Author: Kiril Dragomirov, Director of Platform Engineering at Delasport
As player acquisition has long been seen as one of the most critical pillars of any iGaming operation, and rightfully so. But in recent years, it’s the need for strong, effective retention capabilities that has truly taken the spotlight.
Acquisition and retention are two sides of the same coin. In fact, hybrid acquisition deals with the affiliate depends on long-term revenue from the players they bring in. That’s why player engagement has become the lifeline of sustainable growth. When done right, it enhances the betting experience, increases player satisfaction, and significantly improves lifetime value (LTV). Moreover, a successful sustainable operation will be able to reduce costly CPA deals as they can gain the trust of the affiliates with hybrid and even revshare only ones.
Operators have developed different techniques to retain their players and gamification, when built thoughtfully, is one of the most powerful tools to drive long-term engagement. Building not simply gamification features, but player engagement for a high-volume, real-time betting platform is far from simple.
From Feature to Framework
Everyone knows gamification in iGaming and it often starts small – perhaps a simple challenge like “Bet on three different sports today.” But over time, these features multiply. Daily missions, leaderboards, streaks, loyalty tiers, seasonal quests, personalized offers. If you’re not careful, you end up with a patchwork of disconnected systems, hard-coded logic, and bottlenecks that can’t keep up with peak demand.
We took a different approach. From early on, we invested in building a flexible, reusable framework for player engagement – something that could scale both with player volume and product growth. Our goal was clear: empower product and marketing teams to design rich, personalized experiences without relying on months of engineering effort every time.
Engineering Principles Behind the Play
To make this work, we built our player engagement infrastructure around several core principles:
1. Event-Driven Architecture
Our platform consumes millions of player actions per day – placing a bet, making a deposit, logging in, claiming a reward. These actions trigger events that flow through our event-streaming infrastructure. By using Kafka and other real-time data tools, we can listen, evaluate, and respond to player actions in near real-time.
Our architecture is designed to create a player-centric engagement cycle where immediate feedback encourages ongoing interaction. By combining advanced data infrastructure with thoughtful player design, the platform creates a responsive and rewarding environment that keeps players informed, motivated, and connected.
2. Rule-Based Systems with Dynamic Configuration
Each player engagement mechanic has rules: which players qualify, what actions count, how rewards are calculated. Rather than hardcoding these, we built a configurable rule engine that reads definitions from a centralized repository. This makes it easy to create, modify, and deploy missions or challenges without needing a full development cycle.
It also allows A/B testing and regional customization, both of which are crucial in a regulated, competitive environment.
3. Hybrid State Management
Tracking gamified progress requires a mix of low-latency access and long-term consistency. For this, we use a hybrid approach: Redis handles real-time progress tracking and instant reads, while PostgreSQL stores the authoritative history and recovery state.
This dual-layer design gives us performance where it matters and durability where we need it.
4. Ultimate Back-End, Flexible Front-End Experiences
A key component of our player engagement success is a robust, modular back-end designed to support multiple front-end interfaces. Whether applied to sportsbook, casino, or fantasy platforms, all logic is centralized, ensuring consistency and efficiency across products. This architectural decoupling allows product teams to develop and iterate on various front-end experiences without duplicating effort or altering core mechanics. From white-labeled B2B solutions to tailored interfaces for specific markets, our back-end enables a scalable, future-proof approach that supports business growth and player engagement.
5. Safety, Compliance, and Integrity
In a regulated industry, bonuses and rewards are not just product features—they’re financial transactions. We had to ensure every mission, reward, and streak mechanic complies with local regulations and responsible gaming standards.
To achieve this, we embedded automated checks directly into our deployment pipeline and implemented flexible eligibility logic that adjusts based on jurisdiction, player profile, and account behavior. We also integrated proactive fraud prevention measures designed to detect and block potential abuse patterns early – minimizing risk while maintaining a seamless player experience.
Player Engagement as a Growth Lever
This infrastructure didn’t just help us scale technically – it also became a growth engine. Over time, we observed measurable improvements in:
- Session frequency and time spent on platform
- Retention rates after major sporting events
- Cross-sport betting behavior (e.g., players trying out new markets to complete missions)
- Bonus efficiency and player satisfaction
One of the key wins was the reuse of infrastructure. The same platform that powered our “daily mission” system now supports our VIP loyalty program and seasonal campaigns. Once the foundation was solid, we were able to innovate faster and experiment more safely.
Lessons for Technical Teams
Player engagement in the sense of typical gamification is often misunderstood as a UX layer or marketing gimmick. But at scale, like we do it at Delasport, it’s a serious engineering challenge and a massive opportunity.
It touches nearly every aspect of the platform:
- Real-time data processing
- API design
- Player state management
- Security and compliance
- Personalization and experimentation
Building it right means creating systems that are flexible enough to evolve, fast enough to engage, and robust enough to trust.
