Bragg Gaming to cut 12% of workforce in global restructuring

Abi Bray

9 January 2026 at 6:51am UTC-5

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Bragg Gaming Group plans to reduce its workforce by 12% at an anticipated cost of €10 million (US$12 million)1 EUR = 1.1641 USD
2026-01-09Powered by CMG CurrenShift, including termination costs, during the first quarter of 2026.

The company expects to save around €4.5 million (US$5.2 million)1 EUR = 1.1641 USD
2026-01-09Powered by CMG CurrenShift annually through the reduction in staff numbers and other restructuring measures.

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Bragg recently announced a new initiative to utilize artificial intelligence, noting that the forecast cost saving does not include the expected positive impact of the technology on cost efficiency and operations.

In an announcement, Bragg said the overhaul of the business’ structure centers around its plan to make it an AI-first company by 2027. It plans to ensure that AI-enhanced products become the standard for over 90% of its launches, with an expected three-quarters of its operational workflows utilizing AI.

Bragg Gaming Chief Executive Matevz Mazij said, “We believe that we are in the enviable position of having great technologies, assets, people, and future prospects. Nevertheless, given the increasingly complex regulatory compliance requirements, recent tax headwinds across key regions, emerging market opportunities, consolidation in the market and our increased focus on short-term profitability, we needed to take this step now of restructuring the company’s staffing.”

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Bragg will provide further insight into its new operational model and its 2-26 strategic initiatives, along with its preliminary unaudited results for 2025.

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The Backstory

Why Bragg is tightening now

Bragg Gaming Group’s decision to eliminate jobs and streamline operations follows a year of heavy regulatory, tax and competitive pressures that reshaped priorities for many midcap suppliers. The company has flagged rising compliance costs and new tax burdens across core markets, conditions that compress margins even as demand for content aggregation and player engagement tools grows. Bragg has also been pushing deeper into the United States, Latin America and Europe, expanding its platform reach and exclusive content slate. That expansion brings revenue opportunity but also higher go-to-market and support costs, especially across fragmented regulatory regimes. Against that backdrop, management is emphasizing near-term profitability, efficiency and product focus.

Well before the restructuring, Bragg set a public marker for where it wants to land: an AI-first operating model by 2027. The company outlined a plan to make artificial intelligence central to product development and daily workflows, betting that automation, personalization and predictive analytics can offset cost inflation while improving hit rates for new games and features. In short, the cuts aim to resize the cost base to fit an AI-enabled business that scales technology, not headcount.

An AI pivot already in motion

The pivot is not theoretical. Bragg is layering machine learning into its platform through a new data-science alliance. In January, the company said it would integrate Golden Whale’s modeling toolkit into its player account management stack, a move intended to sharpen churn prediction, retention timing and revenue forecasting. The Golden Whale partnership is pitched as the foundation for a “Bragg AI Brain,” a central engine to automate workflows, tune incentives and personalize casino experiences across operator networks.

The effort targets practical outcomes that matter to operators: 30-, 90- and 365-day revenue projections and early detection of exit windows at three-, seven-, 14- and 30-day intervals. If successful, those capabilities could lift lifetime values and reduce manual operations, giving Bragg a clearer path to maintain service levels with a leaner team. It also positions the company to build AI-enhanced content and engagement features that differentiate its aggregation platform in crowded marketplaces.

Placing distribution bets across regulated markets

Even as Bragg reins in costs, it is extending the reach of its marketplace and exclusive pipeline. In July, Expanse Studios, a subsidiary of Golden Matrix Group, tapped Bragg to scale its games across more than 30 regulated jurisdictions, including the U.S., Canada, Latin America and Europe. The Expanse Studios distribution deal runs through Bragg’s HUB platform and bundles analytics and engagement tools to speed deployment and performance tuning. That fits Bragg’s strategy to be a preferred route to market for studios seeking regulated scale, while bolstering the content catalog for operator clients.

Bragg also used the ICE Barcelona stage to unveil a tie-up with Four Leaf Gaming, giving the studio an avenue into the U.S. via Bragg’s remote games server, delivery platform and Fuze player journey system. The Four Leaf Gaming partnership underscores Bragg’s push to secure exclusive or semi-exclusive titles with recognizable mechanics that can travel across markets. For operators, more differentiated content through a single integration can improve acquisition and engagement economics, a selling point as customer acquisition costs rise and promotional budgets tighten.

Both agreements expand Bragg’s addressable revenue without necessitating large fixed-cost additions, which becomes more important as the company targets lower overhead and more automation. If the AI stack can improve content curation and promotional targeting, Bragg could extract better yields from these distribution bets with fewer hands-on campaigns.

Sales engine and go-to-market recalibration

Commercial execution is central to converting platform breadth into growth, and Bragg has moved to tighten leadership on that front. The company appointed Matej Filipančič as Global Sales Director, tasking him with scaling aggregation, proprietary content, player account management and Fuze tools worldwide. The hire, announced this summer, brings a leader deeply familiar with the company’s technology and its entry into regulated markets such as the Netherlands. The Filipančič appointment signals an emphasis on disciplined pipeline management and cross-selling—critical as Bragg threads together AI services, content distribution and engagement products into a cohesive offer for operators under cost constraints.

A sharper sales architecture can also align with the AI roadmap. As predictive intelligence identifies higher-propensity segments and products, the sales team can prioritize operator opportunities and tailor value propositions around measurable uplift, not feature checklists. That is the type of shift that can support growth while the company reduces headcount elsewhere.

Signals from the talent market

Restructurings can rattle teams and unsettle recruiting, but the broader gaming ecosystem is spotlighting leadership depth and pathways that could help companies like Bragg retain and attract specialized talent in a transition. Global Gaming Women and CDC Gaming’s annual list of emerging leaders shows a bench developing across operations, communications and strategy. This year’s 10 Women Rising in Gaming highlights executives who have navigated volatility and transformation—capabilities that map to AI-era demands where adaptability and cross-functional execution matter.

For suppliers, the lesson is clear: as workflows automate, value shifts toward roles that translate insights into product and commercial outcomes. Organizations that invest in upskilling and visible development paths can mitigate the cultural drag of restructuring and preserve institutional knowledge through change. Recognition platforms and mentoring networks provide a supporting signal that the sector is investing in people even as structures evolve.

What to watch next

Bragg plans to flesh out its new operating model and strategic initiatives alongside preliminary 2025 results, which will clarify the timing and scope of savings, severance and reinvestment. Key indicators to monitor in the next two quarters include:

Proof points from the Golden Whale integration, such as early retention gains or automated workflow adoption rates
Content performance and operator uptake from the Expanse Studios and Four Leaf Gaming pipelines, especially in the U.S.
Sales velocity under the new commercial leadership, including cross-sell of AI-enabled tools to existing aggregation clients
Operating expense trends and whether AI-linked efficiencies appear in gross margin or customer support metrics

The stakes are material. If Bragg executes, it can emerge as a leaner platform operator with differentiated AI capabilities that deepen operator stickiness and lift unit economics. If integration complexity or regulatory friction slows progress, the company could face a longer path to margin recovery. Either way, the groundwork laid across AI partnerships, content distribution and sales leadership sets the context for the workforce changes now underway.