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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!”

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Logrand partners with Altenar to launch enhanced omni-channel sportsbook experience

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Altenar, a leading sportsbook provider, has partnered with Logrand Entertainment Group, one of Mexico’s most established and respected casino operators, to deliver its complete sportsbook solution across the operator’s online and retail channels.

Through the agreement, Altenar will deliver a fully-integrated sportsbook experience designed specifically for omni-channel operations. The solution will be deployed across Logrand’s digital brands, jubilee.mx and vivento.mx, while also being integrated directly into the retail environments of its casino venues in cooperation with Calimaco’s platform.

The partnership will enable Logrand to offer a seamless and consistent betting experience wherever players choose to engage.

Recognised for delivering premium entertainment experiences across both land-based and digital channels, Logrand continues to strengthen its position in Mexico’s competitive gaming landscape through strategic technology partnerships and a customer-first approach.

Altenar’s flexible and scalable sportsbook technology will support Logrand’s ambitions with advanced trading capabilities, localisation features, and a platform built to meet the evolving expectations of sports bettors in the Mexican market.

Diego Salas, Sales Director at Altenar, said:

“We are delighted to partner with Logrand. This agreement reflects Altenar’s commitment to delivering market-leading sportsbook technology tailored to local player expectations and operational requirements.

“By bringing our complete omni-channel sportsbook solution to both online and retail environments, we look forward to helping Logrand create an engaging sports betting experience and supporting its continued growth in Mexico.”

Eduardo Peláez, Online Operations Director at Logrand Entertainment Group, added:

“Our players don’t separate ‘retail’ from ‘digital’ the way the industry does — they expect their casino and their sportsbook to recognise them, follow them, and behave the same way regardless of where they are sitting. This partnership with Altenar is how we deliver on that expectation. One sportsbook, one player view, one product running across jubilee.mx, vivento.mx, and our retail venues through Calimaco’s integration.

Choosing Altenar was a long-term decision. We needed a partner with the localisation depth and the technical reach to support Logrand at the scale we are planning for the next phase of growth in Mexico.”

Gerardo González, Sportsbook Manager at Logrand Entertainment Group, added:

“We chose Altenar because we know the local market and we know what our players need. We weren’t just looking for another supplier – we were looking for the right one. With jubilee.mx and vivento.mx, Logrand is stepping up to compete head-on in the Mexican sports betting market, and we are doing it with the right platform to win.”

The partnership further reinforces Altenar’s growing footprint across Latin America and highlights the provider’s ability to deliver adaptable, high-performance sportsbook solutions that help operators expand across both digital and retail channels.

About Altenar

Founded in 2011, Altenar is a leading turnkey sportsbook provider committed to meeting the unique needs of its clients. Renowned for its flexibility and customer-centric approach, Altenar specialises in customising solutions to new markets, audiences, and requirements. With a focus on building enduring partnerships, Altenar aims to be the most partner-oriented iGaming software provider in the industry.

www.altenar.com.

About Logrand Entertainment Group

Logrand is one of Mexico’s most established and respected casino operators, recognised for delivering premium entertainment experiences across both land-based venues and digital platforms. Through continued investment in innovation and customer experience, the company continues to expand its presence in Mexico’s gaming and sports betting market.

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Julia Larionova

PropellerAds Launches Paid Social Traffic, a New Way to Reach Social Media Audiences

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Leading advertising platform PropellerAds has launched Paid Social Traffic, a standalone format that gives advertisers access to paid social media audiences from inside their existing accounts. The format makes audiences active on Facebook, Instagram, X and other social feeds available within the PropellerAds platform, with supply aggregated through its partners.

For years, advertisers chasing social audiences had to juggle separate ad accounts, learn the rules of each platform, and produce platform-specific creatives just to reach users scrolling their feeds. Paid Social Traffic strips that away. Advertisers pick the format in the campaign builder, point it at a landing page and the traffic flows in.