Why Add Player Engagement?
As an iGaming operator, you probably know how important player retention is. And you know that you must not blend with everyone else in order to achieve it. Here is why Delasport’s proprietary player engagement suite is a must-have for your business:
Missions like “Place a combo ticket and get up to 50 free bets by spinning the wheel” have shown to increase sportsbook margin by 2.25x, as players opt into higher-risk, multi-leg bets to unlock rewards.
- Streak Challenges (e.g., Bet daily for 7 days, win a bonus) increased weekly player retention by 32%, turning casual players into habitual ones.
- Level-based loyalty programs (XP-based systems) with unlockable free bets or cashback saw a 22% increase in 30-day active players, particularly among mid-tier bettors.
- Instant rewards (e.g., “Spin the Wheel” on bet settlement) boost re-betting within the same session by up to 28%, shortening the time between sessions.
How Does This Look in Real Life?
Our in-house suite provides unlimited opportunities for player engagement, but we’ll highlight some examples, so that you, as an operator can get a better understanding of how it works and how it benefits your business. Missions are the easiest way to illustrate the power and capabilities of such a suite, so dive in the examples below.
- Combo Bet Ladder Challenge
Mechanic: Players must complete 5 escalating combo bet missions (e.g., 2 legs → 3 legs → 5 legs, etc).
Result:
- Number of combo tickets 3 legs and above increased by 37%
- Margin uplift of 85% due to higher combo odds
- “Bet & Get” Mission Chain
Example: “Deposit at least €20 Bet €10 on Champions League and get a €5 risk-free bet.”
Result:
- +22% increase in next-day logins
- +19% increase in second deposit conversion
- Especially effective for newly registered players in the first 10 days (critical LTV window)
- Wheel of Fortune Spin Triggered After Loss Streak
Mechanic: Players who lose 3+ bets in a row can spin a “consolation wheel” with mystery prizes (bonus, cashback, free bets).
Result:
- Churn reduction by 18% in mid-tier players
- Increased trust and goodwill perception
- “Bet Heatmap” Leaderboard
Mechanic: Players earn points for placing bets on niche sports (e.g., table tennis, eSports), ranked on a weekly leaderboard.
Result:
- Diversification of bet types increased by 2.5x
- Helped increase margin by pushing players toward higher-margin markets
- Surprise Bonus Drops During Live Betting
Mechanic: Random bonus triggers (e.g., €5 free bet) for mobile players betting on live events during match hotspots (e.g., red cards, goals).
Result:
- +11% increase in live bet volume
- +27% increase in mobile engagement
- Strong spike in session length during major events
- “Cashback Zones” on Slot Games
Mechanic: Casino players get 5% cashback in specific slot zones every Monday on their weekend activities.
Result:
- +22% Monday activity
- Retention over the weekend improved by 14%
- Missions That Encourage Cross-Product Play (Sports + Casino)
Mechanic: Require from the player to complete certain actions or meet certain conditions in a specific timeframe both in the casino and sportsbook sections (e.g., “Bet €20 on sportsbook and spin 10 times in our featured slot to win a €10 bonus.”)
Result:
- Cross-sell rate increased by 35%
- Average revenue per user (ARPU) up by 18%
- Extended Playtime Missions
Mechanic: Encourage players to complete multiple small steps in a single day so that they have an incentive to stay on the platform longer (e.g. “In the next 12 hours, spin 50 times in a slot game and bet on 5 sports games that conclude before the mission deadline to receive a spin of the VIP wheel”)
Result:
- Average session length increased by 32%
- 44% of players complete both sports and casino tasks in a single session
- Time-on-platform uplift leads to 21% higher total daily wagering
- Daily Streak Rewards
Mechanic: Recurring or ongoing daily missions that stimulate the player to return to the platform a number of days in a row and be rewarded at key milestones (e.g. “Log in 5 days in a row to get a risk-free bet”)
Result:
- 5-day login streak completions increased weekly logins by 38%
- Especially effective in reactivating dormant players (reactivation rate up by 16%)
- Progressive Deposit Challenge
Mechanic: The player is required to make a certain number of deposits in a specific timeframe and every deposit has to be bigger than the previous one (e.g. “Deposit 5 times in the next 5 days making sure every deposit is larger than the previous one to get access to a premium wheel”)
Result:
- Average number of deposits per user increased by 21%
- Average deposit value grew by 34% across campaign participants
- Boosted overall net revenue from depositing players by 27%
What’s Next?
For us, player engagement has become more than a product feature. It’s a capability – a competitive differentiator that blends technical excellence with player psychology.
And when done well, it turns casual bettors into loyal players.
Want to see our in-house proprietary player engagement suite in action? Visit us at Stand R50 during iGB L!VE London (July 2-3)!
