Latest News

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.”

Latest News

Where to Drive Tier-1 Sport Traffic in July FIFA World Cup Final & More

Published

30 minutes ago

July 7, 2026

Master Editor

July is one of the strongest months for sports traffic, with the FIFA World Cup knockout stage, Wimbledon finals, Formula 1, UFC, esports, cricket, and rugby driving high-value Tier-1 audiences.

Moreover, with N1 Sport Promo by N1 Partners running until July 20, affiliates still have time to increase their CPA while scaling quality sports traffic during the busiest weeks of the season.

Key sports events in July

The N1 Partners team has made a list of the biggest sporting events this month to help affiliates plan campaigns and capture high-intent traffic.

Soccer

The FIFA World Cup enters its decisive stage, with every knockout match generating significant spikes in betting activity, search demand, and social engagement.

Until 07.07 | FIFA World Cup — Round of 16
09.07–12.07 | FIFA World Cup — Quarter-finals
14.07 | FIFA World Cup — Semi-final
15.07 | FIFA World Cup — Semi-final
18.07 | FIFA World Cup — Third-place Match
19.07 | FIFA World Cup — Final

Tennis

Wimbledon concludes with the biggest matches of the season before the tour moves to North America later in the month.

Until 12.07 | Wimbledon
12.07 | Wimbledon Finals
26.07–02.08 | ATP Washington
26.07–02.08 | WTA Washington

Formula 1

Formula 1 will get high interest from sport lovers throughout July with three Grand Prix weekends.

19.07 | Belgian Grand Prix
26.07 | Hungarian Grand Prix

MMA

UFC maintains strong engagement in Tier-1 markets, especially around numbered fight nights where title implications and high-profile fighters drive consistent betting interest.

13.07 | UFC 329 McGregor vs. Holloway 2

Esports

The biggest esports competitions will go on attracting highly engaged audiences across Tier-1 markets.

06.07–18.07 | Esports World Cup 2026 (Dota 2)
21.07–02.08 | BLAST Bounty Season 2 (CS2)

Cricket

Cricket is still one of the strongest niches that generates huge traffic amonts across several Tier-1 GEOs.

07.07 | England vs India — Test Series
13.07 | England vs India — ODI
16.07 | England vs India — ODI
22.07 | Southern Brave vs Welsh Fire — The Hundred
23.07 | London Spirit vs Manchester Super Giants — The Hundred
27.07 | Southern Brave vs MI London — The Hundred

Rugby League

Rugby League continues to generate steady betting interest in key English-speaking markets.

17.07 | NZ Warriors vs Broncos
30.07 | North Queensland Cowboys vs Roosters

How to maximize results from event-driven traffic

The summer month offers affiliates working with N1 Bet, RollXO, and Lucky Hunter through N1 Partners a strong environment to attract new players, increase FTD volumes, and scale existing campaigns across Tier-1 GEOs, supported by consistently high audience demand. With N1 Sport Promo running until July 20, affiliates still have time to maximize higher CPA rates while sports engagement remains at its seasonal peak.

Top promos for N1 Partners projects in July

This July, partners can take advantage of exclusive seasonal campaigns for players across N1 Partners’ leading brands, designed to drive stronger performance and help them get more from every visitor they refer.

Road to Riches Lottery (RollXO, N1 Bet)
Period: 01.07–25.08
Prize pool: €500,000

Road to Riches is the biggest lottery campaign in the project’s history, featuring a €500,000 total prize pool, 8 weekly stages, and 700 winners. With weekly prize drops and increasing stage prize pools, the promotion is designed to boost player engagement, retention, and repeat deposits—helping affiliates maximize traffic value throughout the campaign.

Lucky Lottery (Retrobet, Spirit Casino, Jet4Bet, Slot Lounge)

Period: 22.07–27.07

Prize pool: €50,000

Lucky Loot Lottery (Slotlords, Slotsmines)
Period: 10.07–16.07
Prize pool: €10,000 (Slotlords), €7,000 (Slotsmines)

Around the World Lottery (Slot Mafia, Slot Hunter, LuckyHunter)

Period: 13.07–23.07

Prize pool: €8,000

Wanna learn more? Contact your manager right now!

Winning Tips for July Sports Traffic

Treat the World Cup as a sequence of conversion peaks rather than a single final, as each knockout round has its own performance window under the promo.
Shift budgets dynamically between sports instead of overfocusing on one event: Wimbledon, F1, UFC, and esports often perform better once football CPMs peak.
Build creatives that reflect tournament progression (for instance, “Quarter-finals pressure” and “Road to the final”), not static team messaging.
Combine Sports Betting and Prediction Markets on N1 Bet to capture different user motivations during the same event cycle.
Reallocate traffic during promo weeks, as in the N1 Sport Promo timing can impact revenue almost as much as volume.

Join N1 Partners

N1 Partners is a multi-brand affiliate program and direct advertiser, bringing together 14+ casino and betting brands with high LTV and Reg2Dep rates in Tier-1 GEOs.