“Advertisers keep telling us that reaching quality social audiences at scale is complex and resource-heavy. We built Paid Social Traffic to make that audience accessible through a single PropellerAds campaign: no separate accounts, no complicated setup,” said Julia Larionova, Head of Marketing at PropellerAds.

The format sits as a dedicated tab in the SSP campaign creation flow, alongside Onclick, Push, Interactive Ads and Telegram Ads. No third-party integrations, no extra ad accounts, no fresh batch of creatives — a landing page is enough to launch.

The audiences come in with high engagement intent, and the supply is aggregated from PropellerAds’ partners and made available only through the platform, so advertisers aren’t competing for it elsewhere. For verticals such as iGaming and Finance, the format offers clear requirements and a streamlined onboarding, with the company’s standard ad quality guidelines and policy applying throughout.

At launch, the format is live across a set of high-volume markets, more countries are on the way.

The launch also clarifies how social traffic now works on the platform. Organic Social Traffic — audiences from bloggers, channels, and publisher-owned communities — stays inside Onclick. Paid Social Traffic is the new, separate lane: a dedicated paid source aggregated through PropellerAds’ partners. Both coexist, with a clean line between them.

Advertisers planning longer commitments have another option. Through Custom Collaboration, partners can build tailored campaigns for clients with dedicated promo budgets and serious scale ambitions — a route aimed at the platform’s larger advertisers.

To start, advertisers select Paid Social Traffic in their next campaign and add a landing page. The platform handles delivery from there.

The post PropellerAds Launches Paid Social Traffic, a New Way to Reach Social Media Audiences appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

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Bonusetu.com

Finland Sets Casino Gambling Risk Limits at 2% of Income, 4 Days, 2 Game Types

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Finland’s National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) has launched a new set of gambling risk limits built around a single rule: no more than 2% of monthly net income, 4 gambling days per month and 2 recurring game types. Bonusetu.com examines the new framework and why its real-world success depends on the bank ID identification already standard in the country’s registration-free casinos.

The “2-4-2” Rule and the Player’s Credit Line

THL packaged the new limits as a player’s credit line (pelaajan luottorivi), a memorable “2-4-2” mnemonic released alongside a self-assessment gambling test (rahapelitesti) that lets a player gauge their own relationship with gambling. The thresholds are deliberately simple: keep monthly spend under 2% of net income, gamble on no more than 4 days a month, and stick to no more than 2 recurring game types. The guidance lands against a backdrop where 70% of Finns reported gambling in the past 12 months.

The numbers are not arbitrary. The framework adapts Canada’s Lower-Risk Gambling Guidelines, reworked for Finnish conditions between 2022 and 2024. Where Canada anchors its limit to 1% of gross household income, THL chose 2% of net personal income to better match how Finnish households actually think about money.

According to the THL’s assessment, the introduction of the licensing system will shift the focus of the gambling system from preventing and reducing harms to emphasising gambling revenue; for this reason, they felt it was best to launch the 2-4-2 rule right now.

“A risk limit only works if the casino knows exactly who is sitting behind the screen. THL hands players the 2-4-2 rule, but the rule has no teeth unless the operator can verify identity, age, and play history in real time. Bank ID does that at the door. Registration-free does not mean anonymous, it means the player is identified before the first euro is staked, not after,” said Tommi Korhonen, acting CEO of Bonusetu.com.

Why a Limit Needs to Know the Player

A spending cap is only as strong as a casino’s ability to recognise who is actually playing. That recognition runs on strong identification (vahva tunnistautuminen) through bank credentials, the technology that lets a player log in with Nordea, OP or S-Pankki details instead of filling out a signup form. The “no registration” label describes the missing form, not a missing identity check.

Verified age: Bank ID confirms a player is over 18 before the first spin, closing a gap that form-based signups leave open to minors.

Recognised identity: One verified identity per player turns play-history limits like 2-4-2 into something a system can enforce, not just a slogan a player is asked to remember.

Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Helsinki, Bonusetu.com is a leading Finnish comparison platform for online casinos.

The post Finland Sets Casino Gambling Risk Limits at 2% of Income, 4 Days, 2 Game Types appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

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