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Colt Canyon crowned ‘Best Game’ and LUNARK ‘Most Anticipated’ at GameMaker Awards 2021

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The judges have deliberated. Over 33,000 votes have been cast. And we can now reveal that Colt Canyon has been crowned ‘Best Game’ and LUNARK ‘Most Anticipated’ game of the year, at the GameMaker Awards 2021.

Created by German-based developer Retrific, Colt Canyon is a stylish western-themed pixel art shooter combining roguelike elements with real-time combat. The judges were impressed with Colt Canyon’s highly engaging gameplay and heavily pixelated artist style. While in the popular vote, members of the GameMaker and Opera GX communities voted Colt Canyon the clear winner.

The other finalists for ‘Best Game’ included: Chicory: A Colorful Tale, Jet Lancer, Post Void and Cook, Serve, Delicious! 3?!.

The winner of ‘Most Anticipated’ game is LUNARK, from Canari Games. LUNARK is a 2D cinematic platformer, designed in the vein of ’80s and ’90s classics. The game challenges players to run, jump, hang, climb, roll, and shoot their way through a kaleidoscope of different environments. These include mysterious alien ruins, a flying penitentiary, a high-tech megalopolis, and a majestic forest.

The judges were blown away with how the Canari Games team have pushed the creative limits of cutscenes and pixel art in GameMaker, to create a game that is both visually stunning and great to play. Set for release later this year, LUNARK also made a big impression with the voters – who overwhelmingly crowned it the ‘Most Anticipated’ game of 2021.

The other finalists for ‘Most Anticipated’ game included: NYKRA, Jitsu Squad, APICO and Toodee and Topdee.

The GameMaker Awards, in partnership with SpecialEffect, a charity that uses video games to enhance the lives of those people with physical disabilities, celebrate creativity and innovation in Indie game development, honouring the best games created using GameMaker Studio 2 as well as the Indies and Studios that designed them.

From over 200 entries, only 5 games for each category were selected by an expert panel of industry peers, including GameMaker Studio CTO Russell Kay, Opera GX Product Director Maciej Kocemba, and Into Indie Games Editor Harry Cole.

Russell Kay, CTO, GameMaker Studio, said: “This year’s GameMaker Awards has redefined what we’ve come to expect from the indies and studios that choose GameMaker as their creative engine of choice. Each of the finalists have demonstrated  both amazing creativity, plus the technical ability to harness GameMaker’s powerful functionality to design a game that really pushes the boundaries. Given the incredible standard of this year’s entries, I am only glad that the final decision was left in the hands of our loyal GameMaker and Opera GX communities.”

Jonathan Mannshoven of Retrific, said: “Colt Canyon wasn’t a bestseller when it launched last year. It wasn’t free from criticism either. But by working closely with the community, I’ve been able to make many improvements to the game which have helped turn a lot of criticism into positive feedback. Having all that hard work now paying off with Colt Canyon winning ‘Best Game’ at the GameMaker Awards 2021 is an overwhelming and surreal feeling – just incredible!

“GameMaker has always been my engine of choice as it is just so easy to use yet also powerful, enabling me to reach maximum productivity. Which as a solo developer is extremely valuable. Put simply – I wouldn’t be a game developer now if it wasn’t for GameMaker.”

Johan Vinet of Canari Games, added: “LUNARK started as a passion project to create a game in the genre I loved in my youth. Making it a reality became so clear that I decided to quit my job, start my own studio and launch a Kickstarter campaign. Winning the “Most Anticipated Game” award is an incredible recognition from the players and the GameMaker Community, which brings some welcome legitimacy and a massive confidence boost to actually finish the game! Thank you!”

DR Gaming Technology

DR Gaming Technology Appoints Stephane Henault as Director of Technical Services

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DR Gaming Technology (DRGT) has appointed Stephane Henault – formerly of Light & Wonder, Scientific Games and Bally’s – as its new director of technical services.

The newly created role comes amid pending deals for DRG that will see it expand in Latin America and Africa.

“This is an important appointment for DRGT as we continue to scale our operations globally,” said company CEO Marco Herrera.

“Stephane brings a wealth of technical and operational experience, as well as a deep understanding of the evolving needs of casino operators. His expertise will be instrumental in further strengthening and streamlining the services we provide to our partners.”

“I see this opportunity as the perfect way for me to re-connect with operator partners directly, leveraging the experience gained over the last three decades working for both a start-up, and of late, a massive multinational, and to contribute in a very practical way to their day-to-day success,” said Henault.

