Latest News

NSoft story: Passion and motivation behind Virtual Penalty Shootout

Published

4 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.

European Gaming Congress 2024 (Warsaw, Poland)

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

Rivalry Reports Full-Year 2024 Results as Strategic Turnaround Takes Hold, Operating Loss Narrows, and Efficiency Improves

Published

7 hours ago

July 2, 2025

GamingAmericas.com

rivalry-reports-full-year-2024-results-as-strategic-turnaround-takes-hold,-operating-loss-narrows,-and-efficiency-improves

Operating expenses reduced 17%, net loss narrows, and foundational rebuild positions Rivalry for a leaner, more efficient, and financially disciplined 2025

Rivalry Corp. (the “Company” or “Rivalry”) (TSXV: RVLY), an internationally regulated sports betting and media company, announces its financial results for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024.

While Rivalry’s 2024 financials reflect only the earliest signals of its company-wide restructuring, the foundational work – most of which began in the second half of 2024 – is now beginning to show results in 2025. The Company narrowed its net loss, reduced operating expenses by 17%, and entered the new year leaner, more focused, and closer to breakeven.

“We made hard decisions last year – rebuilding the product, cutting costs, and refining our approach to players – and those changes are beginning to show signs of positive impact,” said Steven Salz, Co-Founder and CEO of Rivalry. “The latter half of 2024 set the stage, and we’re encouraged by the progress seen so far in 2025.”

FY2024 Highlights

Net revenue of $13.6 million, compared to $16.2 million in 2023.
Operating expenses decreased 17% to $32.2 million, down from $38.8 million.
Net loss of $22.4 million, compared to $23.8 million.
Deferred revenue of $4.1 million related to pre-sales of Rivalry’s on-platform crypto token.
Year-end cash of $2.7 million, with materially lower run-rate operating expenses entering 2025¹.

Organizational Rebuild & Operating Leverage

Rivalry spent the latter part of 2024 and into Q1 2025 executing a comprehensive overhaul across its cost base, product, player strategy, and operational structure. With most changes now implemented, early signs of progress are emerging. Highlights include:

Lean operating model, with breakeven net revenue now approximately $600,000 USD/month, down from over $2 million USD/month a year ago. Further reductions to operating costs are planned in Q3 2025 to lower the breakeven point even more.
Restructured VIP program and onboarding, improving retention and monetization from high-value players.
Expanded casino product, improving baseline stability through missions, races, and progression-based systems.
Platform upgrades enhancing site speed, responsiveness, and conversion.
Crypto-native infrastructure overhaul, including a rebuilt cashier, improved user experience (“UX”), and token-ready architecture to support long-term on-chain growth.

These efforts have driven early improvements across the Company’s core key performance indicators in 2025:

Net revenue per active user and wagers per user at record levels (excluding customary outliers).
Deposit growth in nearly every month from November 2024 through June 2025, despite minimal marketing spend.
Monthly new first-time depositors (FTDs) up approximately 40% since January 2025 on flat monthly spend. Average payback on cohorts acquired during this period was approximately 1.5 months, highlighting improved customer acquisition efficiency.

2025 Momentum and Execution

In the first half of 2025, Rivalry continued executing against its strategic turnaround, with a focus on increasing player value, tightening operational efficiency, and accelerating near-term revenue drivers. Key initiatives included:

Loyalty Program v2: Building on the success of the end-2024 launch, the next iteration of Rivalry’s on-site loyalty program is in development, designed to deepen progression, improve engagement, and anchor major campaigns throughout Q3 2025.
New Promo Engine: Launching this summer, the rebuilt system introduces immediate-match deposit offers and new promo types, integrated directly into onboarding and reactivation flows to lift first time deposits and retention.
Customer Relationship Management (“CRM”) and Always-On Optimization: Active performance reviews of core flows, geo-targeted reactivation campaigns, and structural upgrades to improve output across the customer lifecycle.
VIP & High-Value-Player Activity: Fully structured outreach live across geos, with segmentation, high-touch CRM, and LTV-based targeting to reactivate high-value-players.
Cashier & Site Speed: Continued improvements to platform speed, including faster load times, and reduced friction in cashier UX.
Ongoing UX Improvements: Consistent updates across the site aimed at visual polish, design coherence, and front-end responsiveness to deliver a cleaner, more reliable user experience.

These initiatives have laid a foundation entering the second half of 2025. The focus now is on maintaining momentum, tightening execution, and scaling revenue through improved player economics and operational leverage.

Strategic Review

The Company’s previously announced evaluation of strategic alternatives remains ongoing. Rivalry continues to explore a range of potential outcomes aimed at maximizing shareholder value. There is no assurance regarding the timing or results of this review.

Outlook

While the 2024 annual results capture only the early innings of Rivalry’s strategic transformation, the changes made throughout the year have meaningfully repositioned the Company. With a leaner cost structure, stronger product, and increasing revenue efficiency, Rivalry is entering the second half of 2025 with sharper operational discipline and renewed focus.

Additional updates will be provided alongside the release of the Company’s financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2025, which are expected to be released on or prior to July 14, 2025.

