Tag: Baltics

As Lithuania increasingly finds itself in the spotlight of the global gaming community, country’s gamers can once again rejoice at significant news. Lithuania will host “Trackmania World Tour” stage. With this news, it is planned that 24th to 26th of May, in Vilnius the “Baltics Gaming Expo” will bring together the best gamers from across Europe and the world.

International tournaments and showcase battles

“We love to play, and we’re really good at it at the highest level. This is the second year that the “Baltics Gaming Expo” will gather video game enthusiasts and professionals from all around Europe. If last year, 29,000 participants and visitors came to participate or watch tournaments, explore the latest technologies, and try out newly released games, this year, we expect even bigger growth. After all, we have some special news – the “Trackmania” game tournament at the event is included in the global rankings. In other words, all the best players are coming to Vilnius”, says Šarūnas Tamulis, one of the organizers of the “Baltics Gaming Expo”.

Players from France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Poland, Latvia, and other countries will participate in the global ranking tournament. Among the participants will be representatives from Lithuania.

The largest gaming and technology event in the Baltic States will also feature “Counter Strike”, “Valorant”, “Rocket League”, “League of Legends”, and other international tournaments.

“There will also be special showcase battles. The best players and streamers in the country will meet on the main stage and compete playing “Counter Strike” and “Valorant”, the organizer says.

From famous streamers’ to retro games

In the gaming community, it’s popular to watch other players remotely broadcast their matches via social networks (game-streaming). Streamers are like opinion leaders, whose popularity and influence grow every day.

“To the delight of our community, the very popular streamer AnnieFuchsia will also attend the event. She has gathered half a million followers on her Twitch channel alone. For those interested, we will create an opportunity to participate in a discussion with the gamer, get answers to significant questions, or even get a photo together”, says Š. Tamulis.

Attendees of the event will also be able to enjoy a space dedicated to exceptional retro games. It will feature dozens of classic arcade games from the 80s and 90s.

“The technology giant “Samsung”, has prepared special activations for the visitors. At the largest “Galaxy AI” stand, you’ll be able to familiarize yourself with the latest artificial intelligence news and try them out on smart devices. There will also be a special “Brawlstars” tournament at the stand, where well-known content creators and enthusiasts of this game from Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia will meet. The winner will receive the latest “Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra” phone”, the organizer presents.

A weekend for popular culture

The “Baltic Gaming Expo” will take place during “Comic Con Baltics 2024 powered by Samsung,” the largest popular culture event in the Baltic States. From May 24th to 26th, “LITEXPO” will turn into a universe of popular culture.

Fans will have the chance to meet stars from iconic Hollywood projects. Among them are actors from the “Harry Potter” films Natalia Tena and Devon Murray, “Marvel” film actor Sean Gunn, “Highlander” actor Adrian Paul, actress Natasha Halevi, internet comic stars Rob DenBleyker of “Cyanide&Happiness,” “Natural Habitat Shorts,” “Nobody Sausage,” and Nathan W. Pyle, creator of “Strange Planet” comics.

The event will also feature the largest cosplay competition in the Baltic States, premieres of the latest films, presentations, and discussions, an interactive family space, the “Artists’ Alley,” which annually unites around a hundred popular culture artists, a space for vendors offering many curiosities, impressive decorations from the most famous films and series worldwide, and many other attractions.

Developer and publisher Nordcurrent has released a revolutionary update to its leading mobile fashion game, Pocket Styler, with the launch of a new creator platform, Pocket Styler Studio. The digital platform allows players to work like real-life fashion designers to create clothing, shoes and accessories to their exact specifications. Once finished, digital designers can market their creations under their own ‘designer label’ name and sell them in-game to millions of Pocket Styler’s players in return for in-game currency, which has never been possible in a mobile fashion game before.

The gaming skins market is a multi-billion dollar industry, with almost 50% of players buying skins with in-game currency and around 40% buying skins with real money, according to Newzoo. But, conceptualising, drawing and polishing collections takes time, and even with Nordcurrent artists supplying over 100 items every couple of weeks, Pocket Styler players still had a thirst for more items inspired by current fashion, movies, and celebrity looks, thus limiting the time players were spending in the game and subsequently Nordcurrent’s revenue.

The integration of user-generated content into Pocket Styler has revolutionized the in-game design process. It has provided players with a wider range of options to choose from while also allowing them to earn in-game currency. This feature has also addressed the creative burden faced by game artists and developers who previously struggled to keep up with the demand for fresh content. Designers now upload over 2,000 original items into the game every day, adding nearly 300 times more content than before the launch of Pocket Styler Studio.

Victoria Trofimova, CEO of Nordcurrent, said: “‘With over 100,000 daily active users, Pocket Styler is one of the world’s most popular fashion games, and now one of the most advanced thanks to the introduction of Pocket Styler Studio. It provides a platform for creators to become professional digital fashion designers who can build their brands and promote their designs globally.

“By empowering players and letting them design and sell their clothing, we hope to inspire the next generation of fashion designers while supporting them as active contributors to the game they love, helping us form a community of designers who play a genuine part in making the game even better.“

Pocket Styler Studio has been in beta since February. Currently, over 1,000 designers are creating items for the game, and another 5,000 designers are expected to upload daily in the first year of launch, creating trillions of outfit combinations and millions of new looks submitted weekly. Nordcurrent is also testing the option of designers earning real currency from their designs in the future.

Designs are saved into a designer’s profile until they are ready to be marketed. Once on sale, individual designers can track their brands’ success by ‘Publishing’ items and assessing how many sell. Players can choose a name for their designer label and earn ‘Gems’, the in-game currency, for every item sold to other players. Pocket Styler Studio is available globally; players must have Pocket Styler installed on their phones and have a free Nordcurrent ID to use Pocket Styler Studio, which can be accessed through a browser.

Launched in May 2021, Pocket Styler is based on attending different in-game events, creating looks based on the criteria of the events, submitting those looks, getting scores, and competing with other players to become “trendsetters” and climbing on top of the leaderboard. The game has 21 million downloads, with 100,000 players spending 10,000 hours on the app and giving 10 million votes to outfits daily.