Gaming
KINETIX LAUNCHES TEXT-TO-ANIMATION AI SIGNALING A NEW ERA IN USER-GENERATED GAMING CONTENT
Kinetix, the AI startup bringing emotes to video games and virtual worlds, today announces ‘Text2Emotes’: generative AI technology that heralds a new era of user-generated gaming content (UGC) by enabling anyone to create 3D animations and emotes for games – from nothing more than a simple text prompt.
Text2Emotes offers one of the first ever examples of AI which can create high-quality, playable 3D animations and emotes – animations which express emotion – from a basic text input. For example, users could enter a well-known dance such as ‘griddy’ or a literal prompt such as ‘I’m angry’, and see their avatars come to life through AI-generated emotes. The AI has been trained on the large proprietary dataset created by Kinetix over the last three years. With millions of 3D animations and emotes, it produces far more advanced and industry specific content than typical models, which leverage limited academic and standard datasets.
Uniquely, Kinetix has created a format that enables animations to be saved and published across multiple games and virtual worlds, meaning emotes generated with Kinetix can be used on any avatar, within any video game or metaverse world that integrates the Kinetix SDK. Game developers and publishers can now open their games up to a whole new era of user-generated content, allowing players to import viral trends into their favorite games – or even fuel the next one by coming up with their own in-game emotes.
Emotes have been used by MMOs like World of Warcraft for over two decades but, after rocketing into the mainstream with games like Fortnite and PUBG, are fast becoming a must-have feature for self-expression in gaming content. UGC is core to the success of many gaming platforms such as Roblox, and is set to become the new standard for helping games generate sustainable, long-lasting revenue, as shown by Fortnite’s Creative 2.0 announcement. The crossover potential of emotes is endless, with videos tagged #emote having received more than 2.4 billion views on TikTok alone.
Yassine Tahi, CEO and Co-founder of Kinetix, commented:
“As we know, UGC is becoming the bedrock of modern gaming and enabling gamers to generate their own content on the fly using AI will be a critical part of this. So for two years we’ve focused on perfecting our AI models and the animations generated by them; first using video inputs and now, incredibly excitingly, using just a simple text prompt. The clear early use case for this tech is in gaming. Emotes have become an essential part of users’ self-expression and a revenue driver for game-makers, and our AI-powered emotes tech is already being integrated by some of the best-known developers and virtual world builders.”
Jay Lee, Global Head of Ecosystem of leading virtual world platform ZEPETO, which has more than 400 million global users and is operated by NAVER Z, a Kinetix partner company, added:
“Kinetix’s Text2Emotes feature represents an exciting use case for generative AI in virtual worlds, with the potential to enable a new dimension of expression for ZEPETO users. When integrated, it will provide the ZEPETO community with an even more immersive social experience.”
Over the last two years, Kinetix has opened up the creation of 3D animation to anyone with video-to-animation AI and no-code editing tools. Traditionally, 3D animation has been an expensive and time-consuming process involving trained 3D experts, and specialist software and hardware. Text2Emotes will be added to the Kinetix Studio and existing Kinetix SDK, which already offers a ready-made, fully customizable emote wheel and a constantly growing library of more than 1,000 emotes across PC, console, and mobile. The Kinetix SDK is currently being integrated by more than 10 video games and virtual worlds including The Sandbox and PolyLand. Later this year, Text2Emotes will also be offered as an API.
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The former Founder and CEO of Grover Gaming has officially launched a new brand in land-based gaming. Named by combining the names of his daughters, Valicy Gaming was unveiled during a recent company launch party held in Greenville, North Carolina.
Evolving from Grover Gaming—which was recently sold to Light & Wonder for a total consideration of $1.05 billion —Valicy will now focus on becoming a major manufacturer in land-based gaming across North America. Retaining a majority of the employees from the acquisition, Valicy will continue forward with a veteran team that will have a sharper focus on game development and hardware design.
Despite the name change, Valicy continues under the same experienced executive leadership team and remains dedicated to providing best-in-class customer service and technical support—qualities customers have come to depend on. The company’s values, represented by its CARE triangle—People, Company, and Work—are deeply rooted in its culture and will remain central to its mission moving forward.
The public debut of the Valicy brand will take place at the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) in Las Vegas, October 6–9, at the Venetian Expo, Booth #1623, where the team will showcase its new identity and game offerings to casino partners and operators from across the industry.
“This is an exciting time for our teams,” said Garrett Blackwelder, Founder and CEO of Valicy. “We have the opportunity to do big things in new markets, which gives us energy and enthusiasm. As we grow Valicy, we will focus on relationships, excellence, and innovation.”
