning and messaging. It's very tempting, you know, even for affiliates, streamers, anyone who is controlling the acquisition part. It's very interesting for them to get into this kind of platforms. What's your take on SaaS casinos?

I mean, ultimately all white labels are SaaS to begin with. We're basically repackaging something that has existed from the beginning of the industry.

Just a nice marketing play.

Exactly. Launch your brand in 30 minutes doesn't necessarily mean you're going to launch your brand in 30 minutes. It means I'm going to lock you in in 30 minutes. That's my opinion.

Wow. Why?

You're either buying into an established casino, okay, which in reality, yes, you can buy in in 30 minutes. But there is no platform that gets a front end configured, payments configured, games configured, legal configured in 30 minutes. The underlying work has already been done. So, I am selling you that little bit at the end on work that's already been done. Somewhere along the line that cost, that OPEX, needs to be covered. Where is that money going to come from?

The reality, probably going to come from your fees in the future.

So, it's just a smart play and most of the other white labels as well would be able to do that in that sense.

Well, in reality it's just a contractual positioning. I own a casino, I'm giving you an example, right? Like if I own the casino, we are a platform provider, we do management. But I'm a casino owner, I come to you, I say, "Do you want 50% of my casino? Here's a contract. I've done all the work. This is what's going to cost you." Does that mean that you're launching a white label in 30 minutes? No. It's a good model.

It is a good model, but it's all about how you're positioning your marketing. For me, all of it works. I have no criticism whether you're going on the full turnkey route or you're buying a piece of a white label. We do both as a brand. Many platforms do both and there are great products in the market that do this well. We're pretty new, but there are some established giants that know what they're doing.

Yeah. And let's be fair. I mean, even though we can argue there's saturation in the market, the industry is growing year on year. So, something, someone is doing very well.

Absolutely.

And just to close off this one personally, in your opinion, what's one bold move or trend brands can follow in 2026 and beyond to really have a successful path?

My opinion is for a brand or a trend to penetrate the market today, go small, go niche. The industry is big enough for you to choose one geo and give your entire focus to that geo.

Why?

You're trying to do too much. There are brands that are like, "Ah, we want to operate in all the markets that are possible with these features, with this module, you know?"

Or with this little budget.

I mean, the reality is pick one market, focus on it, smash it. Once you've perfected it, put a little bit of money somewhere else. It's less of a trend. I mean, come on, focusing has always been the key to any business from day one. Ultimately, today it's more important than ever.

And in any newer trends, like for example, streamers are coming up as a very good acquisition channel, but it has its own downsides. We don't know who's fake and who's the right one. So, anything about streamers that we can talk about?

I love streamers and I have to say, they changed the industry. There are amazing streamers out there. But in the beginning, we had streamers promoting multiple brands. Tuesday is one brand, Wednesday's another, Thursday's another.

Isn't it a conflict of interest?

Well, it's changed today. Naturally, operators have seen this pattern and now you go to any mega streamer and they stream for one brand and one brand only.

Wow. And that's basically where the market of streaming has gone. But more and more, Isn't he losing revenue in that sense?

Depends how much he's being paid, right? With certain budgets, having a full-time streamer is basically your full-time brand ambassador.

Cool. Maybe you've just given me an idea as well, because I'm in the B2B space. Similar to what the streamers are doing in the B2C, I'm trying to do the same thing in the B2B industry, right? So, and I have this question about conflict of interest. If I'm working with a compliance service provider as a partner, I'm not able to work with others.

It's true. It's true, but it also depends on the structure of that deal. Ultimately, it comes down to expectations. If you come to me and say, "Oliver, I'm going to represent your brand. You're going to send me referrals. You're going to work closely with me." Then my expectation is simply referrals. What you do outside of that time is your business. As long as you're not coming and telling me, "I'm exclusive with you. I provide you with insight.

I provide you with information." And then you share that amongst the market. It all comes down to communication. I mean, I know it's cliche, but that's the keyword.

Yeah, I know I'm currently more selling space for visibility. Introductions are kind of additional to it, but for visibility, there's this issue that if I'm working with one company, I'm actually restricted to work in the whole category otherwise. So, still I'm in the beginning phase, so, you know, I'm a bit selfish asking this question.

No, but look, my opinion over here is what's your goal?

To shine a light on Real Talk.

Yeah. That doesn't need to be exclusive to one game provider or one platform. You're not coming in as an ambassador. I want to actually understand what's working and what isn't. I'm shining a light on the tactics, on the niche spaces, on the changes, on the regulation. My job is to bring my platform to the general industry public. You don't need to do it for one particular brand. Why?

Because ultimately, it looks less like a conflict of interest if you're working with multiple brands, right? So, you're getting information from, I don't know, Quantum, BetConstruct, Digitain. Okay, I mentioned giants. They're a little bit above our league. But the point is, you look more neutral gaining that information.

Interesting. Thank you for that advice. One of the other topics that has taken over the markets recently is prediction markets. If we look at the data, 95% of prediction market data is sports contracts. But United States have their own way of doing things, right? So, they have classified it as another industry in a fancy way. So, what do you think about prediction markets? Are they going to be regulated? How is Europe treating it?

And is it beneficial for brands to jump on the bandwagon?

So, personal opinion, 100%, I love prediction markets. But the weird thing is, just like VR, just like AR, just like everything else,

AI.

We're going full circle. Prediction markets existed years ago. I remember brands coming out of Malta nearly 10 years ago trying to build this model. You know, we had Wiki Betting back in the day. So, they had something really similar to this, which ultimately today we'll call prediction markets. Two users, P2P coming up.

