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NSoft story: Passion and motivation behind Virtual Penalty Shootout

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Virtual Penalty Shootout celebrated its first birthday. Officially, the game was released on September 30, 2020, and instantly captured the attention of both – operators and players.

The expert community has also recognized the uniqueness and the beauty of the game by shortlisting it for the Global Gaming Award 2021 in the category Product Launch of the Year. Recently NSoft received seven nominations for the SBC Awards Latinoamerica 2021. Among others, we are shortlisted in the category Virtual Sports Supplier. The application for this award has leaned heavily on the Virtual Penalty Shootout game.

To celebrate all those milestones, we decided to tell a different story about Virtual Penalty Shootout game. We will not talk about the RNG, betting markets, how-to-play but let people who created the game say a word or two about passion, excitement and dedication.

By Amela Dedić and Biljana Haljevac, Senior 3D Artists/Animators

The team

Great teams and great ideas are all about people and the working atmosphere. We at NSoft’s former 3D Games Team, now 3D Creative Team were lucky to found each and we just can’t start this story without saying thank-you to former and current team members: Jasmin Ličina – Senior 3D artist/Team lead, Dragan Grbavac – Senior 3D artist, Dejan Boras – Senior Unity dev, Zlatko Vukšić – Senior Unity dev, Adnan Mujkić – Unity Dev, Dragan Rezo – Senior 3D Artist, Stojan Cvitković – Senior 3D Artist, Toni Matej Radoš – Senior 3D Artist. In this story, “we” are Biljana Haljevac –  Senior 3D Animator and Amela Dedić – Senior 3D Animator. We are the one who will take you behind the scene of  Virtual Penalty Shootout. 

Our Team’s job is to develop Virtual betting games such as Virtual greyhound and horse races, Motorcycle Speedway, etc.

New Project – Virtual Penalty Shootout

The virtual penalty shootout was the most challenging project we’ve worked on. It allowed us to learn and try new things such as Motion capture. Our first job was to figure out the best way for our small team to make such a big virtual game. The biggest challenge was the animation process. We needed a large number of highly realistic animations, and the best solution for that problem was a Motion Capture system. Our choice was a company from Sweden named Rokoko and their WiFi motion capture suit – The Smartsuit Pro.

After we placed our order for the suit, the waiting time was used to go “back to school” and research making of other elements of the game such as character and venue design and creation, MoCap animation recording and cleanup, new software, and game rules. Our best friends were Pluralsight and LinkedIn Learning.

The Arrival- Smartsuit Pro is in the town 

The arrival of the Smartsuit Pro was the most joyful occasion. Also, the day when our colleague Toni officially became the resident MoCap test talent.

Since our open office was not suited for a proper MoCap test, our first pick was local park. Awesome place, beautiful weather, but just one problem: electricity was really hard to find. A better-suited place was found for proper test and future motion capture sessions. The Local Futsal field had everything we needed.

MoCap Time! 

Following initial tests, we felt confident enough to start official motion capture sessions. The first step was planning and creating MoCap sheets for each motion capture session.

Our motion capture crew was small but efficient: Toni Matej Radoš – Test talent & Talent Manager, Biljana Haljevac – Reference Cameras and Amela Dedić – Rokoko Studio, MoCap Sheet. And our Talents, real-life football players,  who without this would not be possible: Fedja Kulenić (goalkeeper) and Ivan Arapović (player).

Since we have only one suit, Goalkeeper and Player animations were recorded separately. Because of that, we had to be very careful during the planning process so the respective animations could match. We were a bit worried about the Goalkeeper’s recording sessions, taking into consideration the nature of football goalkeeping movements. To make everything easier we relocated Goalkeeper’s MoCap sessions to the local Judo club with a soft tatami mat surface.  We had 3 recording sessions and each was 3 hours long. That gave us 137 raw animations. We were aware that not every MoCap take will be successful or 100% accurate, we made sure that every take was also recorded with our reference cameras.

