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Opera buys owner of GameMaker and starts a Gaming division

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Opera, the browser developer and consumer internet brand, announced its acquisition of YoYo Games, creator of the world’s leading 2D game engine, GameMaker Studio 2, for approximately $10 million. The tuck-in acquisition represents the second building block in the foundation of Opera Gaming, a new division within Opera with global ambitions and follows the creation and rapid growth of Opera’s innovative Opera GX browser, the world’s first browser built specifically for gamers.

Krystian Kolondra, EVP Browsers at Opera, said: “With Opera GX, Opera had adapted its proven, innovative browser tech platform to dramatically expand its footprint in gaming. We’re at the brink of a shift, when more and more people start not only playing, but also creating and publishing games. GameMaker Studio2 is best-in-class game development software, and lowers the barrier to entry for anyone to start making their games and offer them across a wide range of web-supported platforms, from PCs, to, mobile iOS/Android devices, to consoles.

Annette De Freitas, Head of Business Development & Strategic Partnerships, Opera Gaming, added: “Gaming is a growth area for Opera and the acquisition of YoYo Games reflects significant, sustained momentum across both of our businesses over the past year. Our new Opera GX browser hit 7 million MAUs in December, 2020, up 350% year over year, while YoYo Games’ GameMaker engine achieved 400K new registered creators in 2020. We’re tremendously excited by the opportunities the combination creates not only for our combined users, but also for the expansion of Opera’s gaming community.”

Stuart Poole, GM at YoYo Games who will remain with the business alongside technical lead Russell Kay stated, “For over twenty years, the vision behind the GameMaker engine was to not just create more games, but expand development within and beyond the game studio. We think the transaction with Opera – whose products are known, trusted and used worldwide by millions of people every month- represents a massive opportunity to accelerate fulfilment of that founding vision, during a period of exceptional growth for both companies.”

“We are very excited to start working with the team at YoYo Games,” said Krystian Kolondra, EVP Browsers at Opera. “We see the Game Maker Studio platform as being an ideal acquisition to complement our global ambitions in gaming, and to help drive awareness and traffic to our Opera GX gaming browser.”

Opera GX, YoYo Games and GameMaker will unite under Opera Gaming, focusing on innovating across the gaming, game development, and browser experience. “We look forward to further growing Opera GX and driving the growth of GameMaker as part of a broader ecosystem, making it more accessible to novice users and developing it into the world’s leading 2D game engine used by commercial studios,” continued Krystian Kolondra. “Opera Gaming will be focusing on accelerating the growth of this emerging ecosystem, combining the 7+ million highly engaged gamers using Opera GX with millions of GameMaker creators. We are also thrilled to continue realizing synergies between YoYo Games’ products and Opera GX.”

GameMakerStudio is an integrated game development software, performance-tuned 2/2.5D engine that fuels many games, including multi-million hits like Risk of Rain, Undertale, or Hyper Light Drifter on an extensive range of mainstream platforms. Starting to build games with Game Maker Studio requires little to zero coding skills. Due to its extensive functionalities and ease of use Game Maker Studio lowers the barriers to entry and empowers a variety of creative people to make their games come alive and share them with the world.

Kolondra explained further: “Performance is essential to even 2D gaming, and sustaining that performance across mobile devices and laptops as well as variable bandwidth and connectivity requires thinking outside of traditional application silos. The line between building good games and good browsers has been eroding for years – with gaming interactivity across internet connections ramping up and browsers growing more multi-function and sophisticated. Traditionally the two types of technology compete for hardware and bandwidth resources. But as Opera GX proved, there was a better way to address that competition and improve the experience across both functionalities. YoYo Games’ team, development expertise and studio relationships lay the groundwork for turning the Opera GX vertical into a new kind of horizontal. This horizontal opportunity is why we’re building Opera Gaming and its infrastructure – so that we can further integrate gaming and browsing in ways beneficial to both in terms of not only monetization, but also experience.”

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Kai Botha

QTech Games continues to move fast with Playnetic integration

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QTech Games, the leading game aggregator for all emerging markets, has announced its latest partnership with Playnetic, an emerging force in iGaming casino entertainment content allowing its platform clients access to another timely delivered portfolio of games focusing on immersive experiences.

Integrating games from one of the more visually stunning slots providers adds yet more variety to QTech Games’ premier platform, which is taking the widest range of online games to emerging territories with established names sitting alongside the industry’s most exciting up-and-coming providers. Playnetic’s standout titles include recent releases like Patrick vs Joker, alongside established fan favourites such as Joxer, Scarabs of Wealth and Lucky Licks.

Playnetic prides itself on creating engaging, innovative and high performing games that are suitable for all global gaming markets, delivering a personalised approach, which offers operators more flexibility in their iGaming content choices to suit specific markets. This integration also ensures QTech’s array of operator partners can leverage more innovative and high-performing content to stay ahead in a competitive marketplace.

