Context
Gaming1 is an international casino and sports betting platform operating across multiple regulated markets, with 10+ brands/partners and an estimated 600K–1M+ player accounts. Missions was initiated directly by the CEO as a strategic priority to shift from generic bonus-based promotions to a behavior-driven engagement system.
My role
I led Missions end-to-end as a hybrid Product Designer / Product Manager — owning product vision, UX design, and delivery. My key stakeholders were the CEO, the Chief Marketing Officer, and operation managers.
My team included 2 back-end developers, 2 front-end developers, 1 QA, and 1 data analyst, with additional support from a platform product designer to ensure UI consistency across all teams and brands.
Problem
Existing promotions relied on flat bonus mechanics that attracted bonus abusers — players who collected free money without genuine gambling activity. There was no system to reward specific, desired behaviors, and no flexibility to adapt to the legal constraints of each regulated market. On top of that, Gaming1 was spending €1M/year on an external segmentation provider with no in-house alternative.
Vision
Build a system capable of rewarding any desired player behavior — sign-up, identity verification, deposits, casino activity, sports betting... — with extreme flexibility to operate across regulated markets with different legislation. The long-term ambition: AI-operated promotions with zero manual configuration.
Objectives
- Increase player engagement (Active Days), with a focus on VIP retention
- Increase GGR-B (Gross Gaming Revenue after bonus deduction)
- Reduce bonus abuse by linking rewards to real gambling activity
- Replace a €1M/year external segmentation contract with an in-house tool
Outcome
Missions is live in production across all operations, reaching an estimated 600K to 1M+ player accounts. Active Days increased by 12% and GGR-B improved by 2% — validated on the initial rollout and informing the broader deployment strategy.
The behavior-driven mechanics also improved how bonuses were distributed: VIP players are now better rewarded for genuine activity, while bonus abusers — players collecting free money without real gambling engagement — were significantly reduced.
The in-house segmentation tool replaced an external provider contract, saving €1M per year.
Constraints & decisions
Each regulated market has different rules around what can be rewarded and how. I designed the system with market-level configuration as a first-class concern — not an afterthought — so that the same product could be deployed across Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal or any future market without rebuilding mechanics.
Multi-brand theming was another core constraint: the experience had to feel native to each partner's visual identity, across 10+ brands with distinct branding.
What we built
Player-facing experience
Various mission examples targeting different user segments, across casino and sports betting. A reward bottom sheet triggered on mission completion, available in multiple themes to match each partner's branding.
Operational back-office
An internal extranet for operational teams to configure missions: success criteria, target user segments, game mechanics, complexity, and duration. Built on a customized MUI component library.
Segmentation tool
Led in parallel with a separate dev team. A purpose-built segmentation system serving as the data backbone for Missions and as the single source for all marketing communications — promotional emails, push notifications, and in-app messages. Designed to replace the existing external provider contract entirely.
Mechanics & scope
The MVP launched with a single mechanic: play €X on a casino game to win a €Y prize. The full product expanded to cover:
Casino
- Play €X to get a prize
- Play X spins to get a prize
- Win €X to get a prize
- Reach a target multiplier to get a prize
Sports betting
Shared (casino + sports betting)
- Deposit €X to get a prize
- Verify your identity to get a prize
Rewards evolved beyond cash to include boosters, coins, free spins, points, mini-games, and tournament tickets.
Go-to-market
Launched on circus.be via progressive rollout: internal testing → VIP beta → full player release. Subsequently deployed across all Gaming1 group brands (Casino1.be, casino777.be, bet777.be, 777.nl) and 10+ external partners including Estoril Sol Casinos (Portugal), carousel.be, GoldenVegas.be, and others.