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NSoft story: Passion and motivation behind Virtual Penalty Shootout
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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All reels lead to Rome in ELA Games’ newest atmospheric and bold slot.
ELA Games creates an immersive adventure in its latest title, Roman Fortune. Players battle for glory and honour in the heart of ancient Rome, where every spin carries the might of an empire.
Roman Fortune takes place in a roaring Colosseum under Caesar’s watchful eye, where fortunes wait for the victors. Designed with ELA Games’ signature visual richness and refined gameplay, this new title balances entertaining gaming experiences with operator-focused value, building on previous successes, such as Piñatas Festival.
Caesar’s Riches: Features that Favour the Brave
Roman Fortune offers several features that build excitement and depth for the player, ensuring action on every spin.
- Scatter Symbols: Collect Scatters to earn Free Spins — the more you collect, the greater the prize.
- Caesar Wilds: At any moment, a Caesar Wild may appear to spread wealth across the reels or even trigger the Hold & Win Bonus.
- Hold & Win Bonus: In this feature, players encounter Red, Blue, and Green Coins, each with their own imperial strengths. Red Coins multiply prizes, Blue Coins unlock Jackpots, and Green Coins collect all visible values for greater wins.
Gladiators can activate all of these features at once, where glory and honour will rain down on the victor.
An Experience Built for Impact
Just like the actual intense clashes that occurred in the Colosseum in ancient Rome, Roman Fortune is crafted for players who enjoy an atmospheric experience with excitement, tension, and memorable moments.
The game’s 95.99% RTP and high volatility ensure that even the base game has plenty of action. Roman Fortune embodies ELA Games’ game creation philosophy, where creativity and strategic development work together to deliver a product that delivers sustained engagement and strong performance for its partners
Marharyta Yerina, Managing Director of ELA Games, commented on the release, “Roman Fortune is a visually forward title that captivates players’ imaginations with thrilling battles in an ancient arena. Every detail exists to create a world players can step into and instantly feel connected to. The game’s bold theme, supported by strategic mechanics and layers of atmosphere, shows what our team does best: creating experiences players enjoy while providing value for our partners.”
Enter the Arena For Eternal Glory
Step into the Colosseum and fight for your place in history.
The post Glory & Honour Await the Strongest Gladiators in ELA Games’ Newest Game, Roman Fortune appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Dinos Doxiadis Head of Sportsbook Business at GR8 Tech
GR8 Tech Expands Virtual Sports Portfolio with New Basketball Offering, Deepens Localization Strategy
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GR8 Tech has expanded the virtual sports lineup within its ULTIM8 Sportsbook with a new range of virtual basketball, continuing a year of investment in the category that has already seen the addition of virtual horse racing and virtual cricket roulette—a unique format blending casino mechanics with the sport of cricket.
The expansion builds on GR8 Tech’s established strength in cricket, where the company developed one of the industry’s most comprehensive betting lines. Virtual cricket was designed to fill gaps between real-world tournaments, giving operators a way to maintain player engagement year-round—a model now being applied to basketball for markets where the sport dominates.
This content independence stems directly from GR8 Tech’s in-house trading capabilities.
“One of the things that GR8 Tech stands out for is the quality of the trading and the fact that we perform extremely well in very difficult environments, like Asia,” said Dinos Doxiadis, Head of Sportsbook Business at GR8 Tech. “Even our clients’ players in these challenging markets don’t behave like typical players in ‘easier’ regions such as Latin America, we still manage to achieve some of the highest margins there.”
That trading foundation enables GR8 Tech to build and localize content for specific markets rather than relying solely on third-party providers.
“We already have a very strong sportsbook, and now we’re scaling our processes and output capabilities to take it even further,” Doxiadis explains. “We’re improving the product and creating the conditions to localize very quickly and offer a truly localized experience across the world.”
GR8 Tech is also investing in infrastructure to give operators greater control over how they deploy this content.
“The goal is to put even more power into the hands of our operators so they can tailor the product exactly as they want. As we move forward with new data and content agreements, they’ll gain an even greater ability to adapt the sportsbook to their specific needs—on top of what they can already do today.”
Personalization is central to that roadmap. “We have delivered quite a few recommendation models, and right now we can serve custom content on a user level, and we will continue working in this direction,” said Doxiadis. “We have a very good infrastructure and baseline to invest in.”
The post GR8 Tech Expands Virtual Sports Portfolio with New Basketball Offering, Deepens Localization Strategy appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Gaming
Make-A-Wish® and Lords Mobile Unite This Thanksgiving Season to Bring Hope to Children Through Mobile Charity Event
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From November 26-30, Lords Mobile players worldwide can help grant life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses through a global in-game charity challenge.
Make-A-Wish®, the world’s leading wish-granting organization, is delighted to announce a special collaboration with IGG, the global developer and publisher of hit mobile titles.
This Thanksgiving season, the two organizations are coming together to transform the spirit of gratitude into global impact through a community charity challenge inside Lords Mobile.
From November 26 to 30, 2025, players from around the world will unite across their respective Kingdoms to combine play with purpose. By completing five days of in-game quests and collecting 30 event points, players can unlock the exclusive “Wish Upon a Star” Decoration – a special symbol of hope within the Lords Mobile world.
Once 50,000 players across the global server have claimed the Wish Upon a Star Decoration, IGG will donate $50,000 USD to Make-A-Wish to help grant life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses. The donation will support wishes in the USA, Indonesia, Brazil, Germany, Singapore, and Korea.
Players who wish to enhance their event experience can also purchase four in-game packs priced at USD 4.99 or above to unlock premium rewards such as Mystic Carpets, Royal Coins, and more.
April Stallings, Charitable Gaming and Creators Community Manager at Make-A-Wish International said:
“Thanksgiving is a time for reflection, generosity, and connection. We’re deeply grateful to IGG and the global Lords Mobile community for harnessing their passion for play to help make life-changing wishes come true. Together, we’re turning the power of gaming into the power of hope.”
As players unite to achieve their community goals, Make-A-Wish will highlight real wish stories from participating countries, connecting the in-game achievements to the life-changing impact they help create.
Together, IGG and Make-A-Wish are showing the power of the gaming community to make a difference.
The post Make-A-Wish® and Lords Mobile Unite This Thanksgiving Season to Bring Hope to Children Through Mobile Charity Event appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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