The location initiative Gamecity Hamburg expands its team with project manager Daniel Hericks. In addition to the Prototype Funding and the Games Lift Incubator, Gamecity Hamburg organizes a variety of activities to promote the games industry as well as events and networking activities. Daniel Hericks will support the Games Lift Incubator and its further development with immediate effect. The incubator offers aspiring game developers, start-ups, and studios an extensive workshop and mentoring program, and financial support of 15,000 euros per team.

Daniel Hericks joins the Gamecity Hamburg team as a project manager with many years of experience in the games industry. As Publishing Manager at the Hamburg publisher and indie studio CRATR.games, he organized the scouting and evaluation of studios. Hericks also dealt with risk management and sustainability issues for indie teams. At the Hamburg-based studio Deep Silver FISHLABS, he supported the development of a publishing department and managed the collaboration with external teams. In other job positions, Daniel Hericks was responsible for building up teams of developers and project planning for various games projects and was actively involved in the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (HAW) as a lecturer for the Games Master’s program.

In his role at the Games Lift Incubator, he will primarily be managing and supporting up-and-coming teams and young indie studios, as well as using his experience in producing and publishing to implement and further develop the program in its current edition:

“I am very excited to guide and support the teams from the Games Lift Incubator on their way into the games industry. With our incubator program and other activities of Gamecity Hamburg, we will actively contribute to bringing more good games projects from Hamburg to the market in the coming years.”

The Games Lift Incubator 2021 started for the five participating teams in September with a three-month intensive phase. In addition to start-up funding of 15,000 euros, the teams will receive coaching, mentoring, and workshop programs, as well as places in a co-working space.

Penta Esports, the esports division of Newgen Gaming has announced its upcoming tournament titled, ‘Penta Challenge – Valorant’, supported by Facebook Gaming and Trinity Gaming. This tournament will be a part of Penta Esports’ newly launched IP, ‘Penta Challenge’. Taking place from 5th to 24th October, the tournament has a prize pool of ₹5,00,000 and will have two open qualifiers between 5th to 10th October and 12th to 17th October, followed by a Grand Finale where 2 teams from each qualifier and 4 invited teams will battle it out for the winner’s title.

The registrations for the tournament started on 24th September and will go on till 8th October on Penta Esports’ newly launched platform. Matches will be broadcast quarter finals onwards for qualifier 1 and 2, while all matches from the Grand Finale will be broadcast. The matches will be available for streaming exclusively on Penta’s Facebook Page. Says Penta Esports CMO Akshay Paul “We’ve always had the vision to bring opportunities to the player and amazing viewing experience to the spectators and our newest IP, Penta Challenge, is a step in that direction. While we’ll start with Valorant, going forward, we will have the Penta Challenge for multiple game titles.” Trinity Gaming founder and CEO Abhishek Agarwal says, “We’re always on the lookout for good partners to be able to bring tournaments like these for the Indian esports community. Our vision is absolutely in line with the team at Penta Esports and we’re sure this is going to be an amazing event!” This event will also mark the launch of Penta Esports’ platform, pentaesports .com. The platform will be a one stop destination for all things esports, including match schedules, match results, VODs of tournaments and leagues, content, news, announcements and much more.

The platform will allow users to discover and register for tournaments. It will also allow teams to create recruitment posts and players to find teams. This will enable a lot more players to participate in tournaments for team-based game titles.

Penta Esports head of esports, Kiran Noojibail said, “We’ve been working on this platform for a while and it feels rewarding to launch it for everyone. We wanted to create a platform for Indian esports players and enthusiasts, which encompasses all major aspects of esports. Penta Challenge – Valorant will be the first tournament for our platform and we look forward to building a strong community through the platform!”

Founded by industry veterans Anurag Khurana, Kiran Noojibail and Akshay Paul, Penta Esports aims to disrupt the ecosystem in India with a holistic approach towards the sector, including leagues, tournaments, content and much more.

Prize Pool for the tournament:

Pragmatic Play, a leading content provider to the iGaming industry, is delighted to announce that it plays a vital role in the relaunch of the iconic Heart Bingo brand, alongside licensed operator BetVictor.

The popular brand has been revitalised by BetVictor, introducing a range of exciting new features provided by Pragmatic Play. The deal marks a continuation of the fruitful partnership between BetVictor and Pragmatic Play, following the operator taking Pragmatic Play’s complete Bingo solution live earlier in the year.

Pragmatic Play’s bingo solution brings tried and trusted new products to market, headlined by Bingo Blast and Drop Pots, as its network grows globally in regulated markets.

The provider’s new feature Reels Room has also gone live and is exclusively available to Heart Bingo players for a limited period before it is rolled out to the network in November – a move that will reinforce the Heart Bingo brand in bringing a fun and fabulous gaming experience to their much loyal audience. This is cemented even further with the coincided Drop Pots games getting well and truly under way in their own dedicated room. Drop Pots is only available on the Pragmatic Play network and offers players 3 different multi-trigger jackpots all available to be won every day!

Claire McDaid, VP of Bingo at Pragmatic Play, said: “Heart Bingo is one of the most recognised bingo brands in the UK and we couldn’t be happier that BetVictor has chosen to partner with us to relaunch and refresh its offering. We’ve worked closely with the team for months to optimise the Heart Bingo offering and ensure their loyal players have a better than ever experience.”

Turlough Lally, Director of e-gaming at BetVictor, said: “Pragmatic Play was the natural choice for our bingo product provider. We’re excited to be partnering with such a well-respected name in the iGaming industry for our next venture and we are fully committed to creating an improved and safer gambling experience in partnership with Pragmatic Play’s market-leading software. Heart Bingo players are sure to love all the new features, games and surprises we have in store!”

Pragmatic Play currently produces up to five new slot titles a month, while also delivering Live Casino and Bingo games as part of its multi-product portfolio, available through one single API.