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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.”
FairPlay Sports Media
FairPlay Sports Media Launches ‘Customer Insights’, Delivering Objective Truth on Bettor Sentiment
FairPlay Sports Media (FPSM), a leading sports media and BetTech network, has unveiled FairPlay Customer Insights, a continuously updated commercial decision-making engine built exclusively for UK betting operators.
Powered by a verified panel of over 1,000 active UK bettors, the self-serve dashboard gives operators instant, objective visibility into brand perception, product feature popularity, and competitive performance.
“A major challenge operators face today is understanding exactly why bettors switch apps,” said Jerome Underhill, Chief Operating Officer at FairPlay Sports Media. “Traditional market research is often too slow, expensive, and disconnected from day-to-day commercial decisions. FairPlay Customer Insights was built as a real-time decision-making engine, providing product teams with clarity on how core features—like their Bet Builder—compare to the competition, while helping media teams pinpoint the triggers that convert transient bonus users into loyal, long-term players.”
The platform updates quarterly to track trends over time and includes ‘flash research’ capabilities, enabling operators to submit custom queries to the panel ahead of major events such as the upcoming World Cup. This feature helps operators de-risk campaign planning with actionable insights.
FairPlay is currently onboarding a select group of operators for a 30-day Phase 1 Proof of Concept, offering company-wide access to validate the platform’s intelligence against operational challenges.
The post FairPlay Sports Media Launches ‘Customer Insights’, Delivering Objective Truth on Bettor Sentiment appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
Gamzix
iGP Integrates Gamzix into iGaming Aggregator
iGP, the full-service B2B iGaming solutions provider, has integrated Gamzix into its casino aggregator, iGaming Aggregator, further strengthening the content available to operators through the platform.
Gamzix is a Maltese game provider with over five years of iGaming experience and an MGA licence. Known for its mobile-first, engagement-driven titles, the studio develops games designed to perform across diverse markets and player segments.
Through the integration, Gamzix titles are now available to operators via iGaming Aggregator, which offers more than 12,000 games from leading providers through a single API. Designed to move beyond traditional aggregation models, the solution enables operators to launch quickly while maintaining control through multi-brand management, embedded promotional tools, a built-in reporting suite and real-time data visibility.
Jovana Popovic Canaki, CEO at iGP, said: “Operators face constant pressure to scale faster while maintaining control across brands, content, and player engagement. iGaming Aggregator addresses this by combining high speed distribution with built in tools and real time visibility. Integrating Gamzix further strengthens the range of titles available to our partners.”
James Davies, Head of Commercial at Gamzix, added: “iGP’s focus on speed, control, and scalability aligns perfectly with how we approach distribution and long-term performance. We’re excited to bring our mobile-first, engagement-driven titles to more partners through this collaboration.”
The post iGP Integrates Gamzix into iGaming Aggregator appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
Australia
NSW: More Than 650 Gaming Machine Exemptions Revoked to Address Gambling Harm
The Minns Labor Government continues to reduce gambling harm by delivering on its commitment to remove outdated exemptions that enabled more than 650 pubs and clubs to operate gaming machines during standard shutdown hours.
Following an announcement in December by the Minister for Gaming and Racing David Harris that exemptions would cease from 31 March 2026, more than 650 venues will be required from 1 April to shut down all gaming machines between 4am to 10am each day, in line with NSW standard shutdown hours.
The six-hour shutdown is a harm minimisation measure intended to provide players with an important break in play.
Of the 672 venues with a varied shutdown period, usually for three hours instead of six, many have been in place for more than 20 years. These were given for reasons including being in high traffic ‘tourist’ locations, a history of earlier opening hours or financial hardship.
Venues that believed they had a strong case to keep their exemptions under the legislation and the revised Ministerial Guidelines, had the opportunity to put their case to Liquor & Gaming NSW.
As of 24 March 2026, 649 have been revoked by Liquor & Gaming NSW under delegation from the Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority and 10 by the Authority itself. Thirteen venues remain under assessment. All venues will be considered and an outcome communicated by 31 March 2026.
Sixty-two venues applied to keep their exemptions. Of the 49 applications assessed so far, all have been revoked.
Liquor & Gaming NSW will undertake a compliance campaign after 1 April when the new requirements come into effect, to ensure all venues are abiding by the changes.
A Review of Gaming Machine Shutdown Hours Framework conducted by Liquor & Gaming NSW in 2024 found that a minimum six-hour shutdown period, commencing no later than 4am, is effective at minimising gambling harm.
The move continues a suite of gaming reforms which the Minns Government has implemented since coming into office, including:
• Reducing the cash input limit from $5000 to $500 for all new gaming machines
• Reducing the state-wide cap on gaming machine entitlements, so that every year the number of gaming machines reduces based on forfeiture rates
• Banning political donations from clubs with electronic gaming machines
• Banning external gaming-related signage and internal gaming-related signage that can be seen from outside the venue
• Introducing Responsible Gambling Officers in venues with more than 20 gaming machine entitlements and mandating that extra Responsible Gambling Officers be on duty in venues after midnight
• Mandating that all venues with gaming machines must keep a Gaming Plan of Management and a Gambling Incident Register
• Banning gambling advertising on public transport and the ferries and terminals people catch it from
• Consulting with the community on a third-party exclusion scheme and use of mandatory facial recognition technology to support a statewide exclusion register for NSW hotels and clubs with gaming machines
Launching a NSW-first code of practice for the use of facial recognition in pubs and clubs that use the technology, following full consultation with a wide range of stakeholders including harm minimisation advocates, the NSW Privacy Commissioner and industry.
Minister for Gaming and Racing David Harris said: “The Minns Labor Government takes gambling harm minimisation seriously and that’s why I called for a review of the gaming machine variations back in December that has removed outdated exemptions that enabled more than 650 pubs and clubs to operate gaming machines during standard shutdown hours.
“Following months of review, it was clear these variations enabling about 20 per cent of clubs and pubs with gaming machines to operate outside of the mandated hours, some of which were more than 20 years old, were no longer fit for purpose.
“To enable variations to be revoked, I updated the Ministerial Guidelines and set up a streamlined process for venues to make their case if they wished to keep their variation, and to allow for a transition period.
“These changes are expected to prevent and reduce gambling harm.
“The NSW Government will continue to deliver evidence-based reforms to ensure we are striking the balance of addressing gambling harm while supporting sustainable development of an industry that employs more than 150,000 people in NSW and injects billions into the economy.”
The post NSW: More Than 650 Gaming Machine Exemptions Revoked to Address Gambling Harm appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
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