Speaking to Affiliate Leaders, Mickey Winitsky, executive board director and managing partner at SlotCatalog, discusses how a data-driven approach can help operators and studios align decisions around real player intent.
Winitsky also examined the responsibility that comes with ranking influence; the shifting role of affiliates as content validators; and the misconception around lobby visibility equalling player demand.
SlotCatalog describes itself as affiliate-first, but not affiliate-only. How does your data influence decisions across studios and operators – and in some cases even contribute to how new game concepts come to life?
Being affiliate-first means our analytics are grounded in real player behaviour and intent. We combine traffic patterns, search demand, and engagement behaviour to help partners base decisions on how players actually behave, rather than assumptions or isolated snapshots.
For operators, this often shifts decisions from buying more traffic to capturing existing demand through smarter portfolio and distribution choices. For studios, our analytics help validate real market presence and prioritise launches based on performance signals rather than sales narratives.
In some cases, the analytics go even further. CrossyRun is a good example: we identified consistent global player intent around a specific gameplay concept that was not being properly served by the market. Instead of simply reporting the insight, we used it to design and validate a new game mechanic built directly on proven demand.
That’s how our analytics moves from insight to execution, and, at times, into the creation of entirely new game concepts.
SlotRank uses average lobby position as a benchmark for popularity. Do you see a gap between what casinos promote and what players actually choose to play?
In practice, we don’t see a significant or persistent gap. Any difference between lobby placement and player preference is usually minor and short-lived, and it tends to correct itself over time.
Commercial placements do exist, but SlotRank is designed to filter that noise out. We don’t treat all lobby positions equally: placements at high-volume, data-driven operators carry far more weight than visibility at small casinos. If a game holds a strong position at major operators, it’s almost always because players are actively engaging with it.
There’s also a time factor. Short-term promotional boosts fade quickly if a game doesn’t perform. By tracking positions over time, SlotRank reflects sustained player choice rather than temporary promotion.
As a result, what we measure is not what casinos try to push, but what players consistently choose to play.
From a business perspective, how significant is the impact when casinos continue to promote games that don’t reflect real player activity or performance?
The impact is significant. Promoting games that do not reflect real player activity leads directly to wasted marketing spend, missed conversions, and lost revenue.
We consistently see that when product availability or lobby positioning fails to match actual player intent, casinos end up paying for traffic they structurally can’t convert.
The real cost isn’t just lower retention; it’s opportunity loss. Every promoted game that underperforms displaces one that could be generating organic engagement, turning premium lobby space and marketing budgets into sunk costs rather than growth drivers.
Many operators believe they understand their players just through internal data. In practice, where do you see the biggest blind spots, and why doesn’t having more data automatically lead to better decisions in igaming?
The biggest blind spot is confusing captured activity with real player intent. Internal data shows what players did on a site, but not what they wanted to do.
We often see operators trying to fix performance by buying more traffic, when the real issue is product mismatch. Players search for specific games or mechanics and quickly leave if they don’t find them. Internally, that shows up as low conversion or bad traffic, while the root cause is missing demand. When that gap is fixed, results can shift dramatically, without increasing acquisition spend.
SlotCatalog’s impact on the industry is far-reaching. At what point does a ranking system shift from observing the industry to influencing it, and how do you think about that responsibility?
At its core, SlotCatalog exists to answer two very practical questions: ‘what to play’ and ‘where to play’, based on real performance, not opinion.
A ranking system starts influencing the industry when it stops being a mirror of past performance and becomes a map for future decisions. For us, that shift happened when partners began using SlotRank not just to see where games ranked, but to decide what to integrate, promote, or even build next.
That influence comes with responsibility. We treat ranking objectivity as non-negotiable; SlotRank cannot be bought or manipulated. Our role is to reflect real performance and player choice, not commercial pressure.
The industry often assumes affiliates prioritise operator deals above all else. From what you see today, how is the growing importance of studios changing the strategic role of affiliates?
That assumption is increasingly outdated. While operator deals still matter commercially, the role of affiliates has expanded as studios become central to conversion and retention. What we see today is affiliates acting as validators of content performance, not just traffic suppliers.
Because product availability now dictates conversion, affiliates are often the first to identify where demand exists but supply is missing. That shifts our role from selling the casino to helping operators and studios align portfolios with real player intent.
Affiliation is becoming more content-first and intelligence-led, focused less on bonuses and more on connecting the right games with the right players at the right time.
After four years judging the game developer categories at the SBC Awards Europe, what is the most common misconception developers have about what defines strong performance?
The most common misconception is confusing temporary or paid lobby visibility with real performance. During the judging process, we often see studios focusing on how much lobby space they occupy, assuming that visibility automatically reflects demand.
What the data shows is more nuanced. When we look at the relationship between a studio’s share of lobby presence and its share of spins, it becomes a powerful way to assess whether exposure is truly earnt through player engagement. This is an analytical lens we are actively exploring and developing further to better reflect real player intent.
It’s clear that strong performers tend to generate a higher share of player activity relative to the space they occupy. That gap is often an early indicator of sustainable demand rather than short-term exposure.
On the other hand, studios that rely on short-term placement or volume of releases often see the opposite effect: high initial visibility, but weak or short-lived consumption. Over time, those positions correct themselves.
So strong performance isn’t about getting into the lobby, it’s about earning and sustaining that position through repeat player choice. That’s the distinction we focus on when judging.
SlotCatalog has one of the most data-rich views of the gaming ecosystem. Why is it still important to attend an event like SBC Summit Malta in person?
Being at an event like SBC Summit Malta always matters. Face-to-face conversations with partners give context that data alone can’t capture, how teams think, what they’re prioritising, and how strategies are really evolving.
Events like this are also a form of live market research. When the industry gathers in one place, you can see where marketing effort is going, which products and concepts are being pushed, and where investment is flowing.
