The industry is transforming player protection into a key strategy for sustainability and trust.
Read also: Carolene Layugan: Caesars and its global commitment to entertainment sustainability
In a context of technological advancements and increasingly stringent regulations, player protection has become a strategic core of global gaming. From Clarion Gaming, Ewa Bakun, Director of Industry Insight and Engagement, shares the evolution of this approach: it is now part of brand value proposition, sustainability, and competitiveness.
In your view, what does “protecting players” truly mean, and why is this aspect so essential in today’s gaming industry?
The concept of player protection has evolved from being reactive — when it was focused on treating the problem once it developed — to proactive, in which customer care happens much earlier in the player’s journey and aims to foster healthy play from the start of their interaction with the brand. This way, customer protection becomes part of the brand’s retention strategy. Detecting potential risks early allows for early intervention to keep the player engaged in a healthy way for longer, rather than allowing them to develop a problem that will exclude them from play forever.
How do initiatives such as consumer protection areas, for example, the Sustainable Gambling Zone— bring value both to players and to the industry as a whole?
The Consumer Protection Zone, now called Sustainable Gambling Zone, was launched in 2018 in response to the changing industry attitudes regarding the recognition of the industry’s role in developing players’ health. With evolving technology and the emergence of new products that help operators improve their player care strategies, the SGZ plays a key role in spotlighting the latest tech innovations and bringing together experts from various areas — technology, regulation, research, marketing, and operations — to discuss the optimal application of best practices.
What role do events like ICE play in raising awareness of responsible gambling?
Our role is not limited to connecting people to improve their business. We are also a proactive participant with the power to shape the industry. We carefully select who is given the platform and the voice to share their opinions and showcase their expertise, and we also raise industry standards by introducing new trends, products, and themes. We want to anticipate your needs to support the search for robust, long-term solutions.
In your opinion, what are the main challenges the industry faces when trying to anticipate and prevent risky behaviors among players?
A large part of the industry still thinks short-term and is therefore more concerned about the potential impact of prevention on their immediate business. For the more forward-thinking companies that are now trying to implement tech tools — particularly those driven by AI and based on player data analysis — the biggest concern is data protection laws, which in some cases limit the full utilization of technology. There is also a lack of solid research and evidence to support some assumptions; this is precisely what our newly launched ICE Research Institute, which finances academic research on prevention, aims to address.
What impact can alliances between companies, regulators, and civil society organizations have on ensuring player safety?
Player care and safety are best ensured when they are the result of collaboration among various stakeholders. One example I can share is the development of Gamstop, the UK cross-operator self-exclusion scheme, created in response to the regulatory mandate given to the industry to work together on an effective model to ensure that self-excluded players are not targeted with advertising or recruitment.
Based on your experience, what best practices would you recommend for strengthening consumer protection in emerging online gaming markets?
Ensure that customer care and safety are part of market regulation and operation from the start, not just as a marketing statement, but as part of the industry and employees’ DNA. We can draw conclusions from European markets, where this was not implemented from the beginning and which are now experiencing a wave of regulatory restrictions, partly in response to consumer backlash against aggressive marketing campaigns lacking customer care messages, tone, and actions.
What innovations or changes do you foresee in the tools and systems designed to protect players?
Unsurprisingly, the biggest focus is now on the potential that AI offers not only for detecting risky player behaviors but also in the area of tech-led interventions that could complement the human approach that currently prevails. While there has been considerable exploration in online gaming environments, adaptation in land-based environments still lags behind, and I expect to see more innovation in that area.
Looking ahead, what trends in player protection do you believe will most significantly shape the end-user experience?
We will continue to see increasing focus on the application of AI, particularly when it comes to increasingly individualized approaches to responsible gambling, where each player receives care and treatment tailored to their particular circumstances — whether financial, social, familial, or environmental — rather than having to accept arbitrarily imposed regulatory thresholds.
Could you share the key milestones in your career that have shaped your perspective on player protection and responsible gambling?
Without a doubt, one of them was being able to launch the Consumer Protection Zone in 2018 as a strategic, non-commercial project. Although I work for a very commercially driven company, I am also fortunate that Clarion Gaming recognizes the need to think long-term not only about our revenue but also about the industry we serve and represent.
This is exactly how the CPZ was understood internally: as a critical part of our brand and strategy, not just a feature motivated by commercial interests.
What personal or professional experiences have most influenced your approach to promoting safer and more sustainable gaming practices?
On a personal level, I have always been a purpose-driven person, and thanks to my background in research and analysis, I had the market backing to advocate for and lead these topics within ICE and our other brands. On a professional level, the CPZ was the result of my conversations with the Gambling Commission, where Tim Miller actually suggested the creation of a consumer protection zone, a proposal we immediately embraced because we knew this would be a growing and evolving business area.
Ewa Bakun: Clarion Gaming and the new era of responsible gaming
The industry is transforming player protection into a key strategy for sustainability and trust.