Animation Cleanup

The entire process of cleanup was done in Maya and Motionbuilder using the HumanIK system. Most of the work was root motion corrections, foot slides, and arms fixes. The final part of the cleanup was merging the animations of Player and Goalkeeper into one take and making sure that the timing fits perfectly for each take.

The ball movement was a mix of keyframed animation and Unity physics.

Visuals & Final Render

Cleanup done. Next: Dressing up. The entire time of animation cleanup our player and goalkeeper rigs were dressed in nothing but their birthday suit. That caused a lot of funny looks from our other coworkers. But fear not! Our 3D artist Dragan Rezo was on the task of dressing them up for their final render.

Visuals & Final Render

Cleanup done. Next: Dressing up. The entire time of animation cleanup our player and goalkeeper rigs were dressed in nothing but their birthday suit. That caused a lot of funny looks from our other coworkers. But fear not! Our 3D artist Dragan Rezo was on the task of dressing them up for their final render.

Every visual element of the game can be easily changed. Character appearance, jerseys, crowd, banners. All this can be altered according to the client’s requirements. We had a test client request just to see how much time would be needed for all the changes and rendering.

  • Lions on background video banners
  • Goalkeeper jersey with leopard pattern and panther head as front logo
  • Penalty taker with a red jersey and white sun on blue background (Taiwanese flag) as a front logo. Number 88 on the back and name “Tigers” above it
  • Additional but not requested, all resolve screens translated to mandarin

Final words

Almost nobody was injured during the making of the game. Our Goalkeeper had some bruises from the suit’s sensors, and we almost had a heart attack when our suit had a minor malfunction.

All jokes aside, our small team is very proud to have managed to complete such a large project, learn a bunch of new things in the process, and use Motion capture technology. It was an awesome experience from start to finish.

In the end, we would like you to take a look at our little video presentation of the Motion capture animation process.

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BMM Testlabs

BMM Testlabs hires Michael Minor as SVP and North America BD lead

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Minor will lead land-based gaming sales strategy and customer engagement across the region.

BMM Testlabs has appointed Michael Minor as Senior Vice President & North America Market (NAM) Leader, Business Development, the company said.

In the role, Minor will lead land-based gaming sales strategy and customer engagement across North America, with a mandate to expand BMM’s regional presence and relationships with manufacturers, suppliers, and operators.

Minor brings more than 20 years of experience in business development leadership, client engagement, and sales strategy, according to BMM. He previously held senior roles at NEXTEQ, Pavilion Payments, and IGT.

Kirk White, Global President, Land-Based Gaming & Inspections, said, “Michael is a respected leader with deep experience across the North American gaming market. He understands our customers, knows how to build strong teams, and has a proven track record of delivering growth. With BMM’s full NAM coverage for certification services, we are excited to welcome Michael to BMM, supporting our client-engagement experience as we expand our services across the region.”

Minor said, “I am excited to join BMM Testlabs at such an exciting time for the company as the industry highly values what BMM is offering for Compliance and QA services. BMM has a strong reputation and focus on quality, speed, and integrity, and I look forward to working with our customers and teams across North America to support their growth and success.”

More data as follows:
  • BMM Testlabs: https://bmm.com/ Company site for confirmation of the executive appointment and BMM’s testing and certification services.
  • American Gaming Association: https://www.americangaming.org/ Trade body resource for North American gaming market context referenced in the appointment.
  • Pavilion Payments: https://www.pavilionpayments.com/ Background on one of Minor’s prior employers cited in the release.
  • IGT: https://www.igt.com/ Background on one of Minor’s prior employers cited in the release.

The post BMM Testlabs hires Michael Minor as SVP and North America BD lead appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

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BMM TESTLABS WELCOMES EXPERIENCED GAMING EXECUTIVE MICHAEL MINOR AS SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT & NAM LEADER, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

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BMM Testlabs (“BMM” or “the Company”), the world’s original gaming test lab renowned for exceptional product compliance and certification services, today announced that Michael Minor has joined the Company as Senior Vice President & North America Market (NAM) Leader, Business Development.