Didn't term it that way.

Exactly. So, it kind of goes back to what we started this conversation with, packaging. How you package something. I mean, we're seeing the same loop around. Virtual reality and AR was around in the '70s with those really annoying glasses. You remember? Now, suddenly it's popular again. Then we had the IMAX trend. I'm talking about other sections, but ultimately, sometimes the market just isn't ready for the product. Today, prediction markets are massive.

I absolutely love them. Yes, they are a slightly different industry because there is no central board or sporting board or a gaming regulator who's controlling the content of those prediction markets. It's coming through demand.

Interesting topic. It's a lot of different combinations and today, essentially, I would like to use the word a free market. There's so many unique ideas.

I have to say I love prediction markets. They're hilarious.

Talking about prediction markets, but you know, it also makes me wonder that since there is no line between what can be and what cannot be in prediction markets, you know, we are seeing also contracts about some bad stuff, right? Politics, people killing each other. You know, how far is too far? How much is too much? Isn't the regulation needed in terms of the topics that are restricted?

100%. I'll give you a perfect example. Years ago, there was a betting company that actually during, I think it was the World Cup, placed a bet out there, "Will this person bite another person?"

Yeah. Do you remember this one? That's funny.

Then we have politics. Sometimes not as funny.

No. Now we're going into a whole new category. Because it can control the voting.

100%. I mean, we can be more accurate than the polls themselves.

Let's talk about a worse reality. I don't know, I'm going to say something maybe out of line, but some negative. Someone gets beaten up. Someone gets killed. These things get put into prediction markets. You can actually, let's call it, influence the outcome in very bad ways.

We've seen certain prediction market bets come through that were outside of what we would define as, let's call it, a norm in this industry. But it is changing.

Yes, I agree. There should be some, let's call it, intermediary that says, "Hey guys, this is a bit much."

But then again, isn't it your brand or how you want to associate your company with those kind of bets?

Yeah, I think it's the age-old question when it comes to responsible gaming as well. Is the responsibility on the individual level? Is the responsibility on the government level? Is the responsibility on the society level?

Well, that's it. I mean, I think you need a combination of both. If your brand is going to associate itself with certain, let's call it, markets that are on the fringe of, I wouldn't say the ordinary, but ethical. Let's use the word ethical. Then, that's your risk as a brand. It may backfire.

We've seen this happen with game providers. They went too far into the fringe and they got called out for it. Even X posts have had this happen to them.

So, it's the risk you take. Is it a free market? Yes. Should it be slightly regulated? 100%. We also come down to the point where, you know, look at markets that are really open today. It's a whole new world. It created a new industry. Too much regulation stifles innovation. Too little creates a free-for-all. So, you need to decide where your brand sits.

We need a whole other episode just on regulation and responsible gaming and compliance, which I really love that side of the industry as well. I'll reach out to you for that on a separate note. But before we end off, I would like to also ask you about the plans for Quantum Gaming in 2026 and beyond. What are you focusing on and how's the future looking?

So, basically, Quantum, we're going from strength to strength. We were in R&D for 3 years. We've now come, let's call it, into the open market. So, starting with remote gaming. Everybody knows that basically you start making money in the remote world. We're actually looking at the regulated space. 2026 will see us acquire two regulated licenses.

Wow.

Which is very big. For myself, I'm focusing on the company growth, but I have an amazing team behind me. Phil, our new CEO, has really,

The announcement, yeah.

He's fantastic. Basically, he's taken the road map of the platform to a whole new level, allowing, you know, everyone has a skill set. Mine, selling. I love selling. It's always been my thing. So, yeah. So, Quantum Gaming, you're going to see more regulated space, a lot more growth in our casinos, and a couple of new features coming out that we're really proud of, actually.

Give us a scoop.

Well, we were just talking about them. Some level of prediction markets, but the way we want to do them is incorporate basic, without giving too much information. Do you notice how roulette is changing now with the multipliers on numbers?

Yeah. What does that tell you?

That basically, simple games. Simple game with new features. We are going to be using the same logic. Why? You don't need to reinvent the wheel. You can simply make it better. And great game providers are doing this. Great platforms are doing this, you know? Trying to launch a new product from scratch, that is risky. Improving on what exists is less risky. So, yeah, that's a little bit of the direction we're going in.

Thank you so much for joining us today, as well as talking real. Probably this is the real talk, the most real one that we will have today.

We'll have to wait and watch. I love it. Look, I think, you know, we have to be a little bit more transparent, you know? The world of simple terms or good retention leads to more loyal players.

Nobody cares.

No. Let's be fair. Nobody,

Yeah. People want to know what we can do.

You know Naval Ravikant? He's a very famous VC and angel investor from Silicon Valley. You know what he says? He says that if someone can explain something in simple terms, it means that they have an understanding about it. If you are making everything complex, it means that you just don't know.

100%. You know, basically, my rule with the team is if somebody can ask you a question at the end of your statement, you've probably said it wrong.

Exactly. This is key, you know? Simplify bigger things, but improve on what exists. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying don't create new things. It's just much harder than people believe.

Well, I mean, thank you so much again for joining us. It's really a pleasure to talk to you always, and I look forward to another opportunity to talk to you again.

Me, too. Thank you very much, Surya.

Thank you, Oliver. So, that's it for today with Oliver De Bono from Quantum Gaming from AIBC Eurasia. If you like this content, please like, subscribe, and comment your thoughts on all the things that we have spoken about today. Thank you for watching.