zeal-network-reports-good-start-to-2021

ZEAL Network Reports Good Start to 2021

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German online lottery products provider ZEAL Network SE has reported a good start to 2021, with the company increasing its revenue, profitability and achieving a strong gross margin.

In the first quarter of 2021, billings rose by 17% to EUR 163.31 million (2020: EUR 140.0 million), of which the Germany segment accounted for almost the entire amount at EUR 163.3 million (2020: EUR 139.7 million). Revenue increased by as much as 19% to EUR 22.6 million (2020: EUR 19.0 million), of which EUR 21.1 million was attributable to the Germany segment (2020: EUR 17.0 million). At 12.7%, the gross margin in the Germany segment was above the prior-year level (2020: 12.1%).

During the fiscal period, the Company gained 156 thousand new registered customers in the Germany segment (2020: 206 thousand). Adjusted EBITDA rose to EUR 4.6 million (2020: EUR 2.8 million) – there were no non-recurring expenses or income. The Germany segment accounted for EUR 4.1 million of this amount (2020: EUR 1.9 million). EBIT and net profit of EUR 2.4 million and EUR 2.5 million, respectively, were also well above the prior-year figures (2020: EUR 0.0 million and EUR 0.1 million, respectively).

“We are pleased that, following the LOTTO24 takeover, the business model change and the organisational adjustments, we will again be able to publish truly comparable figures in the current and previous reporting periods with the first quarter of 2021. In addition, we already demonstrated in the past year that we are capable of exploiting market opportunities, adapting to dynamic environments and continuously fine-tuning our business model. We are consistently continuing along this path,” Jonas Mattsson, CFO of ZEAL Network SE, said.

hamburg’s-games-industry-gets-an-innovative-virtual-home:-the-gamecity-online-hub

Hamburg’s Games Industry gets an innovative virtual home: The Gamecity Online Hub

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The location initiative Gamecity Hamburg created a new virtual home for the vibrant Hamburg games industry network: the Gamecity Online Hub (available at https://hub.gamecity-hamburg.de/). Rather than providing a link-list or information website on local businesses, the Gamecity Online Hub uses the capabilities of the video game medium to give users a first-hand experience of Hamburg and its games economy: The platform is a fully playable browser game in an authentic Hamburg setting. Visitors can walk through digital comic-style miniatures of Hamburg’s harbor, the infamous St. Pauli-District, the Stadtpark, and the historic Speicherstadt area – while discovering the diverse games ecosystem of the region. With over 200 companies, from solo developers to SMEs and large games corporations, numerous educational institutions and other companies in the games value chain, Hamburg is one of Europe’s most active games metropolises.

On May 6, the first stage of the Gamecity Online Hub will open its digital doors. Visitors can explore the Online Hub throughout 2021. Further functional and content updates as well as numerous digital events set on the Online Hub are already planned during the course of the year.

Users can move freely through the Online Hub with their avatars, explore the game world and interact via in-game-chat. At individually designed booths of more than 30 Hamburg games companies and educational institutions represented on the platform, they find information, presentations of games, and opportunities for contact and exchange in open video calls. Also, the initiative Gamecity Hamburg provides insights into its Games Lift incubator and prototype funding programs, as well as its networking and information events. Hamburg games entrepreneur teams present the games they successfully developed with the help of the games funding and incubator programs.

The Gamecity Online Hub showcases the innovative spirit of Hamburg’s multi-faceted games industry. It is made possible thanks to the cooperation with the Hamburg-based company Super Crowd Entertainment, which developed the technical platform, and the financial support of the companies represented on the Online Hub. Super Crowd Entertainment, an event agency specialized in the games market, was recently awarded a special prize at the German Computer Game Awards (Deutscher Computerspielpreis) for its digital trade fair concept “Indie Arena Booth Online” based on the same technology.

Throughout 2021, the Gamecity Online Hub will grow and evolve: There will always be new things to discover, both in terms of content and functionality. In addition, the platform will be used regularly for events and get-togethers, then with additional interaction features, such as embedded person-to-person video calls.

The Gamecity Online Hub is a project of Gamecity Hamburg. It is a publicly-funded location initiative and part of the public agency for the promotion of creative industries in Hamburg, the Hamburg Kreativ Gesellschaft. Gamecity Hamburg aims to improve the general conditions for companies and founders of the games value chain in the city, support them in their further development and anchor Hamburg in the public perception as one of the leading games industry hot spots in Europe.

