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gamescom 2020: ‘A strong signal in challenging times’

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game draws a positive balance after first all-digital gamescom
More than 2 million people worldwide simultaneously view grand kick-off show ‘gamescom: Opening Night Live’
Federal Minister Andreas Scheuer announces start of major games funding programme at gamescom

gamescom 2020 sends a strong signal in challenging times: the world’s biggest games event was successfully implemented in digital form, despite turmoil in the development plans of numerous games studios due to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as a comparatively short planning phase. Millions of players worldwide followed gamescom 2020, which took place in parallel on many digital platforms. The digital concept of gamescom 2020, developed in just a few weeks in collaboration with Koelnmesse and the top gamescom exhibitors, shows the great potential of gamescom for the coming years: many companies participated for the first time this year as official partners; in addition, the fair’s international reach has continued to increase significantly. This is the conclusion drawn by game – the German Games Industry Association, the co-organiser of gamescom.

Jens Kosche, game Executive Board member and Managing Director of Electronic Arts for Germany, Austria and Switzerland, says: ‘Even though the use of games has increased in the last several months, the COVID-19 pandemic is a huge challenge for the international games industry too. Physical events have been cancelled and, in many cases, the development of games also hasn’t continued in the usual manner, with the focus on the safety and health of all involved requiring that thousands of developers work from home. This made it all the more important that gamescom could be held successfully online: it was an anchor in the event calendar and attracted the attention of the community worldwide. I expressly thank all of the partners who, this year especially, have dedicated themselves to the success of gamescom, our most important industry event.’

The special highlight of gamescom 2020 was the show that kicked it off, ‘gamescom: Opening Night Live’. Over two million people viewed the event simultaneously, a fourfold increase from last year’s strong premiere. This makes it one of the top three gaming events worldwide that have taken place online in 2020. The livestreams and events of the approximately 370 official gamescom partners have contributed to its global reach. These included, for example, the ESL One Cologne and the numerous livestreams with influencers from around the world who disseminate the content of gamescom in a wide range of languages. Partnerships with platforms like Twitch and YouTube as well as TikTok and Steam also helped gamescom 2020 reach the community everywhere in the internet.

Felix Falk, Managing Director of game, says: ‘The extraordinary circumstances made gamescom 2020 extremely challenging, yet especially exciting. The digital concept demonstrates how big the international potential of our games event – already the largest in the world – still is. At the same time, however, it has become clear how important the on-site conference, in addition to further digital development, is for the community and the games industry. So, we now have to take our experience from this year and use it to develop the ideal combined on- and offline event for 2021. We’re also especially happy about the political signals that were sent by gamescom 2020. The launch of the major games funding programme announced by Federal Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure Andreas Scheuer is historic and marks the start of our race to catch up as a competitive international site for games development. Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas’s contribution to the gamescom congress, as well as the Debatt(l)e Royale and the participation of over 200 guests in digital tours, show that, this year too, gamescom remains one of the most important platforms for the exchange between policymakers and the digital generation.’

Further information on gamescom 2020 online participation and international audience can be found here

Next year’s gamescom will be held as a hybrid event in Cologne and on the net from Wednesday, 25 August, to Sunday, 29 August 2021.

About gamescom

gamescom is the world’s largest event for computer and video games, as well as Europe’s largest business platform for the games industry. In 2021, gamescom is planned as a hybrid event to be held on-site and digitally, from Wednesday, 25 August, to Sunday, 29 August. gamescom is jointly organised by Koelnmesse and game – the German Games Industry Association.

game – the German Games Industry Association

We are the association of the German games industry. Our members include developers, publishers and many other games industry actors such as esports event organisers, educational establishments and service providers. As a joint organiser of gamescom, we are responsible for the world’s biggest event for computer and video games. We are an expert partner for media and for political and social institutions, and answer questions relating to market development, games culture and media literacy. Our mission is to make Germany the best games location.

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California Grand Casino Honored as Best Local Casino by the East Bay Times

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California Grand Casino announced that it has been voted Best Local Casino in the San Francisco East Bay by readers of the East Bay Times and Bay Area News Group — marking the 11th time the historic casino has received this prestigious honor.

This award reflects the casino’s long-standing commitment to delivering exceptional gaming experiences, outstanding customer service, and a welcoming atmosphere for locals and visitors alike. As the oldest continuously operating poker room in the world — tracing its roots back to 1854 — California Grand Casino continues to be a beloved destination for card players, table game enthusiasts, and entertainment seekers throughout the Bay Area.

“It’s a tremendous honor to be recognized once again by the East Bay community. Winning Best Local Casino for the 11th time is a true testament to the loyalty of our guests, the passion of our staff, and our ongoing dedication to providing an engaging and memorable experience for everyone who walks through our doors,” said Alex Wilkinson of California Grand Casino.

