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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.”
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SIS and Premier Greyhound Racing reveal improved greyhound race time schedule
Sports Information Services (SIS), the leading multi-content supplier of 24/7 live betting services, and Premier Greyhound Racing (PGR), the media rights company supplier of greyhound racing to the betting industry and direct to viewers, have collaborated to offer a revised race time schedule starting from 20 May.
Designed to protect the long-term future of UK greyhound racing, the new schedule will see morning fixtures start slightly later – moving from 10.47 to 11.01 and 10.54 to 11.09. Additionally, there will also be a slightly later start time for some evening fixtures aimed at a retail audience, with the first evening fixture now starting at 18.08.
Commenting on the improved schedule, Terry Mahoney, Head of Business Development at ARC, said: “The new race times will help make it easier for customers to navigate busy racing schedules as well as improving operations trackside. We will continue to listen, monitor, and adapt schedules where and when needed as we move forward to deliver the best service possible for betting operators as well as punters.”
Paul Witten, Managing Director at SIS, added: “We are passionate about delivering a greyhound racing service that benefits all of the sport’s stakeholders. Together with Premier Greyhound Raxing, we have introduced a revised racing schedule that benefits operators and their customers.
“Our approach to greyhound racing is grounded in sustainability and flexibility. This collaboration with fellow service providers allows everyone to enjoy all the high-quality action produced on a daily basis from tracks across the UK and Ireland.”
SIS has long-term agreements in place with bet365, William Hill, Paddy Power and Betfred to deliver its greyhound content across UK and Irish retail and digital channels. SIS also promotes this content across dozens of leading international operators, as well as through SISRacing.tv.
PGR offers greyhound action, cards, video replays, results, news and info on greyhounds.attheraces.com, and regular live broadcasts on Sky Sports Racing. Premier Greyhound Racing is a joint venture between Arena Racing (ARC) and Entain, the global sports betting, gaming and interactive entertainment group. Between them, the two companies own nine of the 20 licensed British greyhound tracks and ARC manage the media rights for five independent tracks.
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PRAGMATIC PLAY HITS THE SWEET SPOT WITH FRUITY TREATS
Pragmatic Play, a leading content supplier to the iGaming industry, has added Fruity Treats to its collection of clusters pays Slots.
Five or more fruit symbols must connect horizontally or vertically to award a win in this vibrant 7×7 title, which features a variation of the popular multiplier spots mechanic.
At the start of each spin, four marked spots of different colours take up random positions on the grid. If a win forms over a marked spot, a starting multiplier of 5x, 10x, 15x or 20x (depending on the spot colour) will be activated. Each time a winning combination lands on a marked spot after a tumble, the multiplier is applied to the win and then increases by its starting value.
Hitting at least three candy scatters on a spin awards entry to the bonus game with 10 free spins. During the feature, which can be retriggered with five additional free spins, activated multipliers from marked spots do not reset between free spins, potentially leading to massive wins.
Fruity Treats is the latest cluster pays Slot in Pragmatic Play’s multi-award-winning range, joining recent hit Sugar Rush 1000.
Irina Cornides, Chief Operating Officer at Pragmatic Play, said: “The roaming multiplier spots feature in Fruity Treats sets it apart from other successful cluster pays Slots in the Pragmatic Play portfolio, with marked spots staying sticky in the bonus game for even greater win potential.”
Pragmatic Play currently produces up to eight new Slot titles a month, while also delivering Live Casino and Bingo games as part of its multi-product portfolio, available through a single API.
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Kambi’s Festival of Sportsbook returns for fourth year
Kambi’s Festival of Sportsbook returns in June with registrations now open for a two-day content series featuring speakers from across the Kambi Group and insights covering the full breadth of the industry.
Taking place between 4-5 June, the Festival will be comprised of online sessions taking in topics ranging from UX optimisation and harnessing AI to maximising a summer of soccer featuring both UEFA Euro 2024 and the Copa América.
Erik Lögdberg, Managing Director of Kambi Sportsbook, will open the Festival with a session entitled ‘Exceptional, everywhere: meeting the increasingly high standards of an evolving market’, discussing how operators can develop their sportsbook to navigate changing consumer habits and fragmenting markets.
Kambi’s Head of Legal and Regulatory Compliance, Victoria Fernandes, will also be joined by Partner Success Manager Sabrina Andrade for a Portuguese language session delving into Brazil and how local operators can compete in the soon-to-be-regulated market.
Gerard Starkey, Kambi Group’s SVP of Marketing & Communications, said: “We are excited to once again be welcoming the industry to Kambi’s Festival of Sportsbook, and we look forward to sharing the sportsbook insights and knowledge the event has become known for. As ever, the agenda features a broad range of sessions hosted by experts from across the Kambi Group, providing plenty to interest those working in or with the sports betting industry today.”
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