

Latest News
gamescom 2023: Gamecity Hamburg presents five games at the Indie Arena Booth
Hamburg, August 10: From August 23 to 27, gamescom, the world’s largest trade fair for video games, throws open its doors in Cologne. Through its Road to gamescom program, the location initiative Gamecity Hamburg enables five indie studios from Hamburg to participate in the Indie Arena Booth, the largest collaborative developer booth worldwide. The teams will present their games to gamescom visitors, potential business partners and the press. Numerous other companies from Hamburg will also be present at gamescom to showcase their projects, make contacts and benefit from the trade fair’s unique network of professionals for the further marketing of their game.
“With our “Road to gamescom” program we take five studios to gamescom in order to present their games to publishers, partners and consumers. All games were or are part of our funding programs: the Gamecity Hamburg Prototype Funding and our Games Lift Incubator,” states Dennis Schoubye, Head of Gamecity Hamburg”, says Dennis Schoubye, Head of Gamecity Hamburg. Gamecity Hamburg will feature some of the most promising game projects from Hamburg at its dedicated booth at the Indie Arena Booth in Hall 10.2 in the area F010g – E011g.
Gamecity Hamburg presents these six studios and games at the Indie Arena Booth:
- About Cannons + Sparrows with “About Cannons & Sparrows”: In this physics-based sidescroller with puzzle elements, players take on the role of a small cannon hatched from an egg that rolls through a forest with different platforms and branches, glides on wind streams or catapults itself forward with targeted shots.
- Crumbling Games with “Crumbling”: In this virtual reality game, the controller itself becomes an action figure in the player’s own hands, fighting against a wide variety of toy monsters in lovingly crafted dioramas.
- DrownTown with “Light of Atlantis”: This 2D puzzle metroidvania received the young talent award “Best Prototype” at the Deutscher Computerspielpreis 2023 (German Computer Game Award 2023) and impressed the jury with its clever interpretation of a jump ‘n’ run that embraces the element water. The water influences the movement of your robot as well as the behavior of the enemies, changes the environment and is the dynamic core mechanic of the game. Only by controlling the water to solve puzzles can players discover the secrets of Atlantis.
- Radioactive Dreams with “Turbo Shell”: This fast-paced 2D platformer doesn’t require jumping! Instead, players use a unique movement tool to navigate a brave egg through various levels full of obstacles and traps. By pushing and pulling the egg within a certain radius, a dynamic gameplay experience is achieved in which you should never touch the ground.
- Symmetry Break Studio with Misgiven: In this narrative 2D adventure with science fiction elements, players explore a city shrouded in toxic fog. We all know this situation: Speaking out about some things can be really hard. In this game’s unique dialog system, certain emotional states open up different ways of reacting. Since all the inhabitants wear masks, communication is even more difficult, but it is the key to unraveling this hostile environment.
All projects received funding from Gamecity Hamburg. About Cannons & Sparrows received fundings from the Games Lift Incubator, while Light of Atlantis and Turbo Shell were part of the Prototype Funding. The games Crumbling and Misgiven were able to secure funding from both the Games Lift Incubator and Prototype Funding at various stages of development.
More information and visuals on the games:
Companies from Hamburg showcase at gamescom 2023
Other companies from Hamburg’s games industry will also be at gamescom 2023 to present new releases or take the opportunity to initiate new business partnerships. For example, Daedalic Entertainment will be available for press and business contacts in the B2B area at the “game” booth, and they will present the couch co-op game “Wild Woods” by Octofox Games in the B2C area at the Indie Arena Booth (Wild Woods already received prototype funding from Gamecity Hamburg in 2020).
Even more Hamburg studios will be part of the Indie Arena Booth: Osmotic Studios will be showing the latest version of their game “Closer the Distance”, while Mooneye Studios will be exhibiting “Smushi Come Home”, “Farewell North” and “Lost Ember”. In addition, the Hamburg gaming internet station Rocket Beans TV will accompany gamescom with numerous live broadcasts from its booth in Hall 6.
Gamecity Hamburg: Diverse support programs for Hamburg’s games industry
In addition to programs such as “Road to gamescom 2023”, Gamecity Hamburg, financed by the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, boosts the local games industry with other tailor-made support programs: In the Games Lift Incubator, game developers and founders receive intensive coaching and mentoring from international industry experts in addition to financial support. With the Prototype Funding, Gamecity Hamburg supports the development of game prototypes in Hamburg with up to 120,000 euros per project.
Detailed background information on Hamburg as a games location and on the Gamecity Hamburg location initiative:
All information about Gamecity Hamburg and our activities can also be found on our website https://www.gamecity-hamburg.de/.
Gambling in the USA
Gaming Americas Weekly Roundup – April 7-13

Welcome to our weekly roundup of American gambling news again! Here, we are going through the weekly highlights of the American gambling industry which include the latest news and new partnerships. Read on and get updated.
