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Pocket Gamer Awards 2021
PocketGamer.com – the leading and longest-running site for mobile gamers – revealed the winners of this year’s Pocket Gamer Awards.
The top game of the year prize went to Genshin Impact, whilst Rovio’s seminal Angry Birds picked up the prestigious Hall Of Fame gong.
Other winners across the 16 categories included platform games like Little Orpheus, hypercasual titles like Clusterduck, big-name RPGs like Knighthood and AAA franchises like Pokemon and Call Of Duty. Riot Games, famous for League Of Legends, picked up the best developer category. The full list of winners is below. This year, the Pocket Gamer Awards are sponsored by RedMagic.
The Pocket Gamer Awards are a celebration of the best in mobile games. Organised and hosted by industry experts but voted on by gamers themselves, the Pocket Gamer Awards reward the passion and effort that developers pour into making games. Over 350,000 votes were cast in the last two months, a phenomenal outpouring of love for the best iOS and Android games of the last 12 months.
A new Hall Of Fame category celebrates landmark titles that have had a major impact on the mobile games industry over the years. It’s the only category picked by the editorial experts rather than put to a public vote. Angry Birds, Rovio’s classic franchise first launched in 2009, is the first recipient. Editor of PocketGamer.com, Dann Sullivan, said of Angry Birds: “No IP has done more for mobile games than Angry Birds, and while we might remember it as a lightning-strike for touch controls, over the years Rovio’s flagship franchise forged the way into social gaming and was one of the first mobile games to pioneer major licensing deals in the mobile space. The birds have also had more movies and TV episodes than Mario and Sonic combined.”
Sullivan continued: “While some of these milestones might not have anything to do with the small touchscreen, it’s impossible to deny that Rovio’s Red & Co managed to become a cultural powerhouse, and played a critical role in getting mobile gaming to where it is today.”
The award ceremony itself took place this evening, March 16, on Twitch and PocketGamer.com and broadcast across YouTube and the Enthusiast Gaming network of sites.
Launched by Steel Media, Pocket Gamer has been delivering news, reviews, tips, guides and features that inform and entertain mobile and handheld gamers since 2006.
Enthusiast Gaming, the largest gaming network in North America, has owned Steel Media and Pocket Gamer since 2019. Since 2020, Pocket Gamer has hosted quarterly LaunchPad online events celebrating new and updated mobile games to an audience of three million viewers on Twitch.
For more information, visit https://www.pocketgamer.com/pgawards2021/ now. A recording of the Pocket Gamer Awards ceremony will be available soon on the site and also on the official YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/c/PocketGamerVideo/videos.
Winners
Best Platform Game: Little Orpheus
Best Simulation Game: Transport City: Truck Tycoon
Best Sports Game: Retro Bowl
Best Game Narrative: There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension
Best ‘Quick Play’ Game: Clusterduck
Best Mobile Conversion: Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
Best Apple Arcade Game: Alba: a Wildlife Adventure
Best Educational Game: Dish Life: The Game
Best Strategy Game: Company of Heroes
Best RPG: Knighthood
Most Innovative Game: HoloVista
Best Gaming Accessory: Razer Kishi Controller
Best Gaming Tablet: Apple iPad Pro
Best Battle Royale Game: Garena Free Fire
Best AR Game: LEGO Hidden Side
Best Puzzle Game: Pokemon Cafe Mix
Best Racing Game: Dirt Bike Unchained
Best Google Play Pass Game: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Best Mobile Publisher: Garena
Best Action Game: Pascal’s Wager
Best Digital Board Game: The Game of Life 2
Best Gaming Phone: Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max
Best Multiplayer Game: EVE Echoes
Best Shooter: Warface: Global Operations
Best Game We’re Still Playing: Call of Duty Mobile
Best Mobile Developer: Riot Games
Hall Of Fame: Angry Birds
Mobile Game of the Year: Genshin Impact
Additional Quotes
Editor of PocketGamer.com, Dann Sullivan, added: “We’re overjoyed with the reaction from the fans in the voting process. Just looking at the sheer variety of games that have been championed by their players and communities really cements how diverse and rapidly-evolving the mobile games sphere is. The development speed and growth of the mobile games industry is truly amazing – every year is a milestone year, as can be seen from the amazing selection of winners.”
Chris James, CEO of Steel Media, said: “We’re genuinely thrilled by how many people voted in this year’s awards, and how many tuned in to watch the ceremony streamed live. When we launched Pocket Gamer 15 years ago, mobile gaming was still niche. But now – thanks to the success of games like Hall Of Fame inductee Angry Birds – mobile is THE dominant force in the games industry. Over the last 12 months, iOS and Android titles saw further huge surges in popularity as people hunted for experiences to keep them occupied during lockdown. And the quality has never been higher. Games like Genshin Impact prove that the device in your pocket can match the addictiveness and playability of the best consoles have to offer.”
James added: “As well as celebrating the best of the current crop of games, we’re always on the lookout for the next generation of blockbuster mobile titles. That’s why we’ve invented activities like the Big Indie Pitch and Pocket Gamer LaunchPad to champion new arrivals. So if you want to get an inside track on the next hidden gaming gem in 2021, there’s really nowhere else to go!”
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Logifuture’s Simulate plays AFCON final 1,000 times to predict 2026 champions
Hosts Morocco are red-hot favourites to win their first Africa Cup of Nations titles in 50 years, according to Logifuture’s Simulate feature. Logifuture’s Simulate is a pioneering sportsbook product that enhances the virtual sports-betting experience, offering a constant stream of activity with lightning-fast results. Players can replicate sports such as basketball and football over 10 seconds, 30 seconds or instantly with the ability to run up to 15 simulations at any one time.
With Morocco due to face Senegal on Sunday, the Logifuture team used Simulate to play the match 1,000 times and the results showed Morocco win 433 times (43.3%). 2021 winners Senegal came out on top in 283 matches (28%) with extra-time on the cards in the remainder.
Only one match in this year’s tournament involving Morocco has seen three goals or more and that came in the group stage. Simulate results suggest this trend will continue with 633 outcomes (67% of 1,000) having under 2.5 goals.
Early advantage could be key at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium on Sunday. In only 5% of simulations did a team go on to win in 90 minutes after trailing at half-time – at this year’s AFCON, Morocco have conceded just once meaning Senegal may have their work cut out if they were to concede early on.
Draws could yet prove decisive in Sunday’s clash, with 28% of the 1,000 simulated matches ending level after 90 minutes. Morocco reached the AFCON showpiece after taking Nigeria all the way to penalties where they ultimately won 4-2 on spot kicks.
Consolation for Super Eagles?
Nigeria will look to put their penalty shootout heartbreak behind them when they take on Egypt in the Third-Place Play-Off at the Mohammed V Stadium in Casablanca on Saturday.
The Logifuture team played this match also 1,000 times with Simulate and the Super Eagles won 467 times (46.7%) whilst Egypt came out on top 333 times (33.3%).
200 simulations saw the play-off go beyond 90 minutes with a low-scoring affair likely to be on the cards – only 267 of the simulated matches saw over 2.5 goals as 467 saw just one goal scored in the game.
Scoreless matches were rare in the simulations, with just 67 of the 1,000 games ending 0-0, highlighting that while the fixture is expected to be tight, one of the sides is likely to find the net before the full-time whistle.
Operators using Simulate have seen sportsbook GGR increases of up to 5% thanks to its advanced predictive modeling that helps optimise betting offers and player engagement strategies. The platform’s insights enable more personalised experiences for players, driving retention and long-term growth.
The post Logifuture’s Simulate plays AFCON final 1,000 times to predict 2026 champions appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
iGaming
Voxbet and PromptBet.ai forge a product partnership to supercharge Conversational Commerce in iGaming
Voxbet, the leading technology company which enables sports bettors to speak and type their bets, has announced a product partnership with, PromptBet.ai, an AI-powered conversational bet discovery solution already live with regulated operators, creating a powerful synergy of their proprietary betting technologies.
Following Voxbet’s successful launch with At The Races ahead of last year’s Cheltenham Festival, and PromptBet.ai’s commercial rollout with Tier-1 regulated operators, it became evident that on-platform, AI-led betting assistants demonstrated a much broader set of use cases for bettors than was initially envisaged. With these tools increasingly important as knowledge hubs, this collaboration now seeks to combine voice search and accurate prompting with unmatched speed to create a superior betting experience for effortless bet discovery, navigation, support and action.
At current peak capacity, this high-intent, mass-scale approach is able to process upwards of 100 relevant, desired requests a second – far beyond the output of any LLM, such as ChatGPT and Gemini, in this betting-focussed sector, ensuring customers have rapid, seamless access to the sporting content and entertainment that resonates at any given moment.
This collaboration will allow users to conduct bet searches within milliseconds once commanded, with PromptBet.ai’s engine serving up refined bet discovery, statistics, and customer-service opportunities to responsibly accompany any request. This collective capacity is primed to both meet and scale with the evolving expectations of AI users.
Jonathan Power, Founder and MD of Voxbet, said: “From our experience at major events with big name partners, it’s clear that AI betting assistants get asked absolutely everything. This innovative partnership with PromptBet.ai helps us meet these varied, broad audience needs, and will demonstrate how big the world of chat commerce is going to be.
“Having admired each other’s work from afar, our early meetings were extremely productive and clearly demonstrated a shared philosophy in moving a somewhat dated traditional betting UI forwards. We strongly believe there’s nothing out there to rival our winning product combination. Indeed, we quickly recognised we were both tunnelling from different ends, with obvious synergies and potential economies of scale. To which end, we’ve decided to meet in the middle!”
Matteo Monteverdi, co-founder and Chairman at PromptBet.ai, added: “Having worked in a similar space to Voxbet, we knew that our respective skill sets and product functionalities offered complementary synergies. Now we know that we can unleash each other’s areas of expertise to fulfil a market and customer need that’s crying out for a fresh look at bet interaction.
“As digital commerce shifts from interfaces to experiences, PromptBet.ai offers a B2B conversational AI platform enabling real-money gaming operators to engage players through real-time, two-way conversations across chat, messaging, and voice, moving from clicking and tapping to natural dialogue. Our platform is already live and proven with regulated sportsbooks. We’ve established a solution on the front-end, and now working with Voxbet, we’re tapping into high intent commands that are becoming ever more prevalent in gaming. Together, we solve for a common friction in digital betting – discover the content that’s relevant to you, above all on mobile.”
The post Voxbet and PromptBet.ai forge a product partnership to supercharge Conversational Commerce in iGaming appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
Big Daddy Gaming
Big Daddy Gaming® enters next phase of European expansion with Wildz Group partnership
Pioneering slots studio Big Daddy Gaming® has entered a new partnership with Wildz Group, marking another significant step in the studio’s European expansion strategy.
Under the agreement, Big Daddy Gaming’s slot portfolio will be made available across Wildz Group network of regulated casino brands, providing the newly launched studio with exposure across some of Europe’s most established online gaming markets.
The rollout will begin with an initial wave of Big Daddy Gaming® titles set to go live in early 2026, before expanding across Wildz Group’s wider brand portfolio throughout the year.
The deal reflects Wildz Group’s continued focus on strengthening its content offering with studios that demonstrate clear creative direction and deliver operator value. The partnership provides Big Daddy Gaming® with a strong platform to scale its content across multiple brands in Europe.
The agreement also follows Big Daddy Gaming’s recent progress across regulated markets in Europe, following a plethora of similar deals, reinforcing its strategy of shaking up the slots market with its Reel Fun Reel Value philosophy.
Erland Hellström, CEO at Big Daddy Gaming®, said: “Going live with Wildz Group is a strong signal of where we’re heading as a studio. They operate at scale across regulated European markets and have a clear understanding of what performs long term, which makes them an ideal partner for our next phase of growth.
“Our focus has always been on building games that players genuinely enjoy, without losing sight of operator performance. Seeing our early releases rolled out across Wildz Group brands gives us real confidence that our approach is landing as intended and sets a solid foundation for continued expansion across Europe.”
Sven de Waard, Head of Casino at Wildz Group said: “Big Daddy Gaming’s early releases show a strong understanding of what players actually enjoy, paired with a commercial approach that gives operators confidence. This combination reflects exactly what we look for in a partner as well as demonstrating a studio capable of making a real impact in the slots market.
“We’re looking forward to seeing how their titles are received across our brands and believe they will make a strong impression with players.”
The post Big Daddy Gaming® enters next phase of European expansion with Wildz Group partnership appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
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