In a context of technological advancements and increasingly stringent regulations, player protection has become a strategic core of global gaming. From Clarion Gaming, Ewa Bakun, Director of Industry Insight and Engagement, shares the evolution of this approach: it is now part of brand value proposition, sustainability, and competitiveness.
In your view, what does “protecting players” truly mean, and why is this aspect so essential in today’s gaming industry?
The concept of player protection, thanks to a mix of reasons such as technology advancements, regulatory pressures and switch to a more long-term business approach, has evolved from being reactive to the problem already developed (and therefore focused on treatment, which is more of a remit of health services than the industry itself) to proactive, in which customer care happens much earlier in the player’s journey and is aimed at developing healthy play from the start of consumer’s interaction with the brand. This way customer protection actually becomes part of the brand’s retention strategy in which spotting any potential risks early allows for early intervention in order to keep the player engaged in a healthy way for longer rather than allowing them to develop a problem that will exclude them from play for ever.
How do initiatives such as consumer protection areas, for example, the Sustainable Gambling Zone— bring value both to players and to the industry as a whole?
Consumer Protection Zone, now called Sustainable Gambling Zone, was launched in 2018 in response to the changing industry attitudes when it comes to the recognition of the industry’s role in developing players’ health. With the evolving technology and the emergence of new products that help operators improve their player care strategies, SGZ plays a significant role in spotlighting the latest tech innovations, and in bringing together the experts at the intersection of technology, regulation, research, marketing and operations to discuss optimal application of best practice in that area.
What role do events and conferences like ICE play in raising awareness of responsible gambling among operators and players alike?
We see our role not just in connecting people to discuss how they can improve their business, but as a proactive participant with the power to shape the industry, not only by carefully selecting who is given the platform and the voice to share their opinions and showcase their expertise, but by raising the industry standards through the introduction of new trends, products and themes. We don’t just want to respond, but also anticipate the industry needs to support the industry, in particular its pioneers, in their quest for robust and long-term solutions.
In your opinion, what are the main challenges the industry faces when trying to anticipate and prevent risky behaviors among players?
A large part of the industry is still thinking short-term and therefore more concerned about the potential impact of prevention on their immediate business. For the more forward-thinking companies that are now trying to implement tech tools, in particular those driven by AI and based on player data analysis, the biggest concern is data protection laws that sometimes stop them from using the benefits of technology to their full advantage. There is also lack of proper research and evidence to back some of the assumptions – this is something that our newly launched ICE Research Institute, that finances academic research on prevention, is aimed at addressing.
From a practical perspective, what real impact can strategic alliances between companies, regulators, and civil society organizations have on ensuring player safety and well-being?
Player care and safety are ensured best if it is the result of collaboration of various stakeholders. One example I can share is the development of Gamstop, the UK cross-operator self-exclusion scheme, in response to the regulatory mandate given to the industry to work out jointly a model that will be effective at ensuring self-excluded players are not targeted.
Based on your experience, what best practices would you recommend strengthening consumer protection in emerging online gaming markets?
Make sure customer care and safety are part of the market regulation and operation from the start, not just as a marketing statement, but part of the industry and the employees’ DNA. We can draw the conclusions from the European markets, where that wasn’t the case in the early days and which are now experiencing a wave of regulatory restrictions, partially in response to the consumer backlash in protest against aggressive marketing campaigns void of customer care messages, tone and action.
With the rapid pace of technological advancement, what innovations or changes do you see in the tools and systems designed to protect players?
Unsurprisingly the biggest focus is now on the potential that AI offers in not just detecting players’ risky behaviors but in the area of tech-led interventions that could complement the human approach that currently prevails. While there has been quite a lot of exploration of AI in the online gaming environments, land-based adaptation lags behind and I’m looking forward to seeing more innovation in that area.
Looking ahead, what trends in player protection do you believe will most significantly shape the end-user experience soon?
We will continue seeing more and more focus on the application of AI, in particular when it comes to ever more individualized approach to responsible gambling in which every player is given the care and treatment that is tailored to their particular individual circumstances, whether financial, social, familial or environmental, rather than having to accept arbitrarily imposed regulatory thresholds.
Could you share the key milestones in your career that have shaped your perspective on player protection and responsible gambling?
Without a doubt it was being able to launch Consumer Protection Zone in 2018 as a strategic rather than commercial project. While I’m working for a very commercially driven business, I’m lucky as well that Clarion Gaming embraces the need to think long-term not just about our revenue, but the industry we serve and represent too, which is exactly how CPZ has been seen internally – as a critical part of our brand and strategy, not just a commercially motivated feature.
What personal or professional experiences have most influenced your approach to promoting safer and more sustainable gaming practices?
On a personal level, I’ve always been a purpose driven person, and with my background in insight and research, I had the market backing to advocate and champion those themes within ICE and our other brands. On a professional level, CPZ was the result of my conversations with the Gambling Commission, whose Tim Miller actually suggested the creation of a consumer protection zone, which we picked up straight away, not because we felt we needed to respond to the regulator, but because we knew back then that this is the area of business that would grow and develop.
Read also: Innovation, culture, and closeness: Apuesta Total’s strategy
