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Opera buys owner of GameMaker and starts a Gaming division

Published

5 years ago

January 22, 2021

Reading Time: 3 minutes

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.”

Danny Gordon Head of Studio at DEGEN Studios

Zoomania: DEGEN Studios’ wild new frontier

Published

1 hour ago

April 8, 2026

Wladimir P.

zoomania:-degen-studios’-wild-new-frontier

This isn’t an expedition. It’s the fittest that survive.

DEGEN opens the cage door to Zoomania, a 5-reel, 4-row video slot situated in a realm where instinct reigns and survival is far from assured.

Set in a landscape of steel, shadows, and flashing neon, Zoomania presents players with a lineup of powerful beings like lions, gorillas, and reptiles, each contributing their unique impact to this extremely high-volatility game.

A key aspect of Zoomania is the Top Feature Row, positioned above the reels, which can trigger strong modifiers at any time. Expanding Wilds, multipliers, Wild Converters, and even Super Scatters can appear unexpectedly, altering the grid and forming wins that seemed impossible moments before.

The outcome is a fundamental game that continually changes. One instant the reels seem stable, the next a feature activates and the result changes drastically.

Zoomania presents several bonus paths, each featuring varying levels of intensity. From the dynamic Prison Break feature to the unpredictable Feral Instinct and the extremely rare Beast Mode, the game enables players to encounter increasing degrees of disorder as the session progresses.

Danny Gordon, Head of Studio at DEGEN Studios, said: “Zoomania shows a different side of DEGEN. It looks vibrant, but there’s an eerie edge running through it, and the gameplay keeps shifting under your feet. That tension creates something wildly unpredictable, where no two sessions play out the same.

Step inside. Trigger the chaos. Unleash the wild.”

The post Zoomania: DEGEN Studios’ wild new frontier appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

Affiliate Succes

Gaming in Europe Webinar — Inside the Rise of Illegal Affiliate Marketing: Tactics & Countermeasures

Published

1 hour ago

April 8, 2026

Wladimir P.

gaming-in-europe-webinar-—-inside-the-rise-of-illegal-affiliate-marketing:-tactics-&-countermeasures

To raise awareness of the increasing issue of illegal affiliate marketing affecting licensed markets, Gaming in Europe will conduct a webinar called “Understanding the rise of illegal affiliate marketing: Techniques & solutions” on Thursday, April 16, at 14:00 CET.

An increasing issue

Due to the rising significance of online platforms – particularly in conjunction with limitations on broadcast and print advertising – affiliate marketing has emerged as a more vital route for participants to discover and locate the iGaming operators that suit their requirements.

The battle for recognition

Unauthorized affiliates, along with the larger entities supporting them, not only enhance the exposure of illicit offers; they frequently also manage to diminish the visibility of licensed operators and affiliates advocating licensed offers.

This webinar will detail the tactics that unlawful affiliates employ to enhance their own visibility while diminishing that of their legitimate rivals. Additionally, this webinar will examine the actions that legal affiliates, licensed operators, and regulators can implement to reduce the effects of unlawful affiliate marketing.

A problem affecting all of Europe

Since offshore online gambling operators and their related illegal affiliates typically function on a European or even worldwide scale, this webinar will be pertinent to stakeholders in all regulated or soon-to-be-regulated online gambling markets, such as Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Finland, and others.

#TakeBackTheMarket

Founder Willem van Oort of Gaming in Europe stated: “Aligned with Gaming in Europe’s larger goal to assist legal stakeholders against unlawful and unfair competition – concisely captured as #ReclaimTheMarket – we have opted to examine more closely the reasons and consequences of the rising influence of illegal affiliate marketing.” We will examine some of the dubious tactics employed by illegal affiliates and also investigate what advocates of the legal market, including regulators and licensed operators, can do to combat this.”

Speakers

Timothy Malmros Genach, expert in SEO, Magenti Media

Dr. Andreas Ditsche, Chief Executive Officer, iGaming.com

Frank op de Woerd, Hoofdredacteur, CasinoNieuws

Sign-up

Participation in this webinar is complimentary. Tap here to sign up.

The post Gaming in Europe Webinar — Inside the Rise of Illegal Affiliate Marketing: Tactics & Countermeasures appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

Albert Zorrilla

Zitro Wins 2026 EXPOJOC Innovation Award

Published

1 hour ago

April 8, 2026

Wladimir P.

zitro-wins-2026-expojoc-innovation-award

Zitro has been honored for the second consecutive year with the EXPOJOC Innovation Award, a recognition that positions the company as a leading example of innovation within the gaming industry and highlights its ongoing ability to bring new products to casinos, bingo halls, gaming venues and bars across Spain.

The award was accepted by Albert Zorrilla, General Manager of Zitro Spain, who expressed his gratitude on behalf of the entire company: “Receiving this award for the second consecutive year is a great honor for everyone at Zitro. It is also a reflection of the dedication and effort our team puts into developing products that truly make a difference for our clients — helping them drive better results from their operations and continuously offering them more innovative and competitive offerings.”

Zitro’s strong commitment to innovation is also evident in the significant investment the company makes in R&D, which has enabled it to develop in-house technology, expand its portfolio, and further strengthen its international footprint. A clear testament to this is its two technology campuses in Barcelona and Bangalore, together spanning over 20,000 square meters dedicated exclusively to game creation and development.

The post Zitro Wins 2026 EXPOJOC Innovation Award appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.