How a New Provider Can Enter the Highly Competitive iGaming Market: Recommendations from NeverEnding

AFFHUB is here, and today we want to talk about the B2B side of affiliate marketing. Сompetition is growing every year – not only on Facebook auctions but also among providers. Meanwhile, legal issues are tying the hands of major players and newcomers alike who are just starting to enter the iGaming market.

Today, we’ll discuss just how intense the competition is in the provider market, what challenges products face when entering new geos, and, most importantly, we’ll share some insights on how to enter a new market from scratch. Let’s dive in.

How intense is competition in the provider market?

First, a bit of background information so everyone understands what we’re talking about. No casino has its own games. They all lease them from providers – the companies that create these games.

And when you visit a casino website, you see dozens, hundreds, and sometimes even thousands of different games. For the most part, they’re created by various providers and are available for lease.

To give you an idea of just how massive the global provider market is: as of 2026, the SlotCatalog registry – one of the largest analytical databases for the iGaming market – lists 1,280 game providers.

Another industry-specific tracker, SlotsLaunch, maintains a public registry that lists over 770 active B2B slot developers. And of course, this is only a portion of the market, not a complete list.

One of the key challenges facing the provider market is not only the sheer number of products but also the similarity of the content. Well-known slots appear in hundreds of variations but with similar mechanics and visuals. This makes it incredibly difficult for an operator to make “just another slot” stand out among thousands of others. Therefore, competition isn’t just about the number of players in the market but also about the oversaturation of the market.

What challenges does a provider face when entering new markets?

Let’s start, perhaps, with the fundamental issue: the legal aspect. Depending on the GEO and the local regulator, providers may need local licenses. And in many countries, the process of obtaining them is extremely complex.

However, another, equally important issue is the intense competition we mentioned earlier. You need both the operator and the player to notice you among thousands of other offers and want to work with you or play your games. This is where timely preparation for market entry becomes crucial. You need to lay the groundwork well in advance of launching in a new GEO.

However, these are mostly general tips. To get more specifics, AFFHUB reached out to NeverEnding – a game provider built to move fast where others get stuck in red tape. Just one year after its founding, the company gathered a team of over 40 people with offices in Warsaw and Barcelona, released 14 thoroughly tested titles, and implemented over 70 integrations. Among their partners are Tequity, Groove, Hub88, and SOFTSWISS. CEO Ihor Zarechnyi was shortlisted for the Casino Guru Awards in the “iGaming Changemaker of the Year” category. The company also received two nominations for the EGR European Awards 2026.

So we decided to ask them directly how a new product can enter the market in just one year and compete with established providers.

How a new provider can enter the highly competitive iGaming market: insights from NeverEnding

The company’s core philosophy is speed without compromising quality. It is precisely this approach that has brought NeverEnding to its first anniversary. As the team reflects on this past year, they share the following insights:

• Don’t try to compete on volume. The market is already oversaturated with content. We deliberately released only 14 titles in our first year instead of chasing quantity – and each one is tested on real players over 5,000 times before release.
• Speed of integration is a competitive advantage, not a bonus. Operators don’t want to wait for months. We offer integration in up to 5 days and over 70 ready-made integrations – this is something a new provider can control from day one, unlike regulatory delays.
• Promotional tools must be ready immediately, not “later.” Jackpots, free bets, tournaments – if these aren’t included in the base offering, the operator will go to someone who already has them.
• Bureaucracy-free communication is what truly sets a new player apart from a Tier-1 provider. Large providers are structurally slow. A new provider that responds to operators quickly and without the “passing the buck” between departments gains trust much faster.
• An API-first approach from the very beginning, rather than retrofitting it later, saves months on future integrations with new partners.

In Summary

Although the provider market is indeed competitive, the example of NeverEnding shows that launching new products and achieving results is entirely possible. The key is a well-chosen strategy and an understanding of the operators’ pain points. So if you’re looking for reliable providers, feel free to reach out to Volodymyr, Head of Business Development at NeverEnding: [email protected]. You can learn more about the studio itself on the company’s website.