"A key focus in 2025 will be to increase presence in emerging markets—particularly in Africa, Asia, and Latin America"

Gaming test lab and product certification consultancy BMM Testlabs made significant strides in 2024, bolstering its presence in emerging markets such as Brazil, Peru, Botswana, and Nigeria, while also introducing BIG 3.0 to streamline its global business operations.

The sustained growth did not go unnoticed by the wider industry. The company’s recent recognition as 'Testing Service or Solution Provider of the Year' at the Vixio Global Regulatory Awards underscores its growing influence in the gaming compliance sector.

In an interview with Yogonet, Martin Storm, President and CEO of BMM Innovation Group, discusses the company’s performance over the past year, the trends shaping the gaming industry, and the key challenges and opportunities BMM sees for 2025.

Looking back at 2024, how would you assess the year for the company? What are some of the major takeaways, achievements, or lessons learned over the past year?

2024 has been an exceptional year for BMM Testlabs. We’ve seen significant growth across all areas of our business, with expanded market reach, new testing efficiencies, and stronger customer relationships. We entered the Brazil fixed odds betting market and have been testing betting systems, live game studios, and online games for the states of Rio de Janeiro, Paraíba, and Paraná, and we’re licensed federally by the Secretaria de Prêmios e Apostas Substituto.

We received our PCI-DSS accreditation to test payment solutions for the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, allowing us to expand our services for iGaming operators and suppliers, as well as point-of-sale retailers. We continued our expansion in Africa, with new licenses in Botswana and Nigeria. We were the first test lab to receive approval for Peru’s newly regulated iGaming and sports betting market. And we attended or exhibited at more than 80 gaming conferences and shows globally.

Finally, we successfully launched BIG 3.0 and formally globalized our business structure, moving from a regionally managed business to a globally led industry powerhouse. We elevated our most experienced leaders to oversee our global organization, with Travis Foley heading up Government & Regulatory, Marzia Turrini leading iGaming and cybersecurity, and Kirk White at the helm of our land-based gaming and inspections business.

We ended the year by winning the ‘Testing Service or Solution Provider of the Year’ award in the prestigious Vixio Global Regulatory Awards 2024.

Overall, 2024 has been a year where we've strengthened our position as a global leader in compliance testing, while continuing to focus on our commitment to quality and customer satisfaction in our service delivery. Hopefully, our efforts have our competitors on the run.

Which issues and trends would you say dominated the conversation in 2024, both in the gaming industry at large and the specific areas where the company operates?

The gaming industry has been dealing with several important issues and trends in 2024. Top among them is the continued growth of iGaming and sports betting, which is now one of the fastest-growing facets of our industry globally. The shift toward online gaming and the convergence of digital technologies with traditional land-based gaming has created challenges and opportunities. At BMM, in addition to our long history of product compliance for land-based gaming, we've focused on serving the specific needs of the iGaming and sports betting markets, particularly as new markets open in the U.S., Latin America, and Africa.

From a broader perspective, responsible gaming has also been a central topic of discussion, with increasing pressure for operators to adopt safer, more transparent practices. Not only do we test responsible gaming technology, but one of our BMM Innovation Group businesses, RG24seven Virtual Training, offers compliance-grade responsible gaming training, taught by industry experts. We offer this virtual training to anyone in the gaming industry globally – operators, suppliers, and regulators – in multiple languages. 2024 was our first full year of development of RG24seven and we now have thousands of learners on the system.

Cybersecurity has been a significant issue in 2024. Many companies within our own industry have been victims of cyber-attacks and data breaches. We’ve all become so reliant on digital technologies that when breaches occur, they have the potential to halt or harm business operations. This is one of the reasons we are so passionate about our BIG Cyber business and its focus on reducing cyber-risk and improving cyber-posture for global gaming companies. Our partnerships with Maxxsure for a cyber risk management platform and Cyrebro for breach response strategies, coupled with our strong history and capability in penetration testing, lead cyber defense in the gaming industry.

Finally, the development of blockchain and cryptocurrency in the gaming industry has also been a hot topic. While still in the early stages, many operators are exploring these technologies.

What can we expect from the company in 2025? And what are the main challenges and opportunities you see in the gaming industry in the upcoming 12-month period?

Looking ahead, we will continue to expand our global footprint and maintain our commitment to providing the highest level of service to our customers. Customers are voting with their feet and moving to BMM. We are actively investing in new technologies and enhancing our testing capabilities to support emerging gaming sectors such as VR/AR gaming, cryptocurrency-based gaming, esports, and iLottery, to name a few. We are already doing compliance testing for some of these new technologies

One of our key focuses in 2025 will be increasing our presence in emerging markets—particularly in Africa, Asia, and Latin America—where we see tremendous growth potential. We’ll continue to help suppliers, regulators, and operators navigate the local landscape in these new and expanding markets. We are particularly excited about Brazil, where we are already testing for their fixed odds betting sports betting and iGaming program and are excited about the potential for land-based gaming.

Challenges always remain. We expect regulatory complexity to continue to increase, particularly as new jurisdictions come online, and countries introduce stricter rules around game integrity, consumer protection, and responsible gaming. The challenge for BMM and other gaming labs will be staying ahead of these evolving regulations and helping customers remain compliant.

On the opportunity front, technology-driven innovation will be a major driver in 2025. The use of AI and machine learning for predictive analytics, personalized gaming experiences, and fraud detection will continue to transform the industry. Additionally, as 5G cellular technology expands globally, it will accelerate the growth of mobile gaming and iGaming platforms, creating additional testing needs.

Finally, responsible gaming will remain key to our industry’s future. BMM Testlabs will continue to participate in these discussions and test responsible-gaming technologies. RG24seven Virtual training, which offers training on topics like responsible gaming and anti-money laundering, will become even more important for the industry in educating gaming industry employees.

To sum it all up, 2025 will be a year of exciting growth for BMM Testlabs as we continue to focus on expanding into new markets and enhancing our service delivery. Our BIG Cyber and RG24seven Virtual Training businesses will be a key focus, with cyber-protection more important than ever and the increasing emphasis globally on responsible gaming.