The idea for the Gamecity Online Hub was born from positive experience with digital events in the games industry: In March 2021, the Hamburg Games Conference Online set the bar with a completely remote conference with 600 participants and numerous lectures, panels, discussion rounds and networking events on the framework that is now also used for the Gamecity Online Hub.

sts-strengthens-its-presence-on-foreign-markets-with-a-new-version-of-stsbet.com

STS strengthens its presence on foreign markets with a new version of stsbet.com

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STS, a leading company in the Central and Eastern European gaming industry, launched a new website. It will allow the company to enter new foreign markets and offer innovative solutions that are nowadays necessary to acquire an advantage over competitors and effectively acquire customers.

For the past few months, a team of developers from the STS Gaming Group have been working on a number of changes to the stsbet. com site, which is one of the two B2C services provided by the Group to customers outside of Poland (stsbet. com and stsbet.co.uk).

The changes resulted in the creation of a new and better version of stsbet. com, which has also been transferred to a new platform, prepared in cooperation with TG Lab Software.

The players will benefit from an expanded payment portfolio individually tailored to each targeted market, and new gamification tools combined with a larger selection of casino games will also be coming soon. The sports betting service has also been redeveloped in terms of UX/UI. Further elements of the new website will be gradually added according to a carefully adopted strategy for 2021, now offering faster and more intuitive navigation for gamers.

Mateusz Juroszek, CEO of STS, stated: “When deciding to create a new version of the website, our goal was to provide customers with even better solutions than before. These solutions will improve the user experience and allow us to increase our competitive advantage. The new version of stsbet.com is a product that consistently enables us to build our position on the international market. We have already achieved great success in the UK, but our ambition goes much further.”

Other competitive elements of the new stsbet. com website, such as real-time gamification, will be successively added in accordance with the strategy adopted for this year to increase player involvement further.

As part of the further development of stsbet.com, the company will add more features and solutions from its software and innovation providers. One such example is BetBooster – a widget that makes betting easier and more enjoyable and provides users with unique knowledge about specific sporting events. BetBooster is based on artificial intelligence, particularly machine learning, which utilises algorithms that can self-improve automatically through experience gained during operation.

STS is a Polish company which, outside of its home market, has its largest customer base in the UK, where it continues to develop and systematically record dynamic growth. When debuting overseas two years ago, the management strategically decided to launch a separate website for the UK market (stsbet.co.uk) while the global website (stsbet. com) was still in the development stage. The creation of a new website is, therefore, another step towards the implementation of an international strategy of expansion into foreign markets.

scientific-games-expands-digital-lottery-footprint-with-more-einstant-game-launches-in-hungary

Scientific Games Expands Digital Lottery Footprint with More eInstant Game Launches in Hungary

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Scientific Games has launched a range of new eInstant games for Hungarian National Lottery operator Szerencsejáték.

The launch in Hungary expands Scientific Games’ digital lottery footprint to nearly 30 U.S. and international lotteries.

Szerencsejáték is one of the fastest-growing lotteries in Europe, with digital sales increasing 58% from 2018 to 2020 through collaboration with Scientific Games, and combined retail and digital sales increasing 17% from 2018 to 2020. Scientific Games also provides the Lottery with a sports betting programme, central gaming system and retail technology.

“Scientific Games is an important partner in our modernization efforts. The launch of our eInstant program last year has contributed to year-over-year growth. Our players are enjoying all of the new eInstant games, and we look forward to offering additional games throughout 2021 as part of our future sustainability and growth,” Gergely Koppány, Director of Game Development and Strategy at Szerencsejáték, said.

“We are excited to support Szerencsejáték’s modernization and financial goals with the continued launch of digital lottery games. Hungary is a great example out our retail and digital technologies successfully serving all game verticals including sports. Our agile gaming system and digital platform make it easy to continue adding a wide variety of new game entertainment for player enjoyment,” Christian Kometer, Managing Director of International Lottery Systems at Scientific Games, said.

kinguin-re-enters-cs:go-by-becoming-lead-sponsor-for-new-polish-team-anonymo

Kinguin re-enters CS:GO by becoming lead sponsor for new Polish team Anonymo

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Kinguin, the world’s first digital marketplace for gamers, has just announced It has become the major sponsor for Anonymo, a Polish professional esports organisation that competes in Counter-Strike:Global Offensive (CS:GO). It means that Kinguin is now the lead sponsor of two top-tier esports teams from Poland, including League of Legends’ devils.one.

