Baltics

Engage yourself in the most complete Game Wave Festival, where business, learning, and enjoyment merge!

Published

3 years ago

June 28, 2022

Reading Time: 3 minutes

The Game Wave Festival is an international event taking place for the second year in a row from September 27th to October 2nd in Tallinn, Estonia at Tallink Spa & Conference Hotel. The first three days of six-day-event are dedicated to the game jam.

The Game Wave Festival is a business, education and entertainment event for the gaming industry professionals. It first took place with great success in September 2021 in Jūrmala, Latvia attracting participants from 25 countries.

“Game Wave Festival is an expressive way to celebrate glorious game development heritage, culture and traditions, meet new and old faces, and have fun. It is professional, oriented to have serious business talks, and cozy, to make friends with almost all attendees. I am happy to welcome all of you to the 2nd Game Wave Festival!” — Ints Viksna, Chairman of Board at Latvian Technological center.

The festival is mainly B2B, however, it is designed to avoid the “stiffness” these types of events sometimes have. Game Wave Festival attempts to capture the fun and relaxed ambiance we’ve experienced in other global and regional game events. GWF is large enough to get an overview of the main tendencies in the Nordic and Baltic region, and small enough to make friends with all participants – The friendships you will make in GWF, will follow you all your life.

Main event and B2Match

30.09. – 02.10. The Main Event: Conference, workshops, expo, pitching competitions, business meetings and game jam final presentation.
The conference and interactive events are divided into 5 tracks: General, Art (visual, audial, haptics), Unreal Engine, XR and Board Games.
The online matchmaking platform is available for all participants all 6 days, and the meetings can also be booked on-site. Registered members of the matchmaking will be able to participate both on-site and online.
GWF uses the B2Match meeting and event management platform that works both on web browsers and mobile devices. This platform also handles video calls and conference streaming, so all functionality needed by the participants is neatly in one place.
There will be a private Business area for business ticket holders in Tallink’s Fidel Bar with a nice view of the old town.

The first three days of the six-day-event are dedicated to the game jam

Awesome game jam runs from September 27th to 29th. The game jam’s theme and diversifiers of the jam will be decided by the jam sponsors. However, the game jam does not end on the 3rd day, instead, the final ceremony is on the 6th day of GWF. This is by design so that the teams can improve their games by attending workshops and even pitch them in and get feedback in our “Early stage games mentor pitch”.

Three unique game pitching opportunities:

1 to 1 board games author and publisher pitch in a private, closed space, where publishers can take their time to test the game and converse with the authors.
Early stage mentor pitch for anyone not ready for any other pitches, but still willing to train, test their prototype and get feedback. Jammers are welcome.
Nordic Game Discovery Contest Baltic semi-finals where developers from Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania can showcase their games to publishers and industry experts and compete for a place in the finals.

Three special event parties, including Business Afterparty and Pool party

The Business Party (29.09.2022) will be available for organizers, speakers, partners and business ticket holders only.
The Pool party (30.09.2022) will be available for organizers, speakers, partners, business ticket holders only and pool party ticket holders. There will be access to the pool area, sauna, hot tubs and a quieter area by the bar.
The Afterparty (01.10.2022) will be available for almost everyone (except for student ticket holders). It will feature Marioke, a feast table and a quieter area for business conversations.

The 3 day expo for game companies, art, technology & education

The expo will be of interest to anyone who has a professional or a hobby curiosity about topics related to game companies, art, technology and education. Learning from last year’s success and good feedback, GWF will place staff members to guard the hall, so that the expo participants are not tied down at their booths for 3 days.

Baltics

Number of Estonians Using Gambling Self-exclusion Services Rises by Nearly 36% in Five Years

Published

22 hours ago

May 9, 2025

Niji Narayan

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The number of Estonians opting for self-imposed gambling restrictions has grown in five years from just over 14,000 to approximately 19,000. This represents a rise of nearly 36%.

Jekaterina Nikitina, head of the excise department at the Tax and Customs Board (EMTA), said: “In the past five years, the number of people with restrictions has increased by about 5000, or more precisely, by 4984 people.”

Restrictions can only be self-imposed by a gambler and not put in place by a family member or anyone else regardless of any problems the individual may be battling with – nor can they be imposed on all types of gambling.

European Gaming Congress 2024 (Warsaw, Poland)

Lottery scratch cards, for instance, cannot be subject to self-restriction, though use of most other games of chance including table games at online and offline casinos, the regular lottery, sports betting and skill games, including the various varieties of poker, can be voluntarily restricted, the EMTA said.

Once imposed and entered on the gambling restriction register, the decision cannot be reversed.

Nikitina noted that a person must choose a period of restriction of between six and 36 months, and must separately apply to be removed from the list once that time has elapsed. The restriction does not end automatically and cannot be terminated at will during the validity period.

Imposing the restrictions can be done via EMTA’s self-service portal. Gambling operators licensed in Estonia cannot permit people to play with them if subject to a ban, including a self-imposed one.

The post Number of Estonians Using Gambling Self-exclusion Services Rises by Nearly 36% in Five Years appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

Baltics

BETER Shortlisted in Nine Categories at the Baltic and Scandinavian Gaming Awards 2025

Published

4 days ago

May 6, 2025

George Miller

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BETER is proud to announce that we have been shortlisted in nine categories at the Baltic and Scandinavian Gaming (BSG) Awards 2025, organized by HIPTHER. This recognition highlights our continued commitment to delivering top-tier esports, sports betting content and solutions across key European markets.

Our nominations reflect excellence in both Baltic and Nordic categories:

Baltic Categories:

Best Esports Service Provider in the Baltics
Rising Star in Baltic Sports Betting Technology
Best Virtual Sports Provider in the Baltics
Rising Star in Baltic Virtual Sports

Nordic Categories:

Best Esports Service Provider in the Nordics
Best Sports Betting Provider in the Nordics
Rising Star in Nordic Sports Betting Technology
Best Virtual Sports Provider in the Nordics
Rising Star in Nordic Virtual Sports

We would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who supported us during the voting process. Your trust and recognition inspire us to keep innovating and delivering outstanding content and solutions tailored to the needs of operators and players in these dynamic regions.

The winners will be revealed on 27 May 2025 during the MARE BALTICUM Gaming & TECH Summit in Vilnius — stay tuned!

The post BETER Shortlisted in Nine Categories at the Baltic and Scandinavian Gaming Awards 2025 appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

Baltics

Aviatrix granted certification in Estonia

Published

3 weeks ago

April 17, 2025

George Miller

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Aviatrix has received certification to offer its award-winning crash game to operators in Estonia.

It marks the latest regulated market that Aviatrix has entered into, with the game already live in the country with leading brand FenixBet.

Anastasia Rimskaya, Chief Account Officer at Aviatrix, said: “Securing certification in Estonia is another exciting step forward for Aviatrix as we continue to expand into regulated markets. We’re thrilled to already be live with FenixBet and look forward to delivering our innovative crash game experience to even more players in the country.”

Aviatrix has added a host of regulated markets over recent months, including Spain, Colombia, Brazil and Peru.

It underlines the team’s commitment to bringing the game to players around the world.

Aviatrix is a constantly evolving game, with regular feature updates for partners, including the recent launch of free bets, now available through in-game promo codes.

The post Aviatrix granted certification in Estonia appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.