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Praesepe, Blueprint and Bacta move quickly to answer charity SOS

Published

6 years ago

April 16, 2020

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Gauselmann owned brands, Praesepe and Blueprint have joined forces with UK trade association, Bacta to donate £12,000 to fund 100 Amazon Fire tablets and care packages to industry charity, Rays of Sunshine (ROS). The tablets, described as a ‘god send’ by ROS chief executive Laura Barnett, will be distributed to children who, due to restrictions introduced to help stem the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic, find themselves isolated from friends and family in hospital.

Explaining the impact and the importance of the donation, Laura Barnett said: “We’re so thankful to Gauselmann and Bacta for their incredibly generous donation of £12,000 which will enable us to continue brightening the lives of seriously ill children during this incredibly challenging time. The money donated will fund Amazon Fire tablets and care packages for hospitals, who we know have an immediate need due to the Covid-19 global pandemic. For children who are currently isolated in hospital receiving treatment, the tablets will help to alleviate their anxiety and distract them from the uncertainty related to their condition by enabling them to access virtual entertainment and, most crucially, keep connected with their friends and family.”

Praesepe Chief Operating Officer, Mark Schertle explained: “We have a close relationship with the Bacta Charitable Trust donating some £45,000 over the last nine months, so we know of the fantastic work undertaken by Rays of Sunshine in terms of granting wishes to children with serious or life-limiting illness. When we were made aware of how the pandemic was impacting the ability to continue their work, we thought there must be a way of doing a little bit more at this important time. We then spoke with our colleagues at Blueprint and John White at Bacta and I’m delighted that we have been able to move quickly and to be of some practical use. Laura and her team are budgeting for a seven figure loss of income this year, which is a massive blow for everyone connected to the charity, especially the children and their families.”

David Purvis, Managing Director of Blueprint Operations added: “We are all currently facing challenging impacts to our lives and businesses. Sadly, we have all borne witness to how this insidious virus is impacting our families, our communities and our very way of life. We hope that our donation of 100 Amazon Fire Tablets to the children of Rays of Sunshine will make a positive difference to their lives and the challenges they have at this time. Although these are trying times for us all, we remain optimistic that the UK will thrive again soon.”

John White believes this latest contribution to good causes shows the industry at its very best. He said: “The Bacta Charitable Trust was contacted by Praesepe/Blueprint to see if we would be able to jointly fund the 100 tablets and the answer was an unequivocal yes. In less than a week we’ve moved from reading about the issues faced by Rays of Sunshine to doing something really positive and helping to brighten the lives of children who have been cut-off from their loved ones. Not only does the industry have a massive heart but it also has a remarkable ‘can do’ attitude and the ability to make things happen – irrespective of the circumstances. I think the industry should be extremely proud.”

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Red Bull runs one-day Balatro speedrun event, Boss Rush, on April 17

Published

13 hours ago

April 17, 2026

Wladimir P.

red-bull-runs-one-day-balatro-speedrun-event,-boss-rush,-on-april-17

Eight creators compete across five timed stages with eliminations, broadcast on Red Bull’s Twitch and YouTube channels.

Red Bull will stage a one-day Balatro speedrun competition, Red Bull Boss Rush, on April 17, 2026. The event brings together eight creators for timed runs in the roguelike deckbuilder, with viewers able to follow via individual creator POV streams and a central hub broadcast.

The competitor lineup includes Red Bull Player Ludwig, plus The Spiffing Brit, FrostPrime, Feinberg, Adef, Yahiamice, mbtyugioh and dreads. Red Bull said live commentary will be provided by esports host Yinsu ‘Yinsu’ Collins, card-game specialist Blake ‘Rarran’ Eram, and DrSpectered.

Boss Rush is structured as five 30-minute stages, with players ranked by completion time. Red Bull said the opening three stages use a shared random seed with unlimited resets, and points are awarded by placement each stage; the bottom four are eliminated after stage 3. Stage 4 determines the finalists, followed by a final winner-takes-all matchup.

The event also includes a downloadable Red Bull Boss Rush mod featuring a custom-branded deck and new Red Bull-themed Jokers, Bosses and Skip Tags. Red Bull highlighted additions including ‘Witch’, ‘Princess and Frog’, ‘Zebra’, Old Dog, ‘Pirate’, ‘Genie’, ‘Prince Charming’, and ‘Jester’, each designed to alter scoring or run economics.

Red Bull Boss Rush will stream on twitch.tv/redbull and Red Bull’s YouTube Gaming channel. Scan is supplying gaming PCs for the competition, according to the company.

Relevant data as follows:

Red Bull Gaming on Twitch; https://www.twitch.tv/redbull Primary broadcast destination for the event.
Red Bull Gaming on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/redbullgaming Secondary broadcast destination cited in the release.
Red Bull Gaming: https://www.redbull.com/ Official Red Bull site for event context and confirmation.
Balatro on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2379780/Balatro/ Authoritative reference for the game featured in the competition.
Scan Computers: https://www.scan.co.uk/ PC supplier mentioned as providing systems for the event.

