Oct 07, 2026 | 3:03 am
Avanti Studios is seeking to change the economics of live casino through digital dealers powered by motion capture, artificial intelligence and real-time rendering, according to co-founder Gustaf Hagman. The Stockholm-based supplier has secured agreements with major operators, including Entain, while bringing its games to Spain, where its launch included live blackjack.
The company's approach separates game outcomes from their visual presentation. A certified random number generator (RNG) determines each hand's result, while Unreal Engine renders the dealer's movements and interactions in real time. Avanti says the model preserves multiplayer interaction while reducing the operational constraints associated with physical studios.
Hagman, who co-founded LeoVegas, established Avanti Studios with Jonas Delin, founder of Authentic Gaming. Their experience on the operator and supplier sides of live casino informed their decision to develop an alternative to the established production model.
“The underlying production model hasn’t fundamentally changed in nearly two decades.”
Hagman said the traditional format still depends on physical studios, cameras, dealers and tables, with staffing and operating costs limiting the range of products suppliers can offer. He believes advances in graphics technology, AI and cloud computing provide an opportunity to change how live casino games are produced and distributed.
“The goal isn’t to replace live casino overnight, it’s to build what we believe is its natural next evolution.”
Certified RNGs Determine Outcomes as Digital Dealers Perform Live
Avanti's production model separates the mechanics that determine a game's outcome from the technology that presents it to players. Hagman said a certified RNG establishes the result of every blackjack hand before the real-time engine renders the corresponding sequence of events.
After the RNG generates a result, the company's software produces the dealer's actions, including card movements, facial expressions and spoken interactions. The system synchronizes the presentation across the multiplayer table so that participants see the same sequence and outcome at the same time.
Players continue to make decisions during a hand, with the digital dealer responding as the game progresses. Avanti combines the certified game mechanics with rendering technology commonly associated with high-end video games.
The model also addresses a central question for the company: whether players will accept a digital character in a category traditionally built around human dealers. Hagman said visual realism alone cannot guarantee that players will engage with a product.
Hagman added: “Players don’t care whether something is AI-powered or rendered in Unreal Engine. They care whether it feels enjoyable, trustworthy and genuinely live. That’s why we have spent so much time on realism.”
Avanti has focused on reproducing the small details of human performance, including gestures and facial movements, to make interactions feel natural. Hagman said early responses from operators and players had been encouraging, although he acknowledged that the market has yet to determine whether digital dealers can achieve broad acceptance.
The company uses motion capture to build its dealer characters. Experienced land-based croupiers perform in motion-capture suits, providing the source material for the digital versions. Their handling of cards and individual habits between hands inform the animations.
Spain Approval and Operator Agreements Support Expansion
Spain became the first regulated market in which Avanti introduced its category of digital-dealer games. Its launch included Toro vs. Matador Live and Live Blackjack, despite the country's historical restrictions that had permitted only live roulette in this area of casino gaming.
Hagman said the company worked with certification partners and operators to demonstrate that its games met the applicable requirements for fairness, integrity and player protection. He argued that the production model offers an auditable environment because the system does not rely on physical cards or a manual dealing process.
Avanti's entry into Spain followed its launch with Luckia in 2026. The company has also signed agreements with Entain and Superbet, establishing relationships with operators as it develops its presence in the market.
Physical studios require operators and suppliers to account for the cost of staffing each table. Adding a language can involve recruiting and training additional dealers, while low-stakes tables may struggle to cover their operating expenses.
Avanti's digital production model is designed to reduce those constraints. Hagman said operators could request more tables, different stake levels or dealers speaking particular languages without having to expand physical studio space and recruitment at the same rate.
The company had to demonstrate that it could deliver on its plans before the games reached the market. Hagman said transparency was central to securing agreements before launch, as operators were committing to a supplier whose product was still under development.
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Genting Relationship and the Future of Human Dealers
Avanti has also received backing from Genting, which previously acquired Authentic Gaming from Hagman and later invested in Avanti twice. The relationship raises questions about how the company separates investor interests from its commercial dealings with an operator.
Hagman said Avanti treats Genting as an investor and, where applicable, as a customer operating under the same commercial terms as other businesses.
“Genting are an investor in Avanti. Where they’re also a commercial customer, that’s a commercial conversation on the same terms as anyone else, the same pricing logic, the same position in the roadmap and the same treatment as any other operator.”
He added that Genting had not sought preferential product decisions. Hagman also pointed to the company's production structure as a way of limiting potential conflicts over capacity. Traditional studios have a fixed number of tables, which can create competition between customers for access. Avanti's model reduces its dependence on allocating physical studio space.
Hagman said operator product teams had provided some of the company's most valuable input and that Avanti could have benefited from receiving it sooner. He also warned founders against assuming that a lack of customer interest simply means they need to explain their technology more clearly.
Avanti's next challenge is to demonstrate that its digital-dealer approach can attract sustained player engagement while meeting the requirements of regulated markets. Its agreements with major operators and its Spanish launch provide an initial commercial foundation, while its longer-term prospects will depend on how customers respond to the format.
Source:
“Gustaf Hagman, Avanti Studios, on AI dealers: ‘We’re not taking the human out of the product’“, europeangaming.eu, October 11, 2026.