Latest News
WyoLotto’s COO, Robin Medina, has been named to join a national committee to support problem gambling initiatives. The committee is through the National Council on Problem Gambling and will manage the annual selection of nominations and election of the Board of Directors that oversees NCPG. Last year WyoLotto applied for and was accepted to the NCPG and NASPL’s (North American State and Provincial Lotteries) Responsible Gambling Verification Programme. WyoLotto’s Responsible Gambling Programme includes an in depth plan to ensure the organisation honours its commitment to educating players, retailers and the general public about how to gamble responsibly and what to do if gambling becomes a problem for yourself or someone you know.
As Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tejon moves closer to its highly anticipated grand opening, the company is engaging with the Kern County community through exclusive informational sessions at Bakersfield College’s Renegade Event Room located at 1801 Panorama Drive. The first session, held on April 4, provided local leaders and invited guests with insights into upcoming job and vendor opportunities in the region. The second session took place on April 5 from 10:00 AM to 12:30 PM. Job opportunities for Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tejon will be posted on the recruitment site, www.gotoworkhappy.com, starting in May.
An investigation by the Delaware Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) into VGW Luckyland – a subsidiary of the Australian-based VGW Holdings – revealed that VGW Luckyland was operating illegal online gaming. Delaware officials concluded that VGW misrepresented its services as a promotional sweepstakes while enabling players to purchase coins for casino-style games, leading to potential cash winnings. These types of real-money games offered to Delaware residents by an unlicensed entity violate the Delaware Constitution, the Delaware Penal Code and the Delaware Gaming Competitiveness Act of 2012. With the support of the Delaware State Lottery, DGE issued a cease-and-desist order to VGW.
Partnerships
AC Milan announced a new partnership with Reals, a company renowned for its excellence in Brazil’s sports betting and online gaming market, which will become Official Regional Betting Partner of the Rossoneri’s Club in Latin America. Elected in 2024 as the “Best Sportsbook Operator” in Brazil by SiGMA World – the largest international authority in iGaming – Reals has been consolidating its position in the sector, reinforcing its growing trajectory of ascent. The brand is aligned with the best market practices, presenting sustainable growth based on innovation, strategic partnerships and sports engagement.
Scientific Games’ SciQ retail technology is set to roll out at North Carolina Education Lottery retailers as part of the Lottery’s focus on improving the retail environment for its Scratch-Off games. The company will deploy 1000 SciQ units at lottery retailers across North Carolina. NCEL Scratch-Off games represented more than $2.9 billion in retail sales in fiscal year 2024, anchoring NCEL among the world’s top 15 performing instant game lotteries (La Fleur’s 2024 World Almanac). Offering real-time scratch game inventory management data that amplifies the power of Scientific Games’ SciTrak predictive ordering system used by NCEL, SciQ creates supply chain efficiencies proven to lift scratch game sales.
The post Gaming Americas Weekly Roundup – April 7-13 appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Compliance Updates
Navigating Legal Frontiers: Nordic Legal’s Vision for the Finnish Gambling Market

The Prague Gaming & TECH Summit 2025 brought together top experts across the iGaming and tech landscape, and Nordic Legal stood out as the event’s Scandinavian Legal Expertise Sponsor. A renowned legal advisory firm in the Nordic region, Nordic Legal continues to shape the future of gambling legislation and compliance in Europe.
In this post-event interview, we caught up with Pekka Ilmivalta, Head of the Finnish Office at Nordic Legal, to dive deeper into the firm’s insights on the upcoming Finnish gambling reform, the legal challenges it poses, and the opportunities it presents for operators preparing to enter the market.
Finland is preparing to launch its regulated gambling sector in January 2026. As an expert with over 20 years of experience in the gambling industry, how do you view its draft legislation and the current state of the Finnish gambling market?
Finns are used to gambling online, and the size of the market is close to 2 billion euros in GGR. As the market share of the national monopoly operator, Veikkaus, has declined to around 50 percent, nearly half of the gambling spending already takes place outside the Finnish regulation. Therefore, the gambling legislation reform is really needed.
The Government Proposal now being dealt with in the Finnish Parliament is generally a comprehensive and a good package. As the political parties are quite unanimous about the need for the reform, I expect the parliamentary discussion to concentrate on the balance between responsibility measures and the features making the market interesting enough for the operators to enter the regulated market. Especially marketing, use of affiliates and bonusing will, and should, be discussed.
I believe that the Parliament will approve the new legislation early next autumn and that the B2C license application process will be able to begin already in January next year.
The Finnish legislative review council has raised concerns about potential increases in gambling harms under the new regulatory framework. What measures do you believe are necessary to mitigate these risks, and how could Finland balance market liberalization with responsible gambling practices?
Personally, I think that gambling harms must be taken seriously. However, as almost half of the Finnish gambling now happens outside the regulated market, I am convinced that succeeding in channelization is a crucial starting point to really mitigate gambling harms. Therefore, attractiveness of the market and measures against the black market are extremely important. Furthermore, self-exclusion and responsible gambling tools are, of course, needed for the players. Generally, I believe that AI assisted monitoring could and will have an important role in preventing harmful gambling in the future. To really work, responsible gambling tools need to be both pragmatic and relevant for each individual player.
Considering Finland’s upcoming gambling reform, what legal and operational challenges should gambling operators be prepared for, particularly regarding compliance and player protection? Which key trends do you see shaping the market’s future?