Playnetic’s portfolio has been optimised for mobile, a cornerstone of QTech’s RNG model, which is founded on its fully-owned and customised technical platform, allowing games providers and operators the fastest integration available. With over 50 years’ management experience, QTech Games’ diverse range of gaming options is designed to provide a definitive one-stop shop. While its all-inclusive licence fee model, unified game launcher and wallet integration API mean clients can easily connect and access an all-encompassing portfolio in a few clicks. This has fast-become the “go-to” solution for worldwide operators across developing territories.

Philip Doftvik, QTech Games’ CEO, said: “We will continue to add fresh content to the platform, prioritising suppliers who provide unique, localised content. Playnetic’s immersive and player-focussed gaming suite fits the bill perfectly. Their content brings a new level of energy and engagement which we’re excited to share across our ever-growing group of operators.

Kai Botha, Chief Commercial Officer at Playnetic, added: “Playnetic’s mission is to create innovative, thrilling, and high preforming premium quality games that connect with players across multiple markets. For us that means casino content that is informed by market insights, advances in game play features supported by robust technology and the latest gameplay trends.

This deal marks another significant stride in enhancing our delivery efficiency, accelerating markets access to our games to connect with even more players.  We look forward to seeing our games portfolio being available through QTech’s network.”

The post QTech Games continues to move fast with Playnetic integration appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

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Andrew Cardno

SkyCity Expands its Strategic Partnership with Quick Custom Intelligence

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Quick Custom Intelligence (QCI), a leading provider of casino operational intelligence software, announced the expansion of its strategic partnership with SkyCity Entertainment Group, New Zealand’s premier entertainment and gaming company.

SkyCity has successfully utilised QCI Slots for several years to enhance operational visibility, productivity and optimisation across its gaming floors. Building on that foundation, SkyCity is now expanding its engagement with QCI to support a more integrated, enterprise-wide view of customer and operational intelligence across its properties, product channels and services.

The expanded collaboration will introduce additional capabilities within the QCI Enterprise Platform, enabling SkyCity to consolidate data from across its ecosystem and transform it into actionable insight. It introduces enhanced tools to support customer engagement, segmentation and targeted decision-making, helping teams better understand customers, tailor experiences and respond more quickly to changing customer and operational needs. This is a key capability in an increasingly omni-channel environment.

“Our partnership with QCI has developed into a truly strategic collaboration, supporting how we integrate critical customer, product, and operational intelligence,” said Christina Katsibouba, Chief Digital & Transformation Officer at SkyCity.

“As we continue to develop our digital and omni-channel strategy, this expanded engagement reflects a shared goal to use connected data and insights to make better decisions, achieve stronger customer outcomes and create long-term value across the organization. Collaborating closely with QCI allows us to operate with greater agility today, while also shaping the future of how integrated entertainment and gaming businesses utilize intelligence at scale.”

QCI’s Enterprise Platform supports casino resorts worldwide by integrating data from across gaming, hospitality, and digital environments, delivering real-time intelligence that empowers teams to improve efficiency, enhance customer engagement and make faster, more informed decisions.

“SkyCity has been an outstanding partner and an innovative leader in the gaming industry. This expansion reflects the strong foundation we’ve built together and our shared commitment leveraging connected intelligence to drive stronger customer outcomes, support omni-channel strategies, and create a more agile and data-led operating model,” said Andrew Cardno, Co-Founder and CTO of Quick Custom Intelligence.

The continued collaboration between SkyCity Entertainment Group and QCI reflects both organisations’ commitment to innovation, customer excellence and the ongoing advancement of technology within the global gaming industry.

The post SkyCity Expands its Strategic Partnership with Quick Custom Intelligence appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

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Brooks Pierce

Inspired Entertainment Announces New SaaS Distribution Agreement with Playtech

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Inspired Entertainment, a leading provider of B2B gaming content and systems, announced a new SaaS distribution agreement with Playtech, one of the world’s leading gambling technology companies.

Under the agreement, Inspired’s Virtual Sports portfolio, including its market-leading licensed content and U.S. sports offerings, will be distributed via Playtech’s Sportsbook platform to operators worldwide.

The SaaS solution features a cloud-hosted back-end integration with Playtech, allowing for modular delivery that can be adapted to customer needs. Inspired’s Virtual Sports portfolio provides operators with products designed to enhance engagement and drive player growth. This integration enables Playtech’s partners seamless access to Inspired’s Virtual Sports.

“This partnership represents a major milestone for Inspired. By becoming one of Playtech’s Virtual Sports partners, we can deliver our cutting-edge content to a wider global audience via one seamless integration,” said Brooks Pierce, President and CEO of Inspired.

“We are delighted to partner with Inspired Entertainment. This agreement extends our Virtual Sports offering and reaffirms Playtech’s commitment to providing innovative, engaging experiences to players across multiple regulated territories,” said Yori Arami, VP of Sports Commercial at Playtech.

This agreement combines Inspired’s innovative content and cloud-native delivery with Playtech’s established operator network, resulting in a more engaging virtual gaming experience for players.

The post Inspired Entertainment Announces New SaaS Distribution Agreement with Playtech appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

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