In December, aggregation platform Games Valley appointed experienced iGaming executive Ariel Reem as its new CEO. A few months into the job, Reem spoke exclusively with Gambling News about the changing role of aggregators, Brazil’s first year as a regulated market, and the challenges facing operators in 2026.
Q: You were recently appointed CEO of Games Valley. What about the role and the company convinced you this was the right next step?
What really stood out to me was the timing and the business’s underlying potential. Games Valley has already built a strong aggregation platform and a solid supplier network, but it is still very much at the start of its next phase. The opportunity to help shape that evolution was really appealing.
Having spent the last several years running operator businesses in highly regulated markets, I have seen firsthand where aggregation genuinely adds value and where it falls short. Games Valley has the foundations to do this properly by simplifying integrations, supporting smarter growth, and giving operators more flexibility as regulation expands.
This is also an extremely ambitious project, which made it all the more appealing. We are not burdened by legacy tech, and our platform is designed for the needs of the modern operator, with a strong focus on differentiation.
This means we’re also able to invest heavily to deliver even more value to our partners, and that’s going to continue throughout 2026 and beyond. That combination of ambition, momentum, and a genuinely talented team made this feel like the right next step for me.
Q: Aggregation is an increasingly competitive space. Where do you see opportunities to differentiate?
We’ve reached the point where simply offering access to a large catalogue of games is no longer enough. Most operators can source the same content from multiple places, so the real opportunity lies in moving beyond being a middleman and becoming a genuine partner.
We’re seeing that clients need more dynamic and creative solutions. Yes, everyone has thousands of games, but this is about serving up unique portfolios of titles so that our operator partners are able to localise content in unique and relevant ways.
For us, differentiation comes from the value we can deliver around the games. We have built market intelligence directly into the platform, giving operators clearer insight into performance, trends, and opportunities across different markets. I’m not talking about anything vague or flimsy here. This is accessible data designed to directly boost profitability, like which games are the stickiest and how best to optimise the lobby.
Speed and adaptability are also critical. We have focused heavily on removing friction from integrations, including an AI-driven onboarding wizard that can get operators live within 24 hours.
Ultimately, it comes down to understanding what operators actually need and helping them scale smarter. When you do that well, the relationship becomes far more valuable than simple aggregation.
Q: Games Valley is licensed in Brazil. It’s been a year since the country’s regulatory framework went live. How has the market evolved in that time?
From our perspective, the first year of regulation in Brazil has been hugely significant, and it is already a very important market for us. When regulation launched at the start of last year, there were just 14 licensed operators. Today, there are more than 80 operating under federal authorisation. That shows how attractive Brazil is and how quickly it has professionalised.
Like any newly regulated market, there’s always going to be some friction, particularly around KYC and onboarding, but we have seen that ease over time as players became more familiar with the process and operators refined their flows.
For Games Valley, Brazil is already one of the most important markets globally. We see it as a top-tier jurisdiction with enormous long-term potential. Being licensed creates a lot of opportunities for us, and I expect those to accelerate over the coming months.
Q: What do you see as the defining challenges facing operators in 2026?
Operators are facing pressure from multiple directions right now. Obviously, rising tax rates and increasing compliance requirements in many regulated markets are squeezing margins and making efficiency more important than ever. This includes optimising commercials via data-led insights, like promoting games from higher-performing and higher-paying studios.
But beyond regulation, there is a much broader challenge around relevance. An operator is no longer just competing with other iGaming brands. It is competing with streaming platforms, video games, crypto and stock trading, and a huge range of digital entertainment options.
To succeed, operators need to offer genuinely entertaining, well-designed experiences that keep players engaged. Simply being somewhere to place a bet is no longer enough.
Q: Looking ahead to the next two to three years, what would success for Games Valley look like under your leadership?
Looking ahead over the next two to three years, success for Games Valley under my leadership means going well beyond content. We are quickly becoming the aggregation partner that operators truly depend on to accelerate growth and revenue.
Our vision is to build on our technology-first approach so operators can enter new regulated markets with confidence and optimise performance from day one. We expect to be supporting multiple regulated territories as the leading aggregator for data insights.
Ultimately, if operators see Games Valley as a core driver of their strategic growth and customer engagement, rather than just a reseller of games, then we will know we have delivered real value.