Analytics August 29th, 2026

Profits Up, Jobs Down: Inside iGaming’s 2026 Layoff Wave

Key takeaways

• Many iGaming companies have reported layoffs of hundreds of people in 2026. IGT reported cutting 700 jobs; Entain — 500; Lottomatica — 348. 
• While layoffs are often considered a sign of an unhealthy situation, in iGaming the reasons are different. 
• iGaming companies cut jobs after mergers when certain divisions become unnecessary. 
• Other companies look to build an AI-first strategy and further streamline their operations, which results in the replacement of some creative and engineering staff with AI. 
• Rising taxes and stricter regulations may also cause some workforce reductions.

iGaming layoffs 2026 are spreading like wildfire, and people are wondering: what’s the catch? How can a company earn €1.18bn in the first 6 months of 2006, report a 5% growth and a 10% EBITDA growth, and still cut 348 jobs? This is exactly the case with Lottomatica in Serbia, and they are far from being the only ones. 

Join us as we analyze these layoffs and their effect on the industry as a whole from the perspective of both iGaming employees and investors. 

Which Major iGaming Companies Are Cutting Jobs?

We have analyzed dozens of major iGaming companies that have cut jobs, along with their 2026 performance data, to see if there’s a cause-and-effect relationship. 

Company	Reported job cuts	Latest performance	Context
IGT	About 700 (10% of all workers)	TTM revenue of $2.45 billion as of July	After the merger with Everi Holdings and the acquisition of both by Apollo, the company plans to cut many duplicate roles
Entain	500	NGR growth of 5%–7%, online EBITDA margin expected between 21%–22%	Internal efficiency problems and tax pressure in the UK
Lottomatica/PWO	348	Revenue +5%; EBITDA +10%	SKS365 integration delivering €87 million in synergies (surpassing initial targets by 34%)
DraftKings	Not disclosed	43% year-over-year Q4 2025 revenue increase, while 2026 full-year guidance ($6.5 billion to $6.9 billion) missed higher Wall Street projections	Aiming to lower costs and change the strategy for US
Gambling.com Group	About 150	In 2025, the company reported revenue of $165.4 million (up 30% YOY) and adjusted EBITDA of $58.0 million (up 19% YOY); Q1 results remain flat in 2026	AI-first restructuring
Underdog	Up to 125 (about 20% of staff)	The company is privately owned, so there are no audited public reports on revenue. The company turned EBITDA-positive in early 2026 and now projects annual revenue to grow by 21% compared to the previous year.	Transition from daily fantasy sports to a national prediction-market platform
Aristocrat Interactive	Around 120	Compare group performance	Closure of Malta office due to shutdown of white-label segment
PENN Interactive	75+	Expected adjusted EBITDA loss of approximately $20 million	ESPN exit of their sports betting partnership and general restructuring

Lottomatica Revenue Data As a Prime Example

Let’s consider the case with Lottomatica layoffs. Here are some figures that describe the company’s situation:

• €1.181 billion in H1 revenue
• Online revenue growth by 13%
• Adjusted EBITDA increasing by 10%
• Margin reaching 39.4%
• €87 million in SKS365 integration  

And yet, the company has abruptly laid off 348 employees in Belgrade, Serbia, shutting down the entire office in a single day in March 2026. In fact, it happened in the middle of the day, without any prior warning. The people who were laid off were the employees of PWO, the former SKS365 team. The team worked on migration following Lottomatica’s acquisition of SKS365. When they completed their mission, they were all free to go.

While we can definitely argue about the method and execution, the reasons are clear for any business. When a business sees the opportunity to earn more while spending less, it should seize it.  

However, it turned out that the Italian iGaming group did not cut jobs because of poor revenue. In fact, it’s quite the opposite: it should be able to generate even more value with a smaller, lean, more centralized structure. We have even started to notice impressive financial results of the SKS365 acquisition. But the entire Serbian team became unnecessary once the integration was complete.

Are Profitable Companies Using Layoffs to Expand Margins?

Most companies reporting layoffs are also reporting strong financial results. What’s interesting is that there is further room for improvement, and iGaming job cuts seem to be yet another option to improve operational efficiency.

For example, Entain has improved EBITDA and free cash flow following the implementation of a large cost-efficiency program. The company decided to focus on regulated markets, which generated better margins. 

Unfortunately for some of the employees, this decision involved cutting as many as 500 jobs. The company expects that the cost-cutting initiatives will bring hundreds of millions of pounds in the medium run.

DraftKings has reported a revenue growth of 17% year over year in Q1 of 2026, while adjusted EBITDA is even more impressive with a 64% growth. These double-digit growth numbers translate into rapid growth in profitability and shareholder returns. 