As part of the partnership, Kinguin will provide Anonymo with access to the Kinguin Esports Performance Center (EPC). The EPC is the most professional and advanced esports training facility in Europe, with Anonymo receiving its own dedicated, branded top-class training room. The facility, which is based in Warsaw, is the first professional training facility for esports organisations in Europe and provides teams with access to training and analyst rooms, psychologists and physiotherapists, professional chefs and gym facilities. From the beginning of last year EPC was used by world-leading esports organizations, such as OG, FaZe Clan, Team Vitality, MiBR, Evil Geniuses, 100 Thieves, Furia and many others.

The partnership will also see Kinguin branding featured on Anonymo jerseys and Kinguin and Anonymo will also partner on various other collaborations, including a Polish CS:GO tournament and support from Anonymo’s CS:GO players for various Kinguin community projects.

Anonymo CEO, Mateusz Kowalczyk said: We’re really excited to name Kinguin as our lead sponsor and look forward to collaborating with the organisation on numerous projects in the future. Our ambition, as an organization is to become a mainstream esports organisation that competes on the international stage and the sponsorship with Kinguin will be paramount to helping us achieve that. Having access to the world class training facilities at Kinguin’s Esports Performance Center in Warsaw is also going to help with our progression, at what is currently a pivotal stage of development for the team.

Kinguin has a long history of sponsoring esports organisations and events and was one of the first digital marketplaces to launch a dedicated website where customers could purchase CS:GO skins. Team Kinguin, the organisation’s own esports team which launched in 2015, was also regarded as one of the best CS:GO teams in history owing to their international roster of talent. The team later rebranded as devils.one in 2019 and over the years, both teams have helped numerous professional gamers forge their careers in CS:GO, DOTA 2 and League of Legends esports.

Kinguin has also previously sponsored numerous International CS:GO tournaments, such as the Dreamhack Masters Malmö, IEM Katowice and ESL CS:GO Pro League, as well as numerous esports organisations such as Fnatic, G2 Esports and the Copenhagen Wolves.

Meanwhile, newly formed esports organisation Anonymo launched at the start of 2021. It recently unveiled its competitive CS:GO lineup, which consists of legendary Polish CS:GO veteran Janusz “⁠Snax⁠” Pogorzelski, in-game leader Wiktor “⁠mynio⁠” Kruk, as well as Kamil “⁠KEi⁠” Pietkun and Kacper “⁠Kylar⁠” Walukiewicz and Paweł “innocent” Mocek. The team has previously competed in local Polish and European tournaments, including the ESL Polish Championships and the Dreamhack Open January 2021: Europe. The team is now set to compete on the international CS:GO stage later in 2021.

Kinguin CEO and Founder, Viktor Romaniuk Wanli, said, “We’re really happy to unveil our sponsorship of Anonymo, a leading, professional Polish esports organisation. Kinguin has a rich history of sponsoring various esports teams and events – particularly in the CS:GO scene – and we’re delighted to re-enter the CS:GO space and start a completely new chapter through this partnership. It means Kinguin now sponsors two of the biggest esports teams in Poland that compete in two of the biggest esports in the world – CS:GO and League of Legends.”

pixel-federation’s-revenues-soar-to-e47.6m

Pixel Federation’s Revenues Soar to €47.6M

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Pixel Federation’s revenues shatters anticipated budgets for 2020 by 120%

Pixel Federation, a Slovakian-based games developer entering its 14th year, has had an incredibly successful year of growth. In a year filled with uncertainty across every industry, Pixel Federation managed to surpass its own expectations with overall revenues of more than €47M. With all time favourite game Diggy’s Adventure proving the most successful alongside rising star TrainStation, Pixel Federation’s games remained firm favourites amongst the dedicated community, setting it in good stead for its entrance into the Chinese market in Q1 2021.

In globally difficult times, with the pandemic creating uncertainty across industries, Pixel Federation managed to increase its annual revenue over 52% in 2020 compared to 2019. A huge part of Pixel Federation’s success is the continued popularity and growth of its community based games. Securing a staggering 24 million new users to its games in 2020 alone, Pixel Federation has seen success through both new game development as well as longer term classics – ‘TrainStation’ reached an incredible milestone celebrating its 10th anniversary on the market and still has a massive 400,000 monthly active user rate.

A fundamental influence on Pixel Federation’s games is the users themselves, creating a community that sets Pixel Federation apart in a league of its own. Attaining such a dedicated and involved community has created an authentic user-developer conversation ensuring every game created is exactly what all 120 million players desire. With €12M revenue driven from just one game by the end of 2020 (TrainStation 2) there is little doubt that Pixel Federation’s understanding of its players is successfully reflected back through revenue and growth.