N1 Partners offers competitive terms for top partners, including CPA up to €700 and RevShare up to 55%, ensuring stable and scalable performance.

Trusted by 14,000+ partners, N1 Partners stands out for its transparency, flexibility, and focus on long-term partnerships, supported by a strong product portfolio and advanced retention systems.

Haven’t joined N1 Partners yet? Contact the manager, get involved and make the most of the 2026 sports season.

Boomerang Partners

Boomerang Partners delivered expert sports insights during two days of iGB L!VE London 2026

Published

2 hours ago

July 7, 2026

Wladimir P.

boomerang-partners-delivered-expert-sports-insights-during-two-days-of-igb-l!ve-london-2026

From July 1 to 2 inclusive, Boomerang Partners, an Affiliate Gambling & Betting Marketing Agency, participated in iGB L!VE London on stand F50. One of the world’s largest iGaming events was held on a grand scale at ExCeL London. It proved to be an effective networking platform for major operators, affiliate teams, tech vendors, and game providers.

Meetings, sports expertise, and new agreements

One of the main topics attracting visitors to the stand was Boomerang’s expertise in sports. The company runs one of the leading sports-focused affiliate programs in the industry and is eager to share its expertise with market players. This knowledge is built on the support of a strong in-house analytics department, and one of its results was the launch of the Sports Marketing and Betting Calendar 2026 earlier this year. Numerous affiliate teams use insights from this guide to launch and run campaigns throughout the current year, which is packed with high-level sports competitions.

Shortlist in the Best Affiliate Programme category

On July 2, the final day of the conference, the iGB Affiliate Awards 2026 ceremony took place in a stylish venue at the legendary The Shard. Boomerang Partners were shortlisted in the prestigious Best Affiliate Programme category. This marked a high recognition of the company’s achievements by industry leaders. In 2026, it celebrates its 5th anniversary. Boomerang has over 3,000 active affiliate partners, 10+ partner brands in its portfolio, and is an Official Regional Partner of AC Milan. Since July 2026, the partnership has entered its third season – a collaboration that has become a benchmark for cooperation between one of the world’s leading football clubs and a top iGaming company.

Kristina Shkredova, Affiliate Team Lead at Boomerang Partners, commented: “iGB L!VE London is always a powerful platform for meaningful dialogue and professional networking. This year, we felt a particularly strong interest in our sports-focused expertise, which confirms that affiliates are looking for deep market knowledge, not just traffic volumes. Now our sights are set on SBC Summit Lisbon, where we will once again connect with affiliates and showcase what we do best.”

What’s next

The next major industry exhibition where affiliate teams can see Boomerang Partners will be the SBC Summit Lisbon. The event will take place from September 29 to October 1, and the company has announced that it will also hold the Golden Boomerang Awards 2026 award ceremony in Lisbon. The TOP 30 teams of this landmark annual affiliate traffic tournament will visit a secret location, where the company will announce the winners in 11 categories. The third season is in full swing – affiliate teams can follow its progress or join the participation on the GBA’s official website.

About Boomerang

Boomerang Partners is a rapidly growing global marketing agency offering a wide range of services. Boomerang Partners is an Official Regional Partner of AC Milan. In 2024, it launched the inaugural Golden Boomerang Awards – a global tournament for affiliate teams. More than 400 affiliate teams participated in the second season of the tournament in 2025. Partners of the Agency launched six new products in 2024-2025, contributing to a nearly 1.5-fold increase in product users.

The Agency’s clients’ portfolio contains 10+ brands offering affiliate and entertainment services across multiple markets in compliance with local regulations. These products provide incentive programs and 24/7 multilingual support.

The post Boomerang Partners delivered expert sports insights during two days of iGB L!VE London 2026 appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

Baccarat

Microgaming Live launches All-In Speed Baccarat with new interactive features

Published

2 hours ago

July 7, 2026

Wladimir P.

microgaming-live-launches-all-in-speed-baccarat-with-new-interactive-features

Microgaming Live has launched All-In Speed Baccarat, a new live casino table that went live on 17 June. The product is positioned as an update to Speed Baccarat, adding new interactive and visual elements alongside the faster gameplay format.

The table uses a modern neon studio design intended to stand out in the lobby. Microgaming Live said it has also added engagement tools to make the experience feel more responsive during play.

New features include a mascot, Tokki, which reacts in real time to outcomes as well as Good Roads and Dragon Tail events. Players can use sticker reactions during gameplay and send gifts to presenters.

The table also introduces Mystery Box Rounds, which the company said allow players to earn points and unlock stickers and gifts.

A Microgaming spokesperson said: “All-In Speed Baccarat keeps the pace and familiarity that players already enjoy, while adding more energy and ways to engage with the table in real-time. The aim was to make the experience feel more rewarding and more immersive, without losing the speed and simplicity that makes baccarat such an enduring live casino format.”

The post Microgaming Live launches All-In Speed Baccarat with new interactive features appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.