iGaming doesn’t stand still. New platforms launch every month, marketing gets louder, and it’s easy to think that the speed at which things change means that everything is running as it should. In reality, a lot of that speed just hides problems.
In this conversation, Dmitri Volkov, CRO at NuxGame, shares his view on iGaming in 2026 – based on working with real clients and partners, as well as his perspective from product, sales, and operations. Volkov looks at the business from different angles. That’s what allows him to get to the root of the processes and see past the bells and whistles of modern AI tools and promises that sound convincing – until you put on the gloves and see what’s really going on.
Speaking from more than eight years of hands-on experience in building and scaling commercial operations, he looks at business growth with a mix of sharp analysis and something less common in iGaming – being honest about the real state of things.
iGaming Expert (iGX): Let’s start with a simple question – what actually drives growth in iGaming today?
Dmitri Volkov (DV): A lot of companies still think: “Let’s bring more users, and we’ll figure the rest out later.” That doesn’t work anymore. Today, growth is a result of how well you understand your client: what they need, what they’re missing, and how your product fits into their business.
The NuxGame team always starts with a simple question: Will this solution or feature actually help our clients? If the answer is yes, we move forward. If not, we don’t develop it just because it’s trendy or looks good in a presentation.
We’re not here for a sprint – make money fast and move on. We’re building a solid, client-oriented business that keeps expanding over time. That’s how you grow revenue together with your customers – by improving your product quality and service.
That balanced, long-term approach leads to stable performance for NuxGame. Over the past year, our client base grew by 30%, EBITDA increased by 40%, and the number of API clients grew by 80%. Those are strong numbers, but they are never the goal. They are the result of doing the basics right.
iGX: You mentioned understanding clients. What does that look like to you?
DV: It means you don’t hide behind dashboards. Of course, we look at numbers: funnels, conversion rates, revenue metrics. That’s important. But if you want to solve real problems, you have to go deeper – sit with the client, have a conversation with them, look at their processes, and ask with a genuine interest: Where does it hurt?
And very often, when you start looking deeper, you realize the issue is not visible in the data. It’s in how the team works and how decisions are made. Many team leads today run everything through reports, dashboards, and metrics. It’s comfortable and useful, I agree. But it can be misleading because you lose context. So at some point, in order to solve an operational issue, you have to put on the gloves, go into it, and fix it directly.
iGX: When you look at how iGaming software providers present themselves, what usually feels off to you?
DV: The idea that you can “sell something that isn’t there yet.” There are many companies with big budgets, strong marketing, very confident messaging – but when you look at the product and service level, it doesn’t match. That gap always catches up with you.
We focus on being honest about what we deliver. Our priority is speed, reliability, and availability for our clients. That’s what matters in real operations – being there with the client, working side by side, reacting fast, and catching issues early before they turn into a big problem.
But even that’s not enough – how you work with people largely defines your success as a business. You can have a good product on paper, but if there’s no real attitude behind it, no proper communication, no care – clients feel it immediately. That’s where what I call “soul” in business truly shows.
iGX: You’ve used the word “soul” when talking about business. That’s unusual for iGaming. How do you recognize it when it’s there?
DV: It’s actually very simple. You can just put a product together. And you can create a product with soul. It may surprise you but the difference is in the human touch that you either have in your service or you don’t.
For us, service is beyond tickets or emails. It’s real communication. Sometimes the most effective thing you can do to properly solve a client’s problem is talk to them directly and get to the bottom of their situation. We treat all clients the same, never based on how “profitable” they are. We are available 24/7 and respond quickly to every request. That’s one of the reasons why our clients stay with us long-term.
iGX: How does this philosophy translate into your ecosystem approach at NuxGame?
DV: We don’t believe one company can do everything perfectly. That’s not realistic. So instead of pretending, we developed the NuxGame Ecosystem that consists of our iGaming platform, aggregation, sweepstakes infrastructure, and a network of the best and most trusted partners for our clients. Payments, CRMs, affiliate systems, and other key components – everything is already tested and proven with active operators.
This saves our operator clients time and money. They no longer have to spend months comparing providers and make mistakes. Instead, they can just plug into a system that already has everything their business needs.
The NuxGame ecosystem is very flexible too. If you want to start with a full setup – you can. If you want to start smaller and scale later – also possible. This is important because growth is not linear. Your needs today are not your needs tomorrow.
iGX: How do you make decisions in such a dynamic environment, especially around partnerships?
DV: First, you look at demand and competition. Then you assess the potential profitability. This is the base for analysis. But numbers are not enough. You also need to understand context: what’s currently happening in the market, what clients are asking for, where the industry is going. And when it comes to partnerships, say, with game providers, the logic is similar.
We also value when partners come with their own ideas, when they suggest how their content should be promoted, how it should perform within our platform. That’s where real collaboration starts. Because if one side is integrating content and the other is just waiting for results, it doesn’t work long-term. Success is always in teamwork.
Sometimes you need to step away from the standard evaluation criteria and just observe. Because the environment and the dynamics in iGaming are shifting fast, you have to feel which way the wind blows – and learn to adjust quickly. All in all, to me, decision-making is always a combination of the basics and awareness of trends.
iGX: AI is one of those trends. What’s your take on it?
DV: AI is useful. But you can’t base your entire strategy on it. Many companies try to apply AI everywhere just because it’s a trend. We use AI where it actually improves processes, for example, helping structure information, supporting internal workflows. But we don’t replace thinking with AI. Because in the end, business problems are solved by people who understand the process and can connect the dots based on what’s really going on. AI can assist (and it’s already doing that in a meaningful way), but it’s not the one behind the wheel.
iGX: What makes a “really good” product in iGaming today?
DV: A product that performs reliably under serious traffic load and real player behavior. Many platforms today look similar. But when you go deeper, the difference is in how stable the platform is, how well it integrates, and how quickly customer service solves problems. The company’s honesty is also paramount. At NuxGame, the “fake it till you make it” positioning is just not something we believe in. For us, the product has to be usable and scalable.
iGX: Finally, what’s your main principle when it comes to succeeding in iGaming?
DV: I wouldn’t use the word “principle” here, because the industry moves too fast for that. You have to stay flexible. Don’t chase trends blindly. You understand them, test them, and use them where they make sense – but you don’t center your business around them. Because the must-have basics (product quality, service, and real relationships) always remain the priority.
Maintaining success in iGaming is a bit like steering a ship. The conditions keep changing around you – but you still need to hold a steady course. My advice is to keep an open mind, love your teammates, and trust the process. If you manage to do that, your business will make headway.