The Role of AI in Driving the Cuts

We’ve been expecting AI to replace many creative workers for a few years now, and the reasoning for it is not fallible. Why would a business pay for a text or an image if it can be generated by AI for much less and way faster? And this has become a trend now: where AI can replace human employees, they get replaced.

Gambling.Com Group Doubled Down on AI, and It’s Not Paying Off

Gambling.com Group is an explicit example of this trend. The company has decided to undertake AI-led restructuring, which is expected to generate approximately $13 million in annualized cost savings. 

This restructuring should cut about 150 jobs in the US, Ireland, and other locations. That’s almost 25% of the company’s staff. However, since about 80% of new engineering code is produced by AI in the company, they have decided to proceed with further streamlining. 

It’s worth mentioning that the group has unimpressive recent financial results: it reported flat Q1 revenue and weaker profitability, with gross profit down 11% as cost of sales increased 171%. Poor organic search results and tighter regulations across several markets undermined performance. 

Naturally, this required cutting costs wherever possible, including staff. We’ll now look at how the Gambling.com layoffs help the group cut costs enough to offset flat revenue.

GiG and GeoComply Followed Suit

There are other examples of AI use in the iGaming industry. Gaming Innovation Group (GiG) relies on AI to power personalization, workflow automation, and data analytics across its platforms. The idea is that operators of their platforms will:

• Improve user engagement and loyalty;
• Increase the average revenue per player;
• Stimulate daily user activity;
• Grow the overall user lifetime;
• Lower the churn rate.

GeoComply has implemented AI to detect location fraud, spot manipulated devices, and enable real-time digital identity verification.

We will definitely see more applications for artificial intelligence in iGaming, and other companies will eventually follow these pioneers. The AI-based solutions should help achieve their goals in automation, productivity, or fraud prevention, but will definitely leave some professionals out of their jobs.

Parasite SEO Tactics Didn’t Work — The Result: Jobs Lost

Certain iGaming media companies gambled on parasite SEO and lost. A good example here is ClickOut Media. The company bought hundreds of reputable news websites and populated them with advertising for offshore gambling and online casinos. The list of acquired sites includes ReadWriteWeb, Techopedia, and Cryptonews. In some cases, journalists were fired and replaced with AI editors to generate content.

However, even the best news outlets suffered huge drops in traffic after adopting these parasite SEO tactics. The conversion of reputable sites into AI-powered hubs for casino and gambling promotion failed, and the company did not receive the traffic it hoped for due to severe Google penalties and de-indexing.

Obviously, there is no way back either: the teams behind the acquired sites are fired, the domain’s reputation is gone, and the advertising goals are not achieved.

Tax, Prediction Markets and Failed Bets Also Matter

Overall, we need to understand that iGaming companies may be affected by other factors, and any of those factors may lead to further layoffs in the gambling industry.

Prediction markets are often cited as a powerful competitor by iGaming brands. And some forecasts are reconsidered because of this competition. For example, BetMGM lowered its financial outlook due to intensified prediction markets.

Another major factor is regulation and taxation: whenever a government initiates gaming reform, we expect higher costs for brands operating in that jurisdiction and additional layoffs. For example, Betfred mentioned that a higher gambling tax in the UK will cause it to close 132 betting shops and cut more than 600 jobs. 

Conclusion: Is Shrinking the New Way to Scale?

Even though layoffs are generally considered a bad sign, this recent wave in the iGaming industry suggests it is now mature. Investors and stock owners carefully track margin values, growth, cash flow, and operating leverage. The sheer number of employees is not that important, so some of them can even be fired to build a leaner structure.

This iGaming restructuring is a common industry trend and seems rather reasonable. However, it remains to be seen whether these smaller, leaner companies will be more efficient in the long run, or whether these job cuts only help them meet their short-term financial goals.

FAQ

Is the iGaming industry in trouble?

Normally, layoffs are considered a sign of economic trouble. However, iGaming companies appear healthy and profitable, and they cut jobs to adapt to new market conditions or further improve their results for investors, not to meet short-term financial goals.

Why are iGaming companies cutting jobs despite growing profit?

iGaming layoffs and revenue growth can go hand in hand. Despite good profitability, companies cut jobs to optimize their workforce after integrations with acquired companies, to implement AI-first strategies, to improve profitability, or to cut costs when taxes and regulations change.

Is AI driving layoffs in iGaming?

Yes, some companies report implementing an AI-first strategy and cutting unnecessary roles. Many brands choose AI for content creation, yet others report creating a huge portion of their code with AI. This is a major trend in various sectors, and iGaming is no exception.

How do gambling regulations affect jobs?

When a country announces a gambling reform, the result is often a number of layoffs in the jurisdiction. Higher taxes and complicated licensing increase overall costs and may push some companies out of the country.