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New Metaverse Game Star Life by iCandy’s Flying Sheep Receives German Government Funding

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Flying Sheep Studios, a subsidiary of iCandy Interactive, an Australian-listed international games studio, is proud to announce it is developing Star Life, a social massively multiplayer online (MMO) game focused on cooperation, and community-driven experiences that will prioritise socialising and being the party and event part of the metaverse, eventually hosting events and concerts.

iCandy Interactive has an international footprint of having other video games studios across Asia (Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia) and Flying Sheep Studios is its first major investment made in Europe.

The German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action has agreed to support the development of Star Life with a generous funding of approximately EUR 1.1 million (approximately USD 1.2 million). Flying Sheep Studios, known for its expertise in HTML5 web-based game development, is utilizing its skills to create a sophisticated web-based metaverse game.

High-Availability Metaverse

One of the key features of Star Life is its high accessibility, making it conveniently playable from any browser on any device without needing downloads, installations, or high-end technology.

Players can start entering the Star Life metaverse with just one click via a web browser on both desktop and mobile devices. The game also prioritizes diversity, offering players various options for character creation, shopping, and community-driven events, such as concerts and exhibitions.

In addition, Star Life will incorporate optional blockchain-enabled items, or NFTs, giving players more ownership and agency over their virtual belongings. These belongings can be transferred and used on different platforms, making the process streamlined and convenient. Star Life will be a free-to-play game available to everyone.

“We are grateful to the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action for their support and trust in our project. This funding demonstrates the federal budget for video games working as intended, fostering the development of cutting-edge technical know-how ‘made in Germany’ and creating and securing jobs,” says Thomas Rössig, Founder and Managing Director of Flying Sheep Studios.

 

Addition of Senior European Industry Talent

For the development of this groundbreaking project, Flying Sheep has also hired additional talent, including four industry veterans:


Renke Bahlmann
Lead Game Designer

With 12 years of experience working on browser games for industry leaders such as Bigpoint, game development allrounder and media technology expert Renke Bahlmann is the perfect fit for the position of Lead Game Designer. He will guide the team in creating a highly engaging game experience.

Frank Reitberger
Lead 3D Developer

Flying Sheep’s new Lead 3D Developer Frank Reitberger is renowned for his work as a Designer and Programmer. In the past two decades, he has worked for well-known brands and customers such as Porsche, IBM, and Activision Blizzard.

Daniel Schemann Head of Back-End Development

Cultivating his passion for multiplayer experiences in the early days of MUDs, Daniel Schemann founded his studio Silent Future in the early 2000s and would later work on free-to-play MMO Earthrise. In his new position as Head of Back-End Development at Flying Sheep, he will create the foundation for the multiplayer experience of Star Life.

Nina Kiel Head of Diversity & Inclusion

As one of Germany’s foremost game diversity experts, Nina Kiel has worked in various industry-related fields such as games journalism, game development, game event management, game studies and media education for over a decade, and published several books. Now they’ve joined Flying Sheep as Head of Diversity & Inclusion to support the studio in making diversity and

inclusion a key part of their endeavors.

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Brightstar Lottery Upgrades Retail Central System for Lotto Saxony in Germany via New Seven-Year Contract

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Brightstar Lottery PLC announced that it will deploy its comprehensive retail central system technology, Aurora, along with advanced cloud-based software for Sächsische Lotto-GmbH (Lotto Saxony) in the State of Saxony, Germany via a seven-year contract. The contract was awarded to Brightstar following a competitive public procurement.

“The quality and reliability of Brightstar’s world-class lottery technology and operational support, along with its team’s knowledge of Lotto Saxony’s business needs are some of the reasons why we have partnered with the Company for 30 years. We look forward to upgrading our central system to Brightstar’s sophisticated platform and the many benefits its components will produce,” said Herr Frank Schwarz, Lotto Saxony Chief Executive Officer.

“This new seven-year contract marks an exciting chapter for Brightstar and Lotto Saxony as we work together to modernize lottery solutions throughout the state. Brightstar’s high-performing central system and peripherals will enable Lotto Saxony to manage its business more efficiently with the confidence in knowing the technology is secure, dependable, and responsible,” said Marco Tasso, Brightstar Chief Operating Officer International and Italy Operations.