The post Valicy Gaming Launches as New Brand in Land-Based Gaming, Evolving from Grover Gaming appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.
Call of Duty
Monster Energy and Call of Duty Unite Again with Exclusive In-Game Rewards and Expanded Program Timing
Monster Energy is teaming up once again with Call of Duty to deliver bonus in-game rewards, bonus 2XP and an expanded promotional window that gives fans even more opportunities to fuel up and power their gameplay.
Gamers and Monster fans can start collecting codes to stockpile rewards ahead of the highly anticipated release of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 on November 14. Following the record-breaking success of the last year’s program – the 2025 campaign has been extended and will run through March 31, 2026, with code redemption available until April 30, 2026.
Players who purchase specially marked Call of Duty cans of Monster Energy, Monster Zero Sugar, or Monster Zero Ultra can find a unique code under the tab and redeem it online at callofduty.monsterenergy.com. Every can unlocks bonus in-game items and double experience points.
2025 in-game rewards include:
• 1 Can = “Energy Flash” Large Decal + 15 min 2XP
• 2 Cans = “Peacekeeper MK1 – Hyper Green” Weapon Blueprint + 15 min 2XP
• 3 Cans = “Green Fury” Operator Skin + 15 min 2XP
• 4 Cans = “VS Recon – Green Thunder” Weapon Blueprint + 15 min 2XP
• 5 Cans = “Daylight Ripper” Operator Skin Recolor + 15 min 2XP
In addition, select retailers will feature specialty bonus in-game content such as Emblems, Charms, Weapon Stickers, and Dual 2XP.
And as an added bonus, fans who create an account on callofduty.monsterenergy.com before October 31 will score a Black Ops 6 in-game skin – no purchase required.
“Monster Energy is built on fueling competitive spirit and our collaboration with Call of Duty continues to push that to new levels. With expanded timing, bonus rewards and the unmatched value of Double XP in every can, this year’s program is our biggest and most exciting yet,” said Dan McHugh, Global Chief Marketing Officer at Monster Energy.
“We’re proud to continue building on the success of our partnership with Monster Energy. Monster is the go-to fuel of gamers and they are going to drink up these exciting in-game rewards,” added Cody Neal, Associate Director of Global Partnerships, Call of Duty.
The limited-edition Monster Energy Call of Duty cans are available in 16oz in Original Monster Energy, Monster Zero Sugar and Monster Zero Ultra. Special 4, 12, and 15 can Monster Energy Call of Duty multipacks are on shelves now.
The post Monster Energy and Call of Duty Unite Again with Exclusive In-Game Rewards and Expanded Program Timing appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.
Gaming
Gamescom 2025: New Records and Important Impetus for the Games Industry in Germany and Worldwide
Gamescom 2025 ended with numerous new records and strong momentum for the games industry in Germany and worldwide. Records were once again set, particularly in terms of key figures such as internationality (70% of visitors from abroad, exhibitors from 72 countries), digital reach (more than 630 million views worldwide by 23 August evening alone), exhibition space (233,000 square metres) and the number of exhibitors (1568). On site, 357,000 fans visited the world’s largest festival of games culture. The number of trade visitors rose to 34,000, with a particularly strong increase in participants from the US, China, Canada and Japan.
“This year, gamescom 2025 is sending out a particularly positive signal. After two challenging years for the games industry, you could really feel the mood improving this year. The new record figures underline not only the global appeal of gamescom, but also the upward trend in the entire games industry. gamescom 2025 is also a milestone for the German games industry: political support for the additional tax-based games funding at gamescom was stronger than ever – from both the federal and the state level alike. This creates hope that progress will be made quickly. But there were also positive signals on many other political topics, whether for e-sports from Federal Minister Bär at the political opening or from Federal Minister for Family Affairs Karin Prien, who was just as convinced of the important work of the USK in the protection of minors as she was of the enormous potential of games for the education sector,” said Felix Falk, Managing Director of game – The German Games Industry Association, the co-organiser of gamescom.
Political interest in gamescom 2025 was greater than ever before. In total, over 600 politicians came to Cologne to see for themselves the current developments in the games industry and the enormous economic, cultural and technological potential of games. Whether from the federal states, the federal government or the EU, the political guests came from all levels. In addition, a particularly large number of international delegations travelled to gamescom, for example from this year’s gamescom partner country Thailand as well as from Brazil, Indonesia and India.
Gamescom 2026 will take place from 26 to 30 August. It will open on 25 August 2026 with the gamescom Opening Night Live.
The post Gamescom 2025: New Records and Important Impetus for the Games Industry in Germany and Worldwide appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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