The post Red Bull runs one-day Balatro speedrun event, Boss Rush, on April 17 appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

Argentina

Blask data shows LATAM casino lobbies diverge beyond Pragmatic Play’s baseline

Published

23 hours ago

April 17, 2026

Wladimir P.

blask-data-shows-latam-casino-lobbies-diverge-beyond-pragmatic-play’s-baseline

Brazil stands out for crash-game visibility, while Argentina fragments across 15 providers, according to Blask’s review of five markets.

Blask has published new data on casino lobby distribution across five Latin American markets—Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Peru—finding a shared baseline of Pragmatic Play dominance but sharply different secondary content patterns by country.

Across all five markets, Pragmatic Play “consistently dominates the top 30 most-distributed titles,” accounting for up to 16 positions in each country, Blask said. Beyond that layer, Blask argues there is “no single playbook” for how operators and aggregators build lobbies.

Brazil is the clearest outlier for mechanics, with crash-style titles such as Aviator and JetX appearing in the top 30, while similar formats are “largely absent” in the other markets analyzed. Blask also points to Brazil as the only country where Pocket Games Soft holds a meaningful distribution share, driven by its Fortune series.

Mexico shows the opposite pattern: the highest concentration of Pragmatic Play titles and a thinner secondary layer. Blask flagged Endorphina as an example of a provider appearing in Mexico’s top 30 but not elsewhere in its dataset.

Argentina is described as the most fragmented market, with 15 different providers represented in the top 30—more than any other country in the analysis—and broader visibility for live and table content. Chile “closely mirrors Mexico” structurally, Blask said, but includes a single non-Pragmatic title with near-ubiquitous placement across operator lobbies. Peru, meanwhile, spreads remaining top-30 positions across 12 providers, including studios not seen in the other markets and “legacy European brands such as Novomatic.”

Blask’s conclusion is that operators should not assume a winning lobby mix in one country will translate regionally. “Beyond the dominant layer, performance is defined not by regional trends, but by local player behavior and demand signals,” the company said.

The post Blask data shows LATAM casino lobbies diverge beyond Pragmatic Play’s baseline appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

Argentina

Same providers, different games: Blask uncovers hidden patterns in LATAM casino lobbies

Published

23 hours ago

April 17, 2026

GamingAmericas.com

same-providers,-different-games:-blask-uncovers-hidden-patterns-in-latam-casino-lobbies

Casino lobbies across Latin America may look similar at first glance — but a deeper look reveals they operate on entirely different logic. According to new data from Blask, all five major region players (Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Peru) share one common layer: Pragmatic Play consistently dominates the top 30 most-distributed titles, accounting for up to 16 positions in each market. But everything beyond that baseline tells a different story.

Crash games cluster in Brazil but not elsewhere

Brazil is the only market where crash-style mechanics achieve consistent visibility at the lobby level. Titles like Aviator and JetX both rank among the top 30, while similar formats are largely absent in the other four markets. At the same time, Brazil is the only country where a second provider, Pocket Games Soft, secures a meaningful share of distribution, driven entirely by its Fortune series. This dual pattern suggests a highly specific local demand profile rather than a regional trend.

Mexico runs on a tighter playbook

While Brazil expands, Mexico narrows. The market shows the highest concentration of Pragmatic Play titles and one of the most limited secondary layers. At the same time, it introduces isolated signals that don’t scale regionally such as the presence of Endorphina, which appears in the Mexican top 30 but nowhere else in the dataset.

Argentina breaks the pattern entirely

Argentina stands apart as the most fragmented market in the region. Its top 30 includes 15 different providers which is more than any other country analyzed. Unlike neighboring markets, where a handful of suppliers dominate, Argentina distributes visibility across a wide range of studios, particularly in live and table segments. The result is a lobby structure that resists standardization.

Chile shows how a single game can outperform the system

Chile closely mirrors Mexico in overall structure but with one key exception. A single non-Pragmatic title achieves near-ubiquitous placement across operator lobbies, becoming one of the strongest outliers in the entire dataset.This suggests that even in highly concentrated markets, individual titles can break through if they match local demand precisely.

Peru stretches the long tail further than anyone else

Peru takes the opposite approach to Mexico. While maintaining the same Pragmatic baseline, it distributes the remaining positions across 12 different providers, many of which do not appear in any other LATAM market analyzed. This includes both niche studios and legacy European brands such as Novomatic, pointing to a mix of underserved demand segments and alternative content sourcing strategies.

One region, no single playbook

The key takeaway from the analysis is simple: LATAM is not a unified market when it comes to content distribution. The same providers appear everywhere but the way their games are positioned, combined, and supplemented varies dramatically from country to country. For operators, this means that copying a successful lobby structure from one market to another is unlikely to work. Beyond the dominant layer, performance is defined not by regional trends, but by local player behavior and demand signals.

The post Same providers, different games: Blask uncovers hidden patterns in LATAM casino lobbies appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.