An integral part of OMNIA, Brightstar’s player-centric, omnichannel solution for lotteries, Aurora helps drive lottery innovation and profitability. The platform will provide intuitive, user-friendly applications, tools and reporting capabilities to handle Lotto Saxony’s transaction processing, game management and back-office operations. Lotto Saxony will receive key cloud-based Aurora products including, Anywhere, to securely connect external applications to the retail system, and Performance Wizard, to deliver targeted insights and analytics.

The post Brightstar Lottery Upgrades Retail Central System for Lotto Saxony in Germany via New Seven-Year Contract appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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Interwetten becomes team partner of SK Rapid

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Yellow and black meets green and white! Interwetten becomes SK Rapid’s new team partner. The online sports betting pioneer and Austria’s most popular football club are starting the new season together. The combination with Rapid coach Peter Stöger, who has been an Interwetten expert for many years and will also remain on the sidelines, makes the partnership a real success.

With more than 24,000 club members and over 220 official fan clubs, the Austrian record champions boast the largest fan base in the country! And with the Allianz Stadium in Vienna’s West Hütteldorf, the Green-Whites boast a modern home! Interwetten is expanding its extensive football commitment to include a traditional club and will now be present at SK Rapid’s home games on a ball display or 3D carpet in the stadium, as well as on the Hütteldorf club’s digital channels.

“We are very pleased about the new team partnership with SK Rapid. The connection to a club with great charisma and passion is a perfect fit for Interwetten. And the best part: With our long-time expert Peter Stöger, we already have Rapid’s coach on board ,” explains Interwetten Marketing Director Dieter Grück , who promises fans a comprehensive experience in addition to betting.

Grück adds : “We are planning various digital activations throughout the season that will offer our customers and Rapid fans unique experiences. This will certainly include exclusive promotions with Peter Stöger. With this, we want to underline our connection with Austrian football.”

SK Rapid Managing Director Steffen Hofmann warmly welcomes the sports betting provider to the green and white partner family. “This partnership is a strong signal and demonstrates the trust placed in our club. Together, we are planning innovative activations and are convinced that the collaboration will be very successful. I am delighted that Interwetten is now part of the large green and white partner family.”

The post Interwetten becomes team partner of SK Rapid appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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Scientific Games and Polish National Lottery Continue 20-Year Scratchcard Tradition as Sales Grow

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Scientific Games will continue to bring exciting instant scratchcard games to Polish National Lottery players through a new agreement with Totalizator Sportowy. Celebrating the instant lottery’s 25th anniversary last year, Totalizator Sportowy is among the top five performing instant game lotteries in Europe (La Fleur’s 2025 World Lottery Almanac). The world’s largest lottery games company has provided scratchcards to Totalizator Sportowy for more than 20 years, with scratchcard game sales in Poland growing by 20% over the past three years (2022 to 2025).

“Our goal is to give our players entertaining scratchcard experiences while responsibly generating maximum proceeds for Polish sport and culture. We are delighted to continue working with Scientific Games to offer fun, modern scratch experiences,” said Katarzyna Woznica-Borkowska, Manager of Instant Products for Totalizator Sportowy.

Most recently, Scientific Games collaborated with Totalizator Sportowy to offer Polish players the PLN30 GIGA 7 game produced with the company’s advanced Dimension technology, which enhances the play experience with three-dimensional, reflection-at-different-angle refractions above and below the game graphics.

Currently, the company provides instant games to 110 government-regulated lotteries worldwide, including more than 50 European lotteries.

“Scientific Games is honored to continue our longtime relationship with Totalizator Sportowy that we have built across two decades,” said Paul Dures, Lottery Sales Director EMEA for Scientific Games. “We look forward to continuing our work to drive meaningful growth for the scratchcard games in Poland creating more innovative and attractive games for players.”

With products that generate more than 70% of global instant game retail sales, Scientific Games is the world’s largest instant games creator, producer and services provider, and the primary provider to nine of the Top 10 performing instant game lotteries in the world (La Fleur’s 2025 World Lottery Almanac).

The post Scientific Games and Polish National Lottery Continue 20-Year Scratchcard Tradition as Sales Grow appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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