Industry News
Yahaha Studios announces Asset Ovi, 3D search tool to support game developers
Yahaha Studios has announced the launch of YAHAHA Asset Ovi, a first-of-its-kind platform to help game developers to search for game assets quickly. Using artificial intelligence (AI), Asset Ovi is the go-to platform to search for assets for any level of creators, from students and hobbyists to indie developers and 3D creation experts. Asset Ovi cuts out the middle-man, allowing users to access search for assets across several of the most prominent 3D asset marketplaces through one platform, including the Unity Store, Sketchfab and CGTrader. YAHAHA Asset Ovi is now live, in partnership with Jina AI.
Finding the perfect assets for game creation is not easy for developers. Yahaha Studios conducted research to better understand the challenges associated with the asset search experience. The results showed that 80% of developers spend 10 minutes or more searching for a new game asset across multiple storefronts – making it a time-consuming, as well as difficult and stressful task to find the hundreds of assets required for a new game. With Asset Ovi, creators can browse over a million assets, using search functionality based not only on text but also by model, ensuring they find the specific asset required.
By launching YAHAHA Asset Ovi, Yahaha Studios hopes to help developers create more efficiently. Introducing this new tool to its free-to-use platform, YAHAHA is supporting game developers and creator enthusiasts at all levels to have easy access to millions of assets for free, making the game creation process as easy as possible.
Chris Zhu, CEO at Yahaha Studios, said: “Yahaha Studios is constantly investigating new technologies to support creators – we are passionate about making it easy to make great content and bring imagination to life. When our research showed that some developers were spending hours searching different stores for assets, we wanted to help them. YAHAHA Asset Ovi is a free platform that anyone can use and it is integrated with other storefronts, such as the Unity Asset Store, saving game developers considerable time and frustration searching for the right assets.”
In order to make Asset Ovi as creator-friendly as possible, the platform has announced the YAHAHA 3D viewer. By using this method, assets can be viewed and closely examined prior to making a purchase decision. This tool allows users to examine the fine details of each asset, including wireframe, post-processing and material channels. Asset Ovi uses AI to power its search. Partnered with Jina AI, it supports AI-powered similarity search, making it easy to locate assets. Users can also perform mesh-to-mesh, text-to-mesh, and colour-to-mesh searches. The search engine learns from large data sets, understands the shape, text, and colour of the asset with neutral network algorithms, and finds the most relevant results. The engine will continue to learn as more people use it, meaning it will understand more as time progresses.
Joel Fällbom, Head Teacher of Game and UX Design, at Futuregames, said: “As someone who has spent countless hours looking through every single asset store, finding high-quality assets, with real-time previews, with all the necessary info such as polycount, topology, lods and textures is really time consuming and difficult. In fact, it is close to impossible to navigate and find what you need. YAHAHA 3DSearch solves a real problem for anyone developing a game, I can’t wait to try it.”
In the closing months of 2022, Yahaha Studios announced it had secured an investment of $40 million to further build upon the Early Alpha success of YAHAHA, a creator-focussed user-generated content social platform. YAHAHA is currently open in Early Alpha, offering anyone the opportunity to be among the first to test the platform and share feedback as it continues to grow. This early community has an important role to play in how YAHAHA will evolve, influencing the shape the platform takes and building its digital world.
Industry News
New KSA Campaign: Get Your Life Back on Track, Take a Gambling Break
The Dutch Gaming Authority (KSA) launched a new awareness campaign to draw attention to the gambling stop. With the campaign “Pick up your life again, take a gambling stop,” KSA is aiming to increase attention to the risks of gambling and make the Cruks register more well-known.
Insights
The campaign is a follow-up to the pilot campaign from 2023. This pilot yielded many valuable insights, for example that more people are attracted to the word gambling stop. This name is therefore used in the new campaign.
Positive effect
The campaign focuses primarily on young adults who (possibly) no longer have their gambling under control. That is one of the reasons why the campaign is largely running via social media instead of traditional (mass) media. The focus is on the positive effect that a gambling stop has on the life of a person with gambling problems. The powerful moments of young people who pick up their lives again can be seen in online videos, social ads and social posts (Google, YouTube, Meta and Snapchat).
The post New KSA Campaign: Get Your Life Back on Track, Take a Gambling Break appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Industry News
EGBA: Record Participation As European Safer Gambling Week Expands to 26 Countries
The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) announced record-breaking results from its fourth annual European Safer Gambling Week, held 18-24 November. The initiative – which included a social media campaign and events programme – demonstrated the broader European sector’s strengthening commitment to safer gambling through new levels of participation and expanded geographic reach.
The campaign saw record engagement with 195 partners actively participating – a 20% increase from 2023. Eight national gambling authorities participated, more than double the previous year, by either joining the social media campaign or speaking at the various events.