‘2020 has no doubt been a very challenging year for everyone internationally and we are so pleased that our games managed to provide a sense of togetherness and community during a time of extended isolation,’ says Lucia Sickova, Pixel Federation’s Co-Founder and Chief Learning Officer. ‘Our dedicated teams continued to work hard throughout the global upheaval and we are eternally grateful to our community of players who continued supporting us, allowing us to continue creating for them.’

Pixel Federation’s humble beginnings have not stood in the way of its growth and success. Starting out with four co-founders at the helm and minimal financial funding, the Pixel Federation team had a vision, grit and determination which has taken the company from strength to strength. Developing games that are built to last, Pixel Federation drives a deep and authentic connection between the players and the game developers. 2020 saw Diggy’s Adventure celebrate its 8th anniversary with new features resulting in a staggering €21.4M revenue. A success story that is reflected across all of Pixel Federation’s top games.

But success for Pixel Federation does not stop there. With community at the core, Pixel Federation invests just as much in its people and the wider community as it does in its players.

 

Covid Measures 

The pandemic threw many businesses off course, but for Pixel Federation, the path to help the country stood out in front of them. Just days into the turmoil, Pixel Federation’s senior team teamed up with Slovakian health experts and volunteers to create a platform offering direct financial and material resources towards paramedics, healthcare facilities and front line workers.

‘It was never a question of whether we could help out the country, but simply how. We have managed to give back during these unprecedented times, fundraising over €1.4M via our platform “Who will help Slovakia”, providing protective equipment to over 1,800 individuals. I am proud that everyone at Pixel Federation strove to play their part in fighting this pandemic.’ says Lucia.

2020 saw Pixel Federation grow exponentially in revenue and game output, but it has retained its small business ethos of community, authenticity, and connection, internally and externally. Its drive to help the country through the pandemic, with a community of dedicated players, highlights Pixel Federation’s commitment to individuals as well as its country and wider community. This is a games developing studio creating games from players to players, learning and pursuing what its market demands and desires to take the company from strength to strength and overcoming any challenge. 2021 will be no different.

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Evoplay burnishes German market credentials with PlayPearls

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Supplier gears up for newly-regulated territory with fast-growing platform provider

Game developer Evoplay has announced an agreement to provide the dynamic platform provider PlayPearls with its content.

The deal allows PlayPearls to benefit from exclusive access to the casino content studio’s high-tech titles within the German market, including widely popular hits such as Hot 777, Midnight Show and Ice Mania.

Under the agreement, a selection of more than 50 slot titles and 12 instant games drawn from Evoplay’s coveted collection will be distributed across the platform provider’s extensive partnership network.

Evoplay’s German market debut follows a hugely successful period for the supplier, which has continued to strengthen its award-winning product suite with a range of acclaimed additions, as well as completing comprehensive commercial deals with a string of prominent partners.

Commenting on the agreement, Vladimir Malakchi, Evoplay CCO, said: “We’re thrilled to team up with PlayPearls, a rapidly expanding platform provider based in one of the world’s most promising markets.

“We’ve made an impressive start to 2021, generating strong momentum with a range of key deals and operator partnerships. Agreements such as this are integral to that success, and we look forward to working with the team at PlayPearls.”

Uwe Küstner, Public Relations Manager at Paypearls, said: “It’s fantastic to integrate Evoplay’s award-winning suite of titles, which we have no doubt will prove popular with players in the German market.

“We can’t wait to continue attracting new customers with an action-packed offering of unrivalled quality, and this comprehensive content deal is key to that endeavour.”

Evoplay has earned accolades from throughout the world of iGaming for its distinctive approach to game development and next-generation portfolio of award-winning slot, table and instant games.

Last year, the supplier continued to extend its global reach with partnerships signed in the UK, Croatia, Malta, Bulgaria and Romania over the Christmas period.

blacknut-and-a1-austria,-a-subsidiary-of-a1-telekom-austria-group,-partners-to-bring-cloud-gaming-service-with-more-than-500-family-friendly-games

Blacknut and A1 Austria, a subsidiary of A1 Telekom Austria Group, partners to bring cloud gaming service with more than 500 family-friendly games

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Blacknut and A1 Austria have struck a partnership to bring over 500 games to its customers in Austria

Paris, 6th of April, 2021 – Cloud-gaming specialist Blacknut has partnered with Austria’s leading communications provider A1, to facilitate cloud gaming access to its 5 million-plus subscribers. A1 will also enable all its subscribers to benefit from a special price.

The cloud gaming service will now integrate an option to subscribe directly to Blacknut’s Android mobile application with the carrier direct billing and facilitate access to all A1’s consumers to +500 family-friendly premium games.