Unsecured Loan

The Company also announces that it has secured a US$475,000 principal amount senior unsecured loan from its existing senior lender, maturing on September 30, 2025, with an interest rate of 10% per annum (the “Loan”). The Loan reinforces the Company’s senior lender’s support for the Company’s ongoing strategic review process and provides the Company with additional flexibility to continue pursuing its strategic initiatives to maximize long-term stakeholder value.

Update Regarding Management Cease Trade Order

The Company is providing this update on the status of a management cease trade order granted on May 1, 2025 (the “MCTO“) by its principal regulator, the Ontario Securities Commission (the “OSC“), under National Policy 12-203 – Management Cease Trade Orders (“NP 12-203“). On May 2, 2025, the Company announced that there would be a delay in the filing of its annual financial statements, management’s discussion and analysis and related CEO and CFO certificates for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024 (collectively, the “Annual Filings”), as required under applicable Canadian securities laws (the “Default Announcement“). On June 18, 2025 the Company further announced that it expects to file its unaudited financial statements and management’s discussion and analysis for the three months ended March 31, 2025 and related certifications (collectively, the “Q1 Filings“) on or prior to July 14, 2025. Although the Annual Filings have now been filed, the OSC has advised the Company that the MCTO will remain in place until the Q1 Filings have been completed.

The Company advises that: (i) there have been no material changes to the information contained in the Default Announcement; (ii) it intends to continue to comply with the alternative information guidelines of NP 12-203; and (iii) except as previously disclosed, there are no subsequent specified defaults (actual or anticipated) within the meaning of NP 12-203.

The MCTO will remain in effect until the Company is no longer in default with respect to its filing requirements and the OSC lifts the cease trade order.

The post Rivalry Reports Full-Year 2024 Results as Strategic Turnaround Takes Hold, Operating Loss Narrows, and Efficiency Improves appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.

Latest News

iGB L!VE opens in London

Published

14 hours ago

July 2, 2025

George Miller

Reading Time: 2 minutes

The 2025 edition of iGB L!VE opened today (2^nd July) at it’s new ExCeL London home. iGaming professionals made full use of ExCeL London’s transport infrastructure with Elizabeth Line and Docklands Light Railway trains full of visitors celebrating the show’s relocation to the Capital.

Organisers are seeking to grow the iGB L!VE attendance and, in the process set another record for the event. The 2024 edition, which was the last to be held in Amsterdam attracted 9,788 unique attendees, surpassing the 7,299 at iGB L!VE 2023 and was nearly double the 5,022 at iGB L!VE 2022. The 2025 edition of iGB L!VE will be the biggest on record, providing attendees with access to over 22,000 sqm of product innovation and inspiration.

Claire Williams OBE, the former leader of the Williams Formula 1 racing team and one of the most prominent and successful women in F1 history provided the iGB L!VE 2025 keynote.

Exploring the best practice parallels which can be drawn between the data-driven worlds of F1 and iGaming, Claire Williams noted: “There are a number of ways that Formula 1 can inspire businesses and provide tangible takeaways for iGaming operators of all sizes, from product innovation to navigating entry into new markets. As well as key requirements such as having a dynamic leadership, a culture of continuous improvement, hiring the very best problem solvers and being the first to embrace technology advances, F1 also demands the organisational agility that’s necessary to nuance strategy in what is an ultra-competitive space. “

Described as the TED of iGaming, iGB L!VE features a mix of highly practical case studies, data presentations and panel discussions on best practices across operators and affiliates. Topics include innovations in in-play betting, how to use IP and branding to protect competitive advantage, integrated marketing and SEO strategies, how to build links when no one wants to talk about gambling, as well as market dives into LatAm, UAE and Italy. The full programme can be viewed at:https://www.igblive.com/event-schedule

The post iGB L!VE opens in London appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

Gaming

THE BATTLE OF POLYTOPIA ANNOUNCES GLOBAL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS WITH $10,000 PRIZE POOL

Published

16 hours ago

July 2, 2025

George Miller

the-battle-of-polytopia-announces-global-world-championships-with-$10,000-prize-pool

Reading Time: < 1 minute

Midjiwan, the award-winning independent studio behind The Battle of Polytopia has today announced The Polytopia World Championship with a prize pool of $10,000 USD and a live final broadcast from Stockholm.

The Polytopia World Championship is set to launch this fall, uniting players from across the globe in an epic showdown of fast-paced strategic mastery. The tournament will be themed to Battle of the Tribes. Players will choose to compete with one of Polytopia’s 12 in-game tribes; each with a unique regional theme and skillset.

The tournament will begin with open qualifiers, giving everyone a chance to prove themselves. From there, players will advance through tribe-specific playoffs and head-to-head elimination rounds, each match bringing them one step closer to glory.

The top six players will earn a spot in the live finals in Stockholm on December 6: an in-person event streamed online for fans worldwide. In addition to live commentary of the tournament, the fan event will also provide behind-the-scenes content from the Midjiwan team.

The winner will be awarded a prize pool of $10,000; making this tournament the biggest competitive event in The Battle of Polytopia’s nine year history.

Christian Lovstedt, CEO of Midjiwan AB, commented: “This marks a major new step for Polytopia’s competitive scene, featuring a fresh tournament format and enhanced broadcasting that makes it even more exciting for viewers to watch, learn, and get inspired by the world’s top players.“

The matches will be played on the Polytopia Official Space on the Challengermode esports Platform.

The planned dates are:

September: