Latest News
Opera buys owner of GameMaker and starts a Gaming division
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
1/ST PARTNERS WITH FRANCE GALOP TO BOOST INTERNATIONAL RACING BETWEEN FRANCE AND U.S.
1/ST, North America’s preeminent Thoroughbred racing and leading pari-mutuel wagering company, has today announced a breakthrough partnership with France Galop, the governing body of French horse racing.
This new initiative sees both parties come together to form a series of high-class partnerships that will power increased international participation across a host of top-quality Graded contests and marquee race days, beginning with the $100,000 Grade 3 Gallorette Stakes on Preakness 149 race day at 1/ST’s Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland on May 18. The winner will be automatically qualified to run in the €250,000 Group 1 Sumbe Prix Jean Romanet Stakes at Deauville on August 18. The Galorette winner will also receive a free equine travel stipend to cover its subsequent travel costs to France.
The collective aim is to establish long-lasting links between revered races in France and valuable turf contests at 1/ST racetracks across North America, boosting the international profile and prize funds of all participating contests and increasing the number of runners entered in these races which, in turn, will engage a wider international audience and drive global wagering turnover.
This innovative collaboration with France Galop leverages natural synergies between two powerhouses of the sport. Moreover, it builds on similar global “gateway” partnerships which 1/ST has already formed with Ascot Racecourse (via Gulfstream Park’s Royal Palm series for Royal Ascot’s juvenile races) and the UK Jockey Club around the Group 1 July Cup and the Eclipse Stakes, now twinned as qualifiers for the newly minted California Crown taking place at Santa Anita Park on September 28, marking California’s richest day of racing.
As an automatic qualifier for France Galop’s Prix Jean Romanet, the Gallorette Stakes also shines the spotlight on a high-profile undercard for Preakness 149. This year’s Preakness 149 race day will be the most lucrative in the event’s history with $3.3 million on the line, highlighted by the running of the 149th Preakness Stakes, the middle jewel in the Triple Crown, featuring an increased $2 million purse. These enhanced purses reflect 1/ST’s vision for the future of the highest standard of world-class Thoroughbred horse racing, combined with unique and elevated guest experiences, and exciting opportunities for owners, trainers and bettors to usher in a new era for racing.
Aidan Butler, President of 1/ST, said: “1/ST is thrilled to create another great global partnership, breaking new ground in France with our friends at France Galop. This Gallorette-Romanet pathway is an exciting trial for hopefully more reciprocal race days in France, considering France Galop’s rich heritage in staging many of the most prestigious turf contests in Europe at courses like Deauville, Chantilly and Longchamp.
“We look forward to announcing more global racing partnerships over the year ahead. Whether we’re bolstering the brand, increasing horse-recruitment numbers, or driving wagering dollars overseas, it’s high time for more innovative moments on the worldwide racing stage.”
Henri Pouret, Chief Operating Officer at France Galop, added: “We’re naturally delighted to be teaming up with 1/ST on this compelling initiative which will introduce many new French racing fans to Preakness 149 and add some welcome transatlantic flavour to the Group 1 Sumbe Prix Jean Romanet Stakes, now in its 20th year of attracting the best middle-distance horses in the business.
“The travel stipend is an excellent incentive for facilitating stress-free long-haul travel, helping to secure a stellar field of global contenders for the Romanet, and proving that racing is a sport whose worldwide appeal is no barrier to worldwide participation, be it in France or the States. We look forward to welcoming the Gallorette victor to Deauville later this summer and building on the success of US-trained horses at other elite European events, such as Royal Ascot.”
Gaming
Digital Asset Horse Racing Game Stables Appoints Lebnan Nader CEO And Unveils International Expansion Plan
Stables, the Paris-based Web3 Equestrian Fantasy Game, has appointed venture capital veteran Lebnan Nader as Chief Executive Officer.
Lebnan Nader, who had founded and run several gaming and technology businesses, will oversee an international expansion as Stables seeks to add horses and attract owners from outside its French home market.
Launched in January 2023, Stables was born from an ambitious project funded by PMU, the European leader and number 3 worldwide in horse betting, alongside the startup studio 321. The game is designed to bring the excitement of horse racing into the digital realm by combining real data from actual racehorses with an online Web3 gaming experience where horses are represented as tradable non-fungible tokens.
“Stables brings together two of my favorite domains, video gaming and horse racing. Two sectors I’ve been involved in for the past 12 years. The game’s ambitions are high, and that’s what convinced me,” said Lebnan Nader, CEO of Stables. “The teams have done a tremendous job, and we will continue to develop the game, but my priority will be our community, as they are our greatest strength.”
A graduate of HEC Paris with nearly 20 years experience in strategy, product development, and market positioning in the digital sector, Lebnan co-founded an internationally acclaimed video and VR gaming studio, and also co-founded a software company for lottery and betting operators.
PMU’s initial gamble to reach a new audience has paid off as Stables now boasts a community of several thousand engaged players, aged 25 to 40 on average. The community is currently composed of 70% French players and 30% from the rest of the world.
The Stables teams are now expanding the gaming experience by adding new features that will allow any player, even without owning NFTs, to be able to explore Stables for free. A seasonal horse racing system with an in-game leaderboard will be introduced, as well as “The Paddock Gazette,” a feature allowing the analysis of all NFT data and comparing their performances.
The ability to interact with other players and access numerous new horses are among the features currently in development.
“In 2023, Stables succeeded in realizing PMU’s bold vision of diversifying the world of horse racing into Web3 and becoming today’s reference in equestrian fantasy gaming. Contributing alongside its historic partners to the financial support for an accelerated development of Stables represents for the Tezos Foundation a natural progression to the adoption of Tezos. Among other things, the Tezos Foundation always listens to the needs of management teams and economically engages in projects that have adopted its blockchain to be an active participant in their growth stages,” says Jean-Frédéric Mognetti, Executive Director of the Tezos Foundation.
“Convinced of the relevance of the project, it seemed important to involve new investors. We enthusiastically welcome the financial support of the Tezos Foundation, which strengthens a proven technical collaboration that the project has benefited from since its inception,” comments Emmanuelle Malecaze-Doublet, CEO of PMU.
Latest News
SINGAPORE & UK TOTE COMMINGLE POOLS ON BRITISH RACING
The UK Tote Group and Singapore Pools have signed a new agreement to commingle pools.
The agreement sees both organisations combine liquidity with customers of Singapore Pools betting into the UK Tote’s pools on British racing meetings. This creates bigger UK pools, ensuring a better customer experience for racing fans in the UK and in Singapore and an improved financial return to the sport.
The agreement was made in partnership with Arena Racing Company and Racecourse Media Group as the media rights holders for British racing’s 59 racecourses. Singapore Pools have been long-standing partners of British racing, hosting local pools on the sport. This collaboration between these stakeholders further deepens the relationship, benefiting racing fans and the sport.
Simon Leong, Chief Product Officer of Singapore Pools, expressed his enthusiasm for the new commingling arrangement with the UK Tote. He said, “We are delighted to collaborate with the UK Tote on this new front, which not only provides our customers access to larger pools but also contributes to British horseracing which have been telecasted in Singapore since 2010. We deeply appreciate our longstanding partnership with British racing and look forward to further strengthening the communal horseracing ties shared between us. Singapore Pools will continue to bring quality products from around the world to Singapore and elevate the racing experience for all.”
Jon Knapman, International Chief Commercial Officer of the UK Tote Group, said: “This is a really positive development and we’re pleased to have the opportunity to collaborate with colleagues at Singapore Pools to ensure bigger pools for all our customers. We will continue to cooperate and commingle with our international pool betting partners to ensure bigger, more unified pools on our racing. We’d like to thank all involved who contributed to this new agreement.”
Nick Mills, Chief Commercial Officer of RMG, said: “Singapore Pools have been a long-standing partner of British and Irish racing, having hosted local pools for over 15 years. This is a great example of British racing working together and we are delighted to work with all parties to facilitate commingling into the UKTG and therefore provide greater liquidity, which will see benefits to all.”
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