This new service is already available, and A1 customers can sign up via the A1 mobile app, with a special offer A1 Telekom Austria subscribers will benefit from a monthly fee of 9.99€/month, directly included in their monthly bill. With games across all genres including adventure, simulation, strategy, RPG and more, A1’s customers will access the whole experience.

Launched in 2018, Blacknut’s cloud gaming service is available directly to gamers in 40 countries. Blacknut enables ISPs, device manufacturers, OTT services and media companies to quickly launch their own streaming games services. Blacknut is already powering cloud gaming services for telecom operators such as Telecom Italia (Italy), Swisscom (Switzerland), and POST (Luxembourg), amongst others.

“Our new partnership with A1 in Austria shows again how cloud gaming is near the top of the agenda for mobile operators,” said Olivier Avaro, CEO of Blacknut. “Latest cloud technology finally gives us the speeds and low latency to fulfil the promise of cloud gaming, delivering a quality experience wherever you are. The team of A1 really grasped the potential for gaming as a new service opportunity, and we look forward to working together to make this launch a success.”

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German Gambling Legislation Gains Enough Support for Implementation

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The state parliaments in Schleswig-Holstein and Sachsen have signed off Germany’s new gambling treaty, meaning that 13 of the country’s 16 states have now ratified the new legislation.

The latest ratifications take Germany’s new interstate gambling treaty closer to implementation after several periods of delay since it needed the ratification of at least 13 states to be implemented.

The treaty was already ratified by Germany’s state Minister-Presidents in November 2020, and the country has already begun a transition period, allowing previously unlicensed gaming operators to conduct business in the country under the future regulations.

Sachsen, one of the latest three states to ratify the treaty, is also due to host a federal regulatory authority for gambling, but it is expected that will take two years to come into operation.

The ratification of the treaty by Schleswig Holstein, meanwhile, ends that state’s more liberal regulatory gambling framework in order to join the new federal agreement.

It had broken away from Germany’s other states in 2012 to launch its own regulatory regime covering online casino gaming. Its own regulations were less restrictive than those that will now be implemented at the federal level, since it had no limits on online casino.

The new interstate treaty will enforce a €1 per spin stake limit on slots and a mandatory five-second average spin speed. Table games will be separated from slots, with states allowed to grant lotteries a monopoly over the product.

tvbet-teams-up-with-the-polish-bookmaker-fuksiarz

TVBET teams up with the Polish bookmaker Fuksiarz

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The B2B provider of live games TVBET expands its presence in Poland. The innovative supplier has now merged with Polish bookmaker Fuksiarz and two of their popular live games are already available on the bookmaker’s website for players to enjoy.

TVBET is committed to its strategy of expanding into the global iGaming market. The provider has entered into a mutually beneficial partnership with well-known Polish firm Fuksiarz, whose main offer is live sports betting. But as a result of the new partnership, clients of Fuksiarz may now indulge in the lottery and card games offered by TVBET.

Two games, namely PokerBet and 21Bet, are currently live and operational for Fuksiarz’s clients.

● PokerBet: A popular online game for bookmakers based on the well-known rules of Texas Hold’em Poker. During the game there are five rounds on which players may place bets: Initial Bet, Pre-flop, Flop, Turn and River.
● 21Bet (or Black Jack): One of the most popular card games in the world. The attraction of this game is the simplicity of the rules. Two conditional players must score closest to 21, just like in regular Blackjack.

Traditionally, all TVBET content is broadcast around the world from a single location, the modern TVBET studio located in Warsaw, Poland. It is worth noting that the overwhelming majority of employees, namely TV presenters or technical staff, are Polish. As a result, TVBET believes that Fuksiarz customers will be even more loyal to the product.

Radosław Baran, COO at Fuksiarz.pl : “We are very excited to team up with TVBET. Their products are well recognized in the industry. TVBET is acknowledged for delivering high quality live-streamed content that has proven to be very popular with players. At Fuksiarz.pl we focus on providing the users the best possible offer and adding TVBET’s products to our platform diversifies our portfolio and improves the user experience.”

VBET CEO Peter Korpusenko stated, “The Polish iGaming market is familiar to us and we already have many partnerships in the region. And we are happy to enter into more and more partnerships here and strengthen our positions in the region. We believe that cooperation with Fuksiarz will help us achieve our goals, and will be productive and fruitful for both sides.”

The partnership with TVBET will allow the bookmaker to diversify its portfolio and attract a stream of new clients interested in betting on live games. While for TVBET, this is another step towards expanding its boundaries.