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Escape Studios partners with Epic Games and leading European animation schools to deliver world’s largest training programme in Unreal Engine
Mark Flanagan, Education Partner Manager, Epic Games said: “The Summer of Unreal is an incredible opportunity that is open to professionals in animation and VFX all across Europe, and we couldn’t be happier to invite the industry to participate. Escape Studios is a wonderful partner who, along with a number of Europe’s best animation schools, are running this programme, which is set to be the biggest Unreal Engine training that we’ve undertaken to date. We’re excited to help all learners find new ways to tell awesome stories and express their creativity using Unreal Engine.”
Saint Walker, Deputy Dean of Escape Studios, said: “The Summer of Unreal is a fantastic opportunity for animation and 3D CGI professionals across Europe to discover more about the cutting-edge technology on offer with Unreal Engine.
“We’ve worked with top animation companies to create a novel animation-centric way of teaching Unreal Engine, in one of the most ambitious training programmes that Escape Studios has been involved with – our vision of a pan-European festival of learning in Unreal Engine has gained us amazing academic partners in the form of some of the best animation schools in the world. We invite learners across Europe to join us. Make your summer staycation Unreal!”
The Summer of Unreal will be taught online in English and is free-of-charge to professionals working in the animation, motion graphics and VFX industry who want an informal group experience of learning Unreal Engine over the holiday period. The course will feature daily workshops covering all the major aspects of using Unreal Engine interspersed with practice time, teamwork, as well as demonstrations and masterclasses from some of Europe’s premiere companies and artists showing how they use the platform in their work.
Mark Spevick, Escape Studios’ Head of 3D VFX will be the main ‘showrunner’ for the Summer of Unreal. The unique role used in Escapes’ larger courses ensures that tutors get to hear and address the most important questions from the online shop floor through Mark’s advocacy. Mark combines teaching and programme design with senior industry experience, having worked at Peerless Camera, the production house co-owned by Terry Gilliam.
Partner quotes
Timothy Leborgne, Head of Talent & Skills Development, The Animation Workshop/VIA University College
“A course such as Summer of Unreal is very welcome. Whether you look at film, animated series, or games we can all see a growing demand for rapid development and competent animators. And Unreal Engine is one particularly advanced tool and software we can’t avoid as professionals in the future. So, I am excited and happy we bring such a valuable course to professionals in our industry. By partnering with such competent institutions and studios across Europe, we have ensured that the course will deliver the best training.”
Gilbert Kiner, President, ARTFX
“Since its creation in 2004, ARTFX has been dedicated to training students using the latest technology and software. Beyond using this engine for our Games courses, Unreal has also been integrated into the previz pipeline for our VFX programs. We are very happy and proud to have been chosen as the exclusive French partner for this collaborative initiative.”
Felix Balbás, Area Director of Animation & VFX at La Salle-URL
“Unreal Engine is a reality we can’t ignore. No longer only in videogames and recently virtual production, now more than ever the future of any visual content creation and in particular animation and VFX, must take this evolution into account. Not only in previs stage, but also in full production. This is why La Salle-URL’s commitment towards promoting state-of-the-art training along with leader institutions at a European level is reflected in the Summer of Unreal.”
Miljana Jovović, Executive Director, Crater Training Center
“We are happy to join the Summer of Unreal as partners for Southeastern Europe, as we see this project as a great chance to upskill and connect professionals across the continent. We have spent the first part of 2021 educating university professors in Serbia in Unreal Engine so they could implement the newly-gained knowledge to their study programs and introduce the software to their students.”
Katja Schmid, Visual Effects and Post Production Professor, Hochschule der Medien
“Many artists in the industry have been waiting for this course. Now the time has come. At the moment, Unreal is one of the most in-demand tools in the industry. The response to the course announcement has been fantastic. It’s just an amazing opportunity not only to get trained for free but also to be part of a most inspiring community! We are very impressed by this large-scale project and excited to be contributing.”
Gareth Lee, Screen Skills Ireland Manager
“Screen Skills Ireland is hugely excited to be part of the Summer of Unreal. This is a unique opportunity for Irish screen sector professionals to learn about the powerful capabilities of Unreal Engine from industry experts, as well as connect with their peers across Europe.”
QTech Games, the leading game aggregator for all emerging markets, has signed its latest supplier partnership with Reflex Gaming, the UK’s largest independently owned omnichannel game supplier, enabling its platform customers to access the studio’s expansive slots catalogue.