The campaign’s reach also expanded significantly to 26 countries – a 30% increase from 2023 – with partners in Croatia, Serbia, Slovakia and Ukraine joining for the first time, reflecting the growing pan-European dimension of the campaign. This was helped by social media graphics being made available in the local languages of 27 countries.
The social media campaign reached 3.1 million users across Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X platforms, generating 1169 social media posts – a 67% increase from the previous year.
A cornerstone of this year’s campaign was its comprehensive events programme, featuring 20 specialised events – an 11% increase from 2023. The events attracted record participation with 4500 registrations and 3000 attendees. Key discussions explored trends in AI, problem gambling prevalence reporting and innovations in safer gambling tools and messaging. The events featured 105 speakers, including senior representatives from gambling authorities in Belgium, Denmark, France and the UK.
The initiative builds on EGBA members’ year-round commitment to safer gambling, which in 2023 resulted in 67 million safety messages sent to their European customers. This dedicated week amplifies these ongoing efforts while encouraging greater collaboration between operators, regulators and harm prevention organisations.
“The success of this year’s edition reflects the sector’s deepening commitment to player protection. The significant increase in participation, especially from health organisations and regulatory authorities, demonstrates the common purpose and growing unity in our approach to safer gambling. Through this collaboration, we’ve reached a record number of Europeans with crucial safety messages during the campaign. Together, we’re making gambling safer and we already look forward to building on this success in next year’s edition,” said Maarten Haijer, Secretary General of EGBA.
The post EGBA: Record Participation As European Safer Gambling Week Expands to 26 Countries appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Industry News
CT Gaming to Participate in ICE Barcelona 2025
CT Gaming is going to participate in ICE Barcelona 2025, which will take place from 20 to 22 Jan 2025.
“It is always a pleasure to kick off the year at ICE. This year is particularly special as we explore a new location, which we anticipate will bring fresh connections and exciting opportunities,” said Biser Bozhanov, Director of Business Development and Strategies at CT Gaming.
Positioned at stand #3C56, CT Gaming will present an impressive lineup of its signature products alongside exciting new additions, including the multigame Diamond King 4.
“We are eager to showcase our latest offerings and engage with clients, colleagues, and industry professionals to gather their valuable feedback. This year’s selection is a strong testament to CT Gaming’s enduring legacy and commitment to excellence,” added Bozhanov.
Among the products displayed at stand #3C56 will be the slot cabinet NEXT, known for its ultimate comfort and functionality. This cabinet comes with 27″ or 32″ high-definition screens, an optional premium stand, a USB phone charger, a bill validator with a stacker and an enlarged CMS panel for seamless operation. Other representatives from the slot cabinet family are EZ Modulo 32/32/32 and EZ Tower. Both of these cabinets combine sleek designs with advanced technology set to deliver an unparalleled gaming experience.
Alongside the slot cabinets, the company will showcase its staple multigame titles, such as Diamond King 3, Mermaid’s Quest, Tower Link and the newest addition to the multigame portfolio – Diamond King 4. With 40 exciting games, 20 of which are linked to a progressive jackpot, the multigame takes player engagement to new heights. Unlike previous versions, players can now win any of the three jackpot levels directly from the base game, while the cascading white and pink diamonds promise thrilling rewards at every turn. Designed with the next generation of players in mind, Diamond King 4 features enhanced graphics, modern themes and an immersive experience that’s perfectly in sync with today’s gaming landscape. The newly conceptualized linked progressive jackpot, Diamond Tree Deluxe, presents an elevated reward experience with its upgraded features.
Last but not least, CT Gaming will unveil the latest updates to its Casino Management System – Rhino, designed to enhance operator functionality and player engagement.
The post CT Gaming to Participate in ICE Barcelona 2025 appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
-
gaming2 years ago
ODIN by 4Players: Immersive, state-of-the-art in-game audio launches into the next generation of gaming
-
EEG iGaming Directory8 years ago
iSoftBet continues to grow with new release Forest Mania
-
News7 years ago
Softbroke collaborates with Asia Live Tech for the expansion of the service line in the igaming market
-
News6 years ago
Super Bowl LIII: NFL Fans Can Bet on the #1 Sportsbook Review Site Betting-Super-Bowl.com, Providing Free Unbiased and Trusted News, Picks and Predictions
-
iGaming Industry7 years ago
Rick Meitzler appointed to the Indian Gaming Magazine Advisory Board for 2018
-
News6 years ago
REVEALED: Top eSports players set to earn $3.2 million in 2019
-
iGaming Industry7 years ago
French Senator raises Loot Boxes to France’s Gambling Regulator
-
News7 years ago
Exclusive Interview with Miklos Handa (Founder of the email marketing solutions, “MailMike.net”), speaker at Vienna International Gaming Expo 2018