Open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, California Grand Casino offers a wide variety of games, including Texas Hold’em Poker, Hot Action Blackjack, Three Card Poker, EZ Baccarat, Pai Gow Poker, and Face Up Pai Gow. In addition to thrilling gaming action, guests can enjoy full bar service, on-site dining at The Grand Café, and community-focused events and promotions throughout the year. The cardroom offers double jackpots starting at $140,000 with money added every day, with over $32 million paid to players.

The Best Local Casino award is determined annually by readers of the East Bay Times, part of the Bay Area News Group, and recognizes local favorites across a range of categories. This year’s win underscores California Grand Casino’s continued prominence as a top entertainment and gaming destination in the region.

The post California Grand Casino Honored as Best Local Casino by the East Bay Times appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.

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BetPlay

Coljuegos: Betplay and Super Astro Contribute More Than $347.5B to health in 2025

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Betplay and Super Astro remain two of the most profitable and popular gambling brands in Colombia. In 2025 alone, these two products, belonging to the Corredor Empresarial group, paid $347.587 billion in monopoly royalties.

“These funds paid to the Nation were transferred to finance the health system. Furthermore, they represent an 11% increase compared to the monopoly revenues paid for both products in 2024,” said Marco Emilio Hincapié, president of Coljuegos.

Similarly, between January and the first half of March 2026, Betplay and Super Astro have already paid out around $106.259 million, representing an increase of 1.56% compared to the same period in 2025.

“At Coljuegos, we have strengthened the innovative gaming industry, including Super Astro and online betting. That is why we continue to make history every day in raising funds for healthcare from this sector,” said the president of Coljuegos.

It is important to highlight that, during 2025, Betplay received deposits totaling $5.5 trillion from bettors. In addition, the platform contributed $745.594 billion in VAT, funds that were allocated to support peacebuilding efforts in the affected territories. Meanwhile, in 2025, Super Astro reported sales of $754.820 billion.

“Our commitment is to continue protecting the legal industry. That is why we will continue to fight tirelessly against those who operate unauthorized gambling and harm both businesses and the resources allocated to the health of Colombians,” Hincapié added.

The post Coljuegos: Betplay and Super Astro Contribute More Than $347.5B to health in 2025 appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.

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Bragg Gaming Group

Bragg Gaming Group Reports Record Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Revenues

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Bragg Gaming Group has announced its financial results for the fourth quarter of 2025.

Fourth Quarter 2025 Financial Highlights:

• Revenue Growth: Record total quarterly revenue of €27.7 million in the fourth quarter:

• Revenue increase of 5.1% (excluding The Netherlands) compared to the prior year period in 2024;

• The Netherlands revenue decreased 4.6% year-over-year due to the market’s overall contraction caused by increased regulation and higher taxes;

Brazil revenue increased 42.1% compared to the 2024 fourth quarter with continued growth in provider onboarding; and

• US recurring revenue grew 55.0% year-over-year, driven by expanded high-margin proprietary content footprint; and

• Including the impact of The Netherlands, total revenue grew 1.9% year-over-year.

• Operating Loss, Net Loss and Adjusted EBITDA: Operating loss for the quarter was €0.1 million, a €0.6 million improvement from an operating loss of €0.7 million in the same period of 2024. Net loss for the quarter was €1.3 million, or €0.05 per common share, compared to €0.7 million, or €0.03 per common share, in the same period of 2024. Adjusted EBITDA for the 2025 fourth quarter was €4.6 million (representing an Adjusted EBITDA Margin of 16.5%), compared to €4.7 million (representing an Adjusted EBITDA Margin of 17.2%) in Q4-2024.

• Strategic Market Expansion in the US and Brazil: Expanded U.S. content footprint through the launch of its exclusive and bespoke online casino content with Caesars Entertainment in West Virginia. Bragg also launched exclusive and aggregated content with several valued clients operating in Brazil (and other key LatAm jurisdictions), including Brazino777, Blaze, and Super Technologies.

Full Year 2025 Financial Highlights:

• Revenue Growth: Record total annual revenue of €106.1 million in 2025, an increase of 4.0% compared to €102.0 in the year ended December 31, 2024.

• Operating Loss, Net Loss and Adjusted EBITDA: Operating loss for 2025 was €5.3 million, compared to €3.5 million in 2024. Net loss for 2025 was €8.1 million, or €0.32 per common share, compared to €5.1 million, or €0.21 per common share, in 2024. Full year 2025 Adjusted EBITDA was €16.6 million (representing an Adjusted EBITDA Margin of 15.6%), compared to €15.8 million (representing an Adjusted EBITDA Margin of 15.5%) in 2024.

• Balance Sheet Strength: During the year ended December 31, 2025, the Company fully repaid a US$7.0 million secured promissory note and entered into a financing agreement with a Tier One Canadian financial institution for certain revolving credit facilities in a maximum aggregate amount of up to US$6.0 million, replacing its prior debt at less than half the borrowing cost. During the second half of the year, the Company drew C$4.5 million in principal and US$1.1 million in overdraft in respect of Term CORRA loans. Cash and cash equivalents as of December 31, 2025 amounted to €6.7 million.