Established in 2004, Reflex Gaming’s prolific production line run of legendary games has catapulted the supplier to igaming prominence and recognition, offering a diverse array of gaming experiences across both digital and analogue markets, and driving through new innovations in gaming, including the creation of entirely new gaming categories.
Reflex Gaming creates the highest quality digital gaming content for license to many of the world’s leading casino operators, as evidenced by its steady stream of recent hit titles, including Candy Crazed Pandas DoubleMax, Big Game Fishing Christmas Catch, The Cursed Idol, and 8 Balls of Fire Blazing Bounty. All of these games and more are now available via QTech’s premier platform, which is taking the widest range of online games to international markets, with established names sitting alongside the industry’s most exciting up-and-coming providers.
This collaboration naturally broadens Reflex Gaming’s international scope, unlocking untapped regions for diversified growth, above all in Africa and Latin America.
QTech Games CEO, Philip Doftvik, said: “We’re dedicated to constantly launching more and more first-class content and product innovation that drives revenue for our partners. So, this deal with Reflex Gaming extends our impressive sequential pipeline into 2026 – and we’ve so much more to come this year! In today’s marketplace, only premium games of the highest standard separate you from the crowd. So, we look forward to sharing their wide spectrum of games with both leading and challenger operator brands in emerging markets worldwide.”
Mat Ingram, Chief Product Officer at Reflex Gaming, added: “At Reflex Gaming, we pride ourselves on working with the sector’s biggest and most commercially recognised partners, and QTech Games fits our growth plan perfectly, as we continue to expand our horizons into new territories, leveraging our brand’s values which . QTech’s platform is a gateway to global audiences, so we can’t wait to see how our highly engaging games perform across a greenfield landscape of emerging markets.”
The post QTech Games add more content muscle with Reflex Gaming portfolio appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
- Buenos Aires – 16 March (12:00–19:00)
- Malta – 28 April (10:00–16:00)
- Miami – 9 June (time TBC)
- Rome – Grand Finale – 2 November (time TBC)
Additionally, SiGMA CMO Lauranne Urban added: “Blokotech’s Padel Tour is a wonderful idea that we’ve been honoured to help bring to life. It will provide the perfect platform for sporting action, networking and industry culture. This initiative aligns with our event philosophy to deliver engaging, community-driven experiences beyond the conference floor.”
The post Blokotech serves up Global Padel Tour in collaboration with SiGMA appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
Just when operators were starting to think the range of content offered by Elantil couldn’t possibly get any more diverse, the pioneering platform solutions provider has pulled off one of the great early rug pulls of 2026 by integrating 155.io into its online marketplace.
Proudly supplying “betting on chaos” since 2024, 155.io is a disruptive live game company that’s already made big waves in the industry due to its incredibly unique line-up. Designed to offer real-time madness for a mobile-first world, 155.io takes creative concepts and broadcasts them from its studio to operators around the world, creating an all-new kind of immersive betting experience.
Games offered by the supplier include Rush Hour, where players bet on how much traffic will cross a zone based on real CCTV footage, Duck Racing, where eight fearless rubber duckies race down a lazy river obstacle course with players betting on the winner, and Marble Plinko, which will definitely be a familiar concept to anyone who took part in Elantil’s Marble Races at ICE this year!
Now that 155.io’s full line-up of quirky live games has been added to Elantil’s Marketplace, operators will be able to reach out to the supplier’s business development and sales partner, RPM Gaming, directly to form their own custom agreements, with Elantil handling everything else.
By doing things this way, customers have full flexibility over the length and terms of their deal, enabling them to hand-pick the best games for their target audience while also cutting out the middleman and saving on costs – both of which are hallmarks of the Elantil approach to business.
John Debono, Chief Technical Officer at Elantil, said: “As something of a disruptive presence in the industry ourselves, it goes without saying that Elantil is naturally drawn to fellow innovators in the iGaming space. 155.io certainly fits that description, and by adding their distinctive range of live games to our online marketplace, we’ll be able to offer our partners a totally unique line-up of content that will help them create greater engagement and retention with mobile-first players.”
Sam Jones, Chief Executive Officer at 155.io, said: “155.io and Elantil are both companies that have made names for themselves by doing things differently, so we’re really happy to be sharing our chaotic brand of mobile-first content with a platform provider that genuinely appreciates the importance of going against the status quo. Now that our full line-up of games is integrated into their marketplace, I’m looking forward to seeing what our real-time madness can do for Elantil operators!”
The post Elantil integrates 155.io into online marketplace appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
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