Latest News

NSoft story: Passion and motivation behind Virtual Penalty Shootout

Published

5 years ago

October 5, 2021

Reading Time: 4 minutes

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

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.

Latest News

N1 Partners Drops Prediction Markets Vertical — Expand Your Traffic Strategy!

Published

14 minutes ago

May 20, 2026

Wladimir P.

n1-partners-drops-prediction-markets-vertical-—-expand-your-traffic-strategy!

N1 Partners team has launched a new Prediction Markets vertical on the N1 Bet product, which is a new betting format for real events with simple yes/no mechanics. This is the first and so far the only SOFTSWISS product that works with this niche.

This vertical opens up expanded opportunities for partners: it provides access to a fresh audience, and also allows you to monetize and scale traffic from various sources — from politics and finance to entertainment and show business — as efficiently as possible.

What is the real benefit for partners and how does it work? Read all about the Prediction Markets vertical in the article.

Prediction Markets vertical: what is it?

Prediction Markets is a unique betting format for real non-sporting events, where the user chooses “yes” or “no” to the potential event outcome (for example, elections, the Eurovision Contest, the Oscar Awards).

Users can bet on topics in the following areas:

politics (elections, geopolitical events)
cryptocurrencies and financial markets
technology and business
social trends and global narratives
entertainment and show business

The format is as simple as possible, does not require experience and knowledge in classic betting, therefore it may be of interest to a wide audience.

Why is the Prediction Markets format worth a test?

It is crucial to note that Prediction Markets is not just another feature; it is a unique vertical that gives access to a new, previously non-converting audience.

Reasons to test Prediction Markets:

The threshold for the first conversion is lower than in betting;
Works great with SEO and content traffic (news, trends, cryptosphere, politics, entertainment);
High interest in the vertical during trending events;
Opportunity to monetize an audience that doesn’t bet on sports or casinos.;
It is possible to transfer users to the casino and vertical betting;
Provides a smooth user path within the product.

Moreover, the format is as native as possible — real events constantly create new reasons for returning players, forming stable retention and LTV.

Thus, Prediction Markets is a great way to monetize an audience that has not made a profit before, and with N1 Partners you can do this as simply and efficiently as possible.

Wanna be the first to gain access to a fresh audience? Test Prediction Markets with N1 Partners now!

Scale your results with N1 Partners:

14+ casino and betting brands with high Reg2Dep
10+ Tier-1 GEOs
CPA up to €700 and RevShare up to 55% + NNCO for top affiliates

Be number one with N1!

The post N1 Partners Drops Prediction Markets Vertical — Expand Your Traffic Strategy! appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

Latest News

LuckyStreak Enters into Partnership with QTech Games

Published

14 minutes ago

May 20, 2026

Wladimir P.

luckystreak-enters-into-partnership-with-qtech-games

LuckyStreak, the Riga-based live games provider, has has entered into a new partnership with QTech Games, a leading game aggregator for all emerging markets, to provide best-in-class live dealer games and LuckyConnect aggregation services across its global platform.

LuckyStreak produces high-quality, immersive live dealer games at its state-of-the-art studio in Riga, Latvia, streamed to thousands of online casinos worldwide. The provider is renowned for delivering a premium experience, with QTech’s customers set to benefit from intuitive gameplay, innovative features and HD-quality streaming.

QTech Games celebrated its 10-year anniversary last year, progressing since inception from double-digit growth during its formative years to dominate an eclectic spectrum of emerging markets. To which end, it’s now a fully-fledged international powerhouse – with a reach that extends from Asia and Africa, and on to CIS-facing territories, Europe (including its new tech-hub in Spain; and offices in Malta) and Latin America.

Rory Kimber, Commercial Director at LuckyStreak, said: “We’re delighted to be working with QTech, a truly global iGaming platform solutions provider, to distribute our products to the wide range of operators they serve in a vast array of their growing markets.

“Our Live Casino product, with its fully localised capability, is perfectly suited to the breadth of territories that QTech serve, and their technology will allow the sharpest and smoothest experience for players at our tables.”

Philip Doftvik, CEO at QTech Games, said: “We’re delighted to team up with LuckyStreak, a brand renowned for its burgeoning best-in-class live casino. Naturally, we were keen to add them to our aggregation platform’s existing multifaceted live-casino catalogue, as we continue to bring together the most comprehensive collection on the market.

“Of course, there’s a huge revenue opportunity, since live dealer is such a thriving online sector in its own right. Seamless integration equips our clients with best-in-breed live games for their end users, while unrivalled customization options, dedicated tables and native-speaking dealers also make it simple to tailor the UX to any specific market’s requirements.

“LuckyStreak’s commitment to delivering engaging live-player experiences offers players, who love these games, the visceral thrill of playing in a real-world casino, while QTech’s peerless localised expertise creates fresh pathways to new audiences from Africa to LatAm, where this iGaming format is in increasing demand. We can’t wait to see how these games perform across a range of new markets.”

The post LuckyStreak Enters into Partnership with QTech Games appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

Canada

St8 extends Wazdan content distribution into Ontario

Published

14 minutes ago

May 20, 2026

Wladimir P.

st8-extends-wazdan-content-distribution-into-ontario

St8 has extended its partnership with slot supplier Wazdan into Ontario, adding the supplier’s content to St8’s aggregation platform for operators in the Canadian province.

Under the agreement, St8 has integrated a selection of Wazdan slot titles for Ontario operators, including Mighty Fish: Blue Marlin, 36 Coins, Mighty Wild: Panther Grand Diamond Edition and Mighty Wild: Gorilla. The roll-out also includes Wazdan mechanics such as Cash to Infinity, Sticky to Infinity and Hold the Jackpot.

David Fall, Business Development Manager at St8, said: “Our partnership with Wazdan has already delivered impressive results, and extending the collaboration into Ontario is an exciting next step for both companies.

“Wazdan consistently develops high-performing content backed by innovative engagement features, and we are pleased to further strengthen our offering for operators in one of North America’s most important regulated regions.”

Andrzej Hyla, Chief Commercial Officer at Wazdan, said: “This collaboration into Ontario with St8 is another milestone for Wazdan as we continue to build our presence across regulated North American markets.

“Wazdan goes above and beyond for our partners by delivering intuitive products that focus on the quality of the user’s experience, and St8’s platform provides an excellent route for our content to reach more operators and players. It has been a very rewarding process so far, and we look forward to building on this momentum together.”

The post St8 extends Wazdan content distribution into Ontario appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.