Logifuture have long understood the immense potential of virtual sports betting. Our flagship products, Zoom Soccer and Simulate, are already transforming the landscape, offering a continuous stream of events that are familiar to players, featuring real team names and league names, but with entirely simulated, RNG-based outcomes available 24/7.

These virtual matches, which unfold with the same pace as real games, provide graphical and text updates on key events, offering an immersive experience that mirrors following a live match.

What excites me most is not just what virtual sports are, but what they are rapidly becoming, thanks to the revolutionary power of Artificial Intelligence. I believe we are on the cusp of a future where virtual sports won’t merely mimic reality; they will surpass it, becoming so dynamic and tailored that bettors may genuinely prefer them to real sporting events.

A whole new level of realism

Currently, AI is already making our virtual simulations incredibly sophisticated. We ensure that real-world trends, such as player injuries, are reflected in Zoom matches, adding a layer of authenticity. Our goal is to make these dynamics even more real-time, leveraging AI to achieve this fluidity. Beyond enhancing the in-game experience, AI provides practical solutions that significantly reduce development effort.

But the true game-changer lies in AI’s ability to personalise and create truly unpredictable, thrilling outcomes. AI-driven algorithms analyse user behavior, such as betting frequency, preferred market types, and stake levels, to present the most relevant betting options to individual players. Imagine a player who favors fast-paced action seeing shorter animations, while another who enjoys the full narrative experiences a complete 90-minute match sequence.

AI is the key to generating dynamic sequences and unpredictable outcomes that rival, or even exceed, the excitement of real life. Just as AlphaGo defied expectations in Go, AI in virtual sports can behave in novel ways, creating match narratives that are as plausible as any real-world sequence, yet with an exciting unpredictability. This capability allows us to offer more tailored betting opportunities based on a player’s behavior, transforming what was once resource-intensive into the norm.

Bye bye, bore draws

Why will bettors prefer virtuals? Because reality can, at times, be boring. Some real matches lack goals, predictable outcomes, or simply don’t offer the continuous dopamine hit that modern digital consumption, exemplified by platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels, has conditioned us to expect. Virtuals, powered by AI, can constantly deliver peak excitement. We can generate all these compelling events quickly and almost in real time, making virtuals more immersive and visually captivating.

The future also holds the promise of emerging technologies further amplifying this transformation. Widespread adoption of 5G connectivity will remove current limitations of bandwidth and latency, allowing us to deliver even more immersive and data-rich experiences, including multi-angle streaming views. Augmented Reality (AR) excites me with the prospect of merging virtual and real, enabling ultra-short-term betting opportunities overlaid onto live matches – for instance, betting on a player’s running distance in the next two minutes directly through an AR overlay.

A revolutionary leap in engagement

Logifuture is committed to expanding our virtual portfolio, adding more sports and markets, and continuously innovating to provide unexpected outcomes and new gameplay features. We’re even developing new virtual games designed to seamlessly bridge the gap between traditional sportsbook players and virtual enthusiasts, offering ultra-short-term events that simulate and enhance the live betting experience.

The growth is evident; Nigeria alone is experiencing over 20% annual growth in virtual product usage, with more than 80% of virtual sports bets placed via mobile devices. The future of betting lies in personalisation, localisation, and real-time engagement. We believe that by leveraging AI, we will move beyond copying reality to create an experience that is more engaging, more exciting, and ultimately, more appealing than reality itself. This is not just an evolution – it’s a revolution that will redefine how we engage with sports betting.

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