Fourth Quarter 2025 and Recent Business Highlights:

• Bolstered Leadership Team: Appointed Morten Tonnesen as its new Chief Operating Officer and promoted Garrick Morris to the position of Executive Vice President of Global Content, US & Canada.

• Player Account Management (PAM) Expansion in Europe: Announced the extension of its existing PAM platform agreement with valued client 711.nl to include the regulated Belgian iGaming market, with potential for future Bragg-powered online casino launches in additional regulated or newly regulating iGaming markets. Also, extended its existing PAM agreement with Entain Plc (LSE: ENTL), one of the world’s largest sports betting and gaming groups for BetCity.nl, a leading Dutch market operator, and with Senator Group, an online casino market leader in Croatia.

• Finnish Market Liberalization Preparations: Signed a comprehensive PAM platform and turnkey solution agreement with SuomiVeto, a market entrant led by the successful founders of BetCity.nl, focused on positioning SuomiVeto as a leading operator, and Bragg as a leading supplier, in the newly regulated Finnish iGaming market when it launches. The market is scheduled to “go live” for private operators on July 1, 2027.

• Ambitious Artificial Intelligence (AI) Transformation Plan: Leapt into an “AI-First” future by initiating the development of the Bragg AI Brain, a data-driven artificial intelligence engine designed to power smarter decisions and intelligent products across the Bragg’s Ecosystem. The transformation plan is underpinned by clear 2027 targets, including ensuring an AI-Enhanced Product becomes standard in over 90% of all launches and having more than three-quarters of Bragg’s operational workflows impacted by AI.

• Strategic Restructuring to Reduce Cost Structure and Improve Operating Performance: Announced a strategic restructuring, including an approximately 12% reduction of global workforce, designed to realign the organization and thereby improve its overall cost structure, drive its EBITDA growth, and shorten the time required for it to achieve sustained net profitability. The Company expects to incur restructuring costs related to this action of approximately €1.0 million associated with personnel-related termination costs in the first quarter of 2026, and it anticipates annualized cash savings from its staff reductions and other restructuring efforts to be approximately €4.5 million. This amount does not include the expected positive impact of the Company’s initiative to the Bragg AI Brain to drive cost efficiencies and improve operational excellence.

• Greater Board of Directors Alignment with Shareholders: From January 1, 2026, fees are being paid to directors exclusively in deferred share units (DSUs) on a monthly basis (with no cash alternative).

Matevž Mazij, Chief Executive Officer at Bragg, said: “We continued to execute well, delivering record revenues, strategic expansion and important AI and restructuring initiatives. We believe this positions Bragg well for 2026 and beyond to: increase our overall content market share in Brazil and the United States; pursue emerging alternative markets, such as Historical and Live Racing and Prediction Markets; move into new jurisdictions that offer opportunities for higher margin content business; deliver enhanced operational leverage; meet our goals to streamline internal processes; enhance overall efficiency across our organization; protect our cash runway; and advance us further along the path toward EBITDA growth and net profitability.”

Board Changes

The Company also announced the appointment of Thomas Winter to its Board of Directors. Mr. Winter succeeds Kent Young, who has retired from the Board. Both changes to the Bragg Board are effective immediately.

Mr. Winter brings deep knowledge of and experience in the iGaming and wagering industry. Currently a Board Member of Rush Street Interactive, which through its brands, BetRivers, PlaySugarHouse and RushBet, was an early entrant in several regulated jurisdictions, Mr. Winter began his career in the gaming sector nearly two decades ago and has since established himself as a leader in the field. In 2013, he founded Golden Nugget Online Gaming (GNOG), where he served as President. Under his leadership, GNOG became a top online gaming operator in New Jersey, achieving significant market share and recognition, went public and was later successfully sold for over $1.5 billion to DraftKings, where he developed their multi-brand online casino strategy and led their online casino business until September 2023. Before founding GNOG, he was the CEO and director of Betclic, a major European online sports betting and gaming operator, and Expekt, a pioneer brand in the online gaming industry, within the Betclic Group. Mr. Winter played a key role as COO at both businesses before being appointed CEO.

“I would like to thank Kent for his many contributions to the Company. I am also very pleased to welcome Thomas to our team. Moving forward, the Board and management team will be steadfast in our aim to close the clear and persistent gap between the Company’s public market valuation and our assessment of its intrinsic value. To that end, as Thomas is a gaming industry luminary who has earned my deep personal admiration and great professional respect, I am confident that he will be a tremendous asset to our Board and to our shareholders,” said Holly Gagnon, Chair of the Bragg Board.

2026 Outlook

The Company anticipates full year 2026 revenue between €97.0 million and €104.5 million and Adjusted EBITDA of €16.0 million to €19.0 million (representing an Adjusted EBITDA Margin of 16.0% to 18.0%).

The post Bragg Gaming Group Reports Record Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Revenues appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.

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