In this role, Minor will lead land-based gaming sales strategy and customer engagement across the region, helping expand BMM’s presence and strengthen relationships with manufacturers, suppliers, and operators.

Minor brings more than 20 years of leadership experience in managing business development teams, client engagements, and sales strategies, and in-depth knowledge of gaming technologies and enterprise platform solutions. He previously held senior-level roles at NEXTEQ, Pavilion Payments, and IGT, where he led major initiatives and supported large-scale deployments of systems and technologies.

Kirk White, Global President, Land-Based Gaming & Inspections, said, “Michael is a respected leader with deep experience across the North American gaming market. He understands our customers, knows how to build strong teams, and has a proven track record of delivering growth. With BMM’s full NAM coverage for certification services, we are excited to welcome Michael to BMM, supporting our client-engagement experience as we expand our services across the region.”

Minor said, “I am excited to join BMM Testlabs at such an exciting time for the company as the industry highly values what BMM is offering for Compliance and QA services. BMM has a strong reputation and focus on quality, speed, and integrity, and I look forward to working with our customers and teams across North America to support their growth and success.”

 

The post BMM TESTLABS WELCOMES EXPERIENCED GAMING EXECUTIVE MICHAEL MINOR AS SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT & NAM LEADER, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.

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Aglaja Geta

“Stories”, a new feature design to elevate sportsbook engagement and promotional visibility from BETBY

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BETBY, the leading sportsbook provider, has announced the launch of Stories, a new feature designed to transform how operators present promotions and key events to their players.

Inspired by the widely adopted Stories format seen across social media platforms, the feature introduces a familiar, intuitive way for bettors to discover and engage with content directly within the sportsbook interface.

As competition for user attention continues to intensify, operators face the ongoing challenge of delivering promotions and updates in a way that cuts through the noise without overwhelming the user experience.

Stories addresses this by offering a dynamic, swipeable format that brings key content — such as bonuses, tournaments, major sporting events, and boosted odds — into a more engaging and accessible space.

Fully integrated into BETBY’s sportsbook environment, Stories enables bettors to seamlessly browse through short, interactive content cards, mirroring the mechanics they already use daily on social platforms.

This familiarity plays a key role in driving immediate interaction, lowering the barrier to engagement, and creating additional touchpoints between operators and their users.

By introducing a format that naturally encourages exploration, Stories helps increase visibility across promotional campaigns while supporting higher engagement rates.

Each new Story acts as a trigger for curiosity, prompting users to click through and discover new offers or events, ultimately contributing to improved promo turnover.

The feature feels particularly intuitive to younger demographics, who are already accustomed to this style of interaction.

By aligning sportsbook UX with established digital behaviors, BETBY allows operators to connect with these audiences in a more organic and impactful way.

Stories is about meeting users where they already are, in terms of how they consume content,” said Aglaja Geta, Head of UX & Analytics at BETBY.

We wanted to introduce a format that feels instantly familiar, while giving operators a powerful new way to highlight their most important promotions and events.

It creates a smoother, more engaging experience that encourages interaction without adding complexity to the platform.

From an operational perspective, Stories offers a streamlined way to enhance the front-end experience without requiring structural changes to the sportsbook.

The feature integrates seamlessly, allowing operators to enrich their content strategy while maintaining a clean and intuitive interface.

About BETBY

BETBY is a leading B2B provider of top-tier sports betting services, renowned for its groundbreaking technology and dedication to excellence.

BETBY’s team of industry veterans tap into their knowledge and expertise to deliver a premium, adaptable, and scalable sportsbook platform tailored to meet the varied demands of operators across the globe.

From dynamic in-play betting options to robust risk management tools and ground-breaking AI tools, BETBY is committed to propelling the success of its partners in the rapidly evolving landscape of online sports betting.

For more information visit betby.com

The post “Stories”, a new feature design to elevate sportsbook engagement and promotional visibility from BETBY appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.

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