Avanti Studios co-founder explains AI-rendered live dealers, RNG outcomes and Spanish approval for live blackjack

Gustaf Hagman, co-founder of Avanti Studios, has set out how the supplier separates certified randomness from live presentation in its digital dealer games. Speaking in an interview with European Gaming, he argued that the production model behind live casino has barely changed in almost two decades and still depends on physical studios, cameras, dealers and tables.

Hagman said the outcome of every hand is determined by a certified random number generator, which he described as a deliberate difference from traditional live casino, where cards are physical. Once the result is generated, a real-time engine rendered in Unreal Engine takes over. Card movements, dealer animation, facial expressions, eye contact and spoken interaction are rendered live and synchronised across all players at a table. In blackjack, players still make their own decisions in real time and the dealer responds to them.

On player acceptance, Hagman said technology alone does not create engagement and that players care whether a game feels enjoyable, trustworthy and genuinely live rather than how it is built. He said the market has not yet decided on digital dealers, though early feedback from operators and players has been encouraging.

The company is launching in Spain with Toro vs. Matador Live and Live Blackjack, even though the country has historically permitted only live roulette. Hagman said Avanti worked with certification partners and operators to show that its games meet the same fairness, integrity and player protection standards as other certified products. He added that the absence of physical cards and manual dealing leaves fewer points where human error can occur, producing a consistent and auditable environment. He said Spain will be the first regulated market where the category is available to players.

Hagman also addressed why bet365 and Entain signed within months of the company's launch, before any game went live. He pointed to the constraints tier-one operators face with traditional live casino: a table costs what it costs to staff, a new language requires a new recruitment drive, and a low-stakes table rarely covers its own overheads. Avanti, he said, offers a production model where those limits do not apply in the same way, with capacity for larger table counts becoming a question of production rather than staffing.

Hagman stressed that the aim is not to replace live casino overnight but to build what he called its natural next evolution, and that human dealers' work is captured and given wider reach than a single table allows.