As it seems now that affiliates and welcome bonuses will be banned, operators will have to find other means to build their brand and acquire customers. Even though traditional marketing and sponsoring are widely acceptable, I would expect to see innovative solutions to stand out from the probable marketing avalanche during the first months after the market opening. Perhaps new kinds of sponsorships or retail activities? Or even enhanced player protection measures to gain a competitive edge?
Overall, I would advise operators to start their market entry preparations early enough. The licensing procedure could take several (6 to 9) months. Also, adjusting to the local technical and player protection requirements might not happen overnight.
What insights could help Finland create a balanced and effective gambling market?
I believe that the new legislation will provide a good enough framework for a functional gambling market. However, based on experiences from Sweden and Denmark, I would point out two practical aspects crucial to making the new legislation effective: First, there needs to be collaboration between licensed operators and the new regulator. Dialogue and a mutual will to find solutions should be the common mindset. Secondly, the regulator hopefully has enough resources (tools, persons and persistence) to interfere with the black-market operations, which will evidently still exist also after the reform.
Nordic Legal has extensive experience advising European governments on regulatory best practices. How can your firm assist operators looking to enter the Finnish market and navigate the evolving legal landscape?
With our deep knowledge of Finnish legislation, extensive experience from regulatory developments in other jurisdictions, and strong industry relationships, we are well-positioned to support operators and B2B suppliers entering the Finnish market. We can offer comprehensive guidance not only on compliance and licensing, but also on navigating strategic challenges, ensuring our clients are well-prepared for a dynamic and shifting legal landscape. Our proactive approach enables us to identify regulatory changes early and help clients stay ahead of industry developments.
The post Navigating Legal Frontiers: Nordic Legal’s Vision for the Finnish Gambling Market appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Latest News
The Power of Influencers in iGaming – Insights from the EEGS Webinar

In an increasingly digital world, the influence of social media personalities is undeniable, especially within the iGaming industry. To stay competitive and engage with a broader audience, brands must adapt to the growing power of influencers. Recently, the dynamic EEGS Webinar, “The Rising Power of Influencers in iGaming: Use Their Power for Your Success,” brought together key experts to explore how influencers can elevate iGaming brands to new heights. Expert speakers Jekaterina Dubnicka, Alexandra Voronetskaya, and Wojciech Trzaska shared their valuable insights on the nuances of influencer marketing, and how companies can leverage this to succeed.
The Brave Step of Working with Influencers
Alexandra Voronetskaya emphasized how significant the decision to collaborate with influencers is for any company. “When a company decides to work with influencers, it is a very brave step,” she noted. This decision means not only expanding a brand’s visibility but also committing to a much more open communication strategy.
Working with influencers is not just about showcasing a product; it’s about creating an authentic connection. Brands must be prepared for heightened visibility, quicker responses to public feedback, and increased flexibility in their strategies. “You have to answer quicker, you should be more flexible,” Alexandra explained, underscoring the evolving nature of marketing in today’s fast-paced world. This openness can be daunting for some brands, but it can also bring tremendous benefits when executed well.
Getting Real: The Importance of Authenticity
Jekaterina Dubnicka on the other hand delivered a powerful message about the importance of authenticity when collaborating with influencers. “If you decide to go live and public, there is one crucial thing you need to know: No subscriber is interested in your surface. Everyone wants to see something deeper,” Jekaterina said. This statement couldn’t be more fitting in the context of influencer marketing. Audiences today crave genuine connections and transparency, rather than polished advertisements.
She went on to challenge companies considering influencer partnerships: “Before you decide to work with influencers, you need to answer yourself: Why?” This question serves as a reminder that influencer partnerships should be rooted in a clear strategic vision. It’s not enough to just follow trends — businesses need to understand why they want to engage with influencers and how they plan to create value for both their brand and the influencer’s audience.
The Power of Smaller Influencers
A common misconception in influencer marketing is that success is tied to having millions of followers. However, Jekaterina pointed out that the number of followers doesn’t always equate to success. “The huge amount of followers doesn’t necessarily bring success,” she noted, pointing to the fact that smaller influencers often yield greater engagement. Smaller influencers tend to have a more loyal and interactive audience, making them more flexible and responsive to brand messages.
In iGaming, where emotional connection plays a key role, Alexandra emphasized the importance of finding influencers whose values and approach resonate with the brand. “Working with influencers is about emotions, and when you are on the same page, that is magic,” she said. It’s about creating an authentic, emotional link that transcends the transactional nature of traditional advertising.
All attendees of the EEGS Webinar received a Certificate of Attendance, acknowledging their commitment to continuous learning and professional development in the iGaming industry.
For those who missed the live session, the on-demand video is now available – featuring key insights on how influencers are reshaping the marketing strategies, and practical tips on choosing, briefing, and collaborating with them effectively.
You can watch the full session here: www.youtube.com/@eegamingsummit
Stay tuned for more updates and upcoming events by following EEGS on social media and visiting their official website.
The post The Power of Influencers in iGaming – Insights from the EEGS Webinar appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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