“DRGT’s current growth trajectory presents an exciting challenge, particularly in ensuring that as the business expands, its technical service delivery remains efficient, scalable, and aligned with operator requirements.

“Being part of that journey and helping to build processes and structures that support it, is hugely motivating. Right now, I wake up every morning with a spring in my step – that’s special.”

The post DR Gaming Technology Appoints Stephane Henault as Director of Technical Services appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

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Spotlight Sports Group Expands its Smart View Global Footprint to Hong Kong

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Spotlight Sports Group has launched Smart View for Hong Kong racing, extending the Smart View Engine’s global footprint into one of the sport’s most high-value and internationally recognised betting markets. The product gives operators a proven, scalable tool for engaging Hong Kong racing audiences with data-driven insight. Smart View evaluates hundreds of variables for every runner across seven key performance attributes: Ability, Trainer, Jockey, Course suitability, Distance suitability, Ground effectiveness and Draw bias, distilling that analysis into one clear, definitive rating for every runner.

Happy Valley and Sha Tin are among the sport’s most iconic venues, yet for many punters outside the territory the runner cohort, made up largely of horses bred and raced overseas, can feel unfamiliar. Smart View draws on 40 years of proprietary Racing Post data to remove that barrier, giving punters the context and confidence to engage with one of the sport’s great markets without having to be an expert in it.

The launch adds Hong Kong to an international portfolio that now spans the UK and Ireland, France, USA, UAE, South Africa and Australia.

Sam Houlding, Managing Director of B2B at Spotlight Sports Group, said: “The Racing Innovation Blueprint we unveiled in January set out an ambitious year of product development for Spotlight Sports Group. Smart View for Hong Kong is the latest delivery against that commitment. Hong Kong is one of the world’s premier racing territories, renowned for the quality of its racing and the scale of its betting market. As a data led product Smart View was built to work anywhere in the world and adding Hong Kong is an important milestone as we continue to deliver world-class racing products to our partners around the globe.”

The post Spotlight Sports Group Expands its Smart View Global Footprint to Hong Kong appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

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Cameron Flood

Yaspa welcomes Cameron Flood as new Head of Product

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Yaspa, a prominent fintech focused on payment and identity solutions, has declared the hiring of Cameron Flood as Head of Product for the UK and Europe. In his new position, Flood will manage all product development and launches for Yaspa in the UK and European markets.

Flood is a seasoned product leader who most recently held the position of Head of Product at Shieldpay, a fintech focused on streamlining payments in markets with high value and large volume. In this position, he directed the product strategy and implementation for the firm’s digital escrow and payment solutions, emphasizing the simplification of intricate financial processes and guaranteeing security in critical transactions, ideally equipping him to spearhead Yaspa’s product development in European iGaming markets.

Prior to this, Flood established a strong background in product management through multiple positions, including his role as Product Manager at Vocalink, where he concentrated on creating and implementing real-time domestic payment systems in countries like Peru, the Philippines, and Saudi Arabia.

His background is marked by significant knowledge in the fintech industry, particularly in managing the convergence of regulatory compliance, user experience, and technical scalability. During his career, he has shown a reliable capacity to convert intricate business needs into customer-focused product roadmaps, successfully connecting engineering teams with commercial stakeholders.

This week, Sifted named Yaspa as the fourth highest-growing start-ups in the UK and Ireland. In the last 12 months, Yaspa was named winner of the Real-Time Payments Innovation award at the 2025 Payments Awards and one of the CB Insights Top 100 Fintechs, a global ranking that spotlights the most promising and innovative companies shaping the future of financial services. This comes during a period of sustained growth for Yaspa in the past 18 months and closed a $12m investment round in July, led by Discerning Capital. This growth has culminated in the opening of its new Atlanta office in the US, as well as the opening of its tech hub in Leeds, UK, in August 2025.

Yaspa’s CEO James Neville said: “We’re delighted to welcome Cameron to the team. His experience and expertise make him ideally placed to continue to drive product innovation across payments and data solutions in our core markets. Cameron will be working closely with Max Collinge, now our Vice President of Product, based in the US; and will add on-the-ground experience to ensure Yaspa continues to be leading product innovation in the payment sector for years to come.”

Cameron Flood commented: “I’ve been impressed by what Yaspa has already achieved, building payments solutions that don’t just move money faster, but provide real-time intelligence that helps businesses grow responsibly. I’m excited to scale our product capabilities to serve even more businesses while maintaining the innovation and customer-centricity that has driven Yaspa’s success.”

The post Yaspa welcomes Cameron Flood as new Head of Product appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

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