NEXT.io sat down with Games Valley CEO Ariel Reem to find out how the company is redefining aggregation through technology, data and smarter aggregation.
NEXT: Can you tell us about your journey with Games Valley, how the business has evolved, and what the company looks like today?
Ariel Reem: Games Valley has evolved significantly as the market itself has changed. Aggregation was traditionally focused on solving the integration challenge: giving operators access to multiple suppliers and games through a single connection. That remains an important part of what we do, but we believe there is much more value we can provide.
Today, Games Valley connects operators with more than 200 providers and over 20,000 games, but our focus is increasingly on what happens beyond simply making that content available.
Operators are dealing with huge amounts of content, data and commercial complexity, so we are building around the idea of making that ecosystem easier to manage and more useful. That means combining content, technology, data and intelligence to help operators make better decisions and operate more efficiently.
That evolution is really what sits behind our #SmarterAggregation philosophy.
NEXT: You use the phrase #SmarterAggregation. What does “smarter aggregation” actually mean in practice for an operator, and how does it differ from a more traditional aggregation model, and how does Games Valley make operators’ day-to-day lives easier?
AR: Games Valley was built with one simple idea in mind: to solve the challenges operators face every day and remove the friction that comes with them.
Myself and our founders come from the B2C side of the industry, so we have experienced those challenges first-hand. We understand the bottlenecks, frustrations and operational issues that can slow teams down because we have dealt with them ourselves.
That experience shaped the way Games Valley was developed. Rather than building an aggregation platform simply to provide access to more content, we looked at the problems operators were facing and asked: how can we remove those obstacles and make things work better?
That is the thinking behind #SmarterAggregation.
We are building tools and technology around real operator needs, from understanding game and marketing performance through OnTrack, to making everyday processes simpler with GameFrame AI, and providing fast support and practical solutions when operators need them.
The idea is simple: operators shouldn’t have to work around their technology. The technology should work around the operator.
For us, smarter aggregation is ultimately about reducing friction, solving real problems and giving operators tools that help their teams work more efficiently.
NEXT: What are the biggest problems operators are asking aggregators to solve today, and how have those demands changed over the past few years?
AR: Operators are asking much more sophisticated questions than they were a few years ago.
Integration and access to content are still important, but operators increasingly want to understand performance, efficiency and where value is actually being generated. They have enormous amounts of content and data, but the challenge is turning that into useful decisions.
There are also many smaller operational challenges that create friction. Game thumbnail creation is a good example. When you are managing thousands of games, creating consistent, branded thumbnails for different campaigns, themes and markets can become surprisingly time-consuming.
That’s one of the reasons we’re excited about GameFrame AI, which we are introducing at SBC and making available free of charge to our customers. It allows operators to create multiple thumbnails around the same theme while maintaining consistent branding and meeting their specific creative requirements.
For us, these things are all connected. An aggregator should not simply add more content to an operator’s workload. It should help remove friction from it.
NEXT: SBC Summit Lisbon is just around the corner. What does Games Valley have planned for the show, and what can visitors expect from you in Lisbon?
AR: Lisbon is a particularly exciting show for us because it gives us an opportunity to bring the different parts of the Games Valley proposition together and have those conversations face-to-face.
At Stand B123, we’ll be showcasing our growing content ecosystem and talking about what we mean by #SmarterAggregation. That includes our approach to data and Revenue Intelligence, as well as OnTrack and how it can help operators connect acquisition activity with actual player performance.
We’re also very excited to introduce GameFrame AI, our new AI-powered thumbnail creation tool. We’re making it available free of charge to our customers because we see it as a simple but genuinely useful way of removing an everyday operational challenge.
Ultimately, though, SBC is about conversations. We want operators to come and tell us what they’re struggling with, what they need from their technology partners and where they think the industry needs to improve.
NEXT: Another important part of the Games Valley proposition is OnTrack. What is the product, what does it enable operators to do, and what led you to develop it?
AR: OnTrack came from a very practical gap we saw in the market.
Operators and performance marketing teams can have a huge amount of acquisition data, but understanding what that spend actually delivers can be much more difficult. You might know how much you are spending on an affiliate, campaign or traffic source, but not necessarily what value that activity is generating further down the player journey.
OnTrack connects acquisition spend with actual player performance.
It gives operators a clearer picture of which campaigns, affiliates and traffic sources are delivering value, helping them understand where to scale, where to make changes and where there may be opportunities to improve efficiency.
The idea is simple: stop guessing and start knowing.
It is about taking information that operators already have and turning it into something they can actually use to make better commercial decisions.
NEXT: You are also introducing GameFrame AI at SBC. How does the tool fit into Games Valley’s wider #SmarterAggregation philosophy, and what does it mean for operators in practical terms?
AR: For us, #SmarterAggregation is ultimately about making operators’ lives easier, not more complicated.
Aggregation can involve a huge amount of content and a lot of day-to-day operational work. We therefore don’t only look at the bigger challenges; we also look at the smaller points of friction that can consume time and resources.
GameFrame AI is a good example of that. Creating and managing game thumbnails can become surprisingly time-consuming when an operator is working with thousands of titles, particularly when they need consistent branding, specific themes or different creative requirements for different campaigns and markets.
GameFrame AI allows operators to create multiple thumbnails around a particular theme while maintaining consistency with their branding and requirements. We’re also making the tool available free of charge to our customers, because we want it to be a genuinely useful solution rather than another cost or complication.
For us, that’s what smarter aggregation should be about: using technology to remove friction and make the operator’s day-to-day business simpler.
NEXT: We often hear suppliers talking about the size of their game libraries, but sheer volume is not necessarily useful to an operator. Do you think the aggregation market now needs to move beyond competing on the number of titles available?
AR: Yes, I think the conversation needs to evolve.
Scale is important. Operators want choice, and having access to a broad range of suppliers and content is a fundamental part of aggregation. But more is not automatically better.
If you give an operator thousands of games without helping them understand what is relevant, what is performing and what deserves attention, you can actually create another problem: more choice, but also more complexity.
The real question is what value sits behind the number.
Can the operator integrate content easily? Can they understand how it performs? Can they identify where invisible friction is affecting their business? Can they see where opportunities are being missed, and make better decisions about what to promote and where to invest? We don’t want to move away from scale. We want to make scale more useful.
NEXT: SBC is only the beginning of a busy few months for Games Valley. What are your priorities after Lisbon, where can the industry meet the team next, and what should people expect from Games Valley heading into 2027?
AR: After Lisbon, we have a very busy few months ahead. We’ll be continuing to expand into key markets, strengthen our supplier network and develop the technology and products that support our wider proposition.
From an events perspective, we’ll be heading next to SiGMA Rome, where we’re also sponsoring the golf tournament, before moving on to ICE Barcelona, which will be a major event for us. We’ll have a 51-square-metre stand, so we’re really looking forward to welcoming partners, customers and new contacts there.
After that, our focus turns strongly towards LATAM, including SiGMA São Paulo, where we’ll also be exhibiting. It’s an important region for us, and we’re looking forward to spending more time with operators and partners on the ground.
So there’s certainly no shortage of activity between now and 2027. Alongside the events and market expansion, we’ll continue developing products such as OnTrack and GameFrame AI, while strengthening the overall Games Valley proposition.
Ultimately, our focus is on continuing to grow while making sure that growth translates into real value for our customers and partners. We have some very exciting months ahead, and we hope to see everyone along the way.
