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Overwolf Raises $52.5M To Unlock Modding For Game Developers and Publishers with The Launch of CurseForge Core, a UGC as a Service Platform
Overwolf, the all-in-one platform that enables creators to build, distribute, and monetize in-game apps and mods, today announced a $52.5 million Series C round and the launch of CurseForge Core, a User Generated Content (UGC) as a service platform. CurseForge Core provides an SDK for game developers that integrates into the game itself and functions as a gateway for users to discover and install mods in-game, across all platforms and storefronts. The round was co-led by Griffin Gaming Partners and Insight Partners with participation from investors including Ubisoft, Warner Music Group, Meg Whitman, Gen.G Co-Founder, Kevin Chou, and existing investors Marker, Intel Capital, Liberty Technology Venture Capital, and Atreides Management. The funding will be used to boost development firepower dedicated to creating services for creators. It will further be used to create more opportunities and vehicles to invest in, and with, the in-game creator community.
In 2020, as part of its commitment to empower in-game creators, Overwolf acquired CurseForge from Twitch, the biggest repository of mods for video games including top titles like World of Warcraft and Minecraft. CurseForge and Overwolf have supported creator communities for over 15 years with a combined platform that includes over 30,000 creators, 90,000 mods and add-ons, and 18 million monthly users. Overwolf has experienced 300% growth in the last year as the market for content around games rises.
“We are at a new user-generated content inflection point, and the strong growth of gaming lies largely in the hands of “in-game creators,” a term we coined to categorize this new generation of in-game app creators and mod authors. The more content and customizability a game has, the more likely a gamer will keep experiencing its content and by that extending the longevity of the game and generating more value for game developers and publishers in the long run,” commented Uri Marchand, Overwolf CEO and Co-Founder. “By offering CurseForge Core, we are accelerating the community-created content movement by enabling publishers to easily integrate mods safely and seamlessly into their existing and new games. With the backing of the most notable investors in the space, we are confident that the Overwolf platform will lay the groundwork for a new era of AAA game creation.”
Overwolf believes in a future in which the community can participate with the game developer in creating new, moderated, and safe game experiences. This benefits game developers, as game development costs continue to rise, adding community firepower can be critical. With CurseForge Core, Overwolf manages content moderation, UGC-related live ops, and creator payment, enabling game developers and studios to access community-created content easily without incurring additional costs. CurseForge Core offers the following benefits:
Cross-Platform Modding — Integrate Overwolf’s open-source SDKs and plugins to let players discover and install mods in-game, across all platforms and storefronts.
Full Analytics Dashboard — Get a full modding usage dashboard to learn which mods are popular. Gather insights on what content players find enjoyable, which genres are trending, and much more.
Safe and Secure Moderation — Each mod submitted is scanned for viruses or inappropriate content. Defined policies and guidelines on what is permitted are enforced by Overwolf, and only authorized content is published.
Creator Relations and Payment — CurseForge supports creators with Author Rewards Program, fund investments, developer contests, and hackathons.
“Similar to how developers use Unity to build a game, we see Overwolf as the framework for everything UGC related to games. Overwolf allows for one of the only means of monetization for the thousands of creators, in turn, this translates to increased engagement for the publishers and more content for gamers. Services like Overwolf set the stage for the industry to see a new generation of user-generated content and we are excited to invest in the leading company moving this space forward,” commented Nick Tuosto, Co-Founder of Griffin Gaming Partners and Managing Director at LionTree.
“We’ve been following UGC in gaming for many years and believe Overwolf has established itself as a leader in this category,” said Teddie Wardi, Managing Director at Insight Partners. “AAA game studios will want to allow creators to build and express themselves, and Overwolf is positioned as the platform to make this possible by ensuring that creators are recognized for their contributions, and easily integrating creations into games. Overwolf has proved themselves to be strong champions of the creator community and we look forward to helping them scale up in 2021.”
“Overwolf is developing the holy grail of frameworks for UGC for both publishers and in-game creators. Enabling all major publishers like us, to allow the creation of mods in a safe, secure, authorized, and profitable manner; is a game changer for all creators and IP holders,” said Oscar Navarro, Head of Corporate Development for Ubisoft.
To learn more about how CurseForge Core can support AAA developers and game studios, please visit https://link.overwolf.com/cfcore.
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The post Huge Jackpot at King Billy Casino: C$3,658,306! appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Play’n GO, the world’s leading casino entertainment provider, has today announced its latest US operator partnership, with Resorts Digital Gaming, in the state of New Jersey.
Resorts Digital Gaming was acquired by Boyd Interactive in September 2024, and this announcement sees the group’s players on the www.resortscasino.com and www.mohegansuncasino.com brands in New Jersey gain access to a multitude of classic Play’n GO game titles, such as the legendary Book of Dead, Rise of Merlin, and Rise of Olympus.
Play’n GO entered New Jersey in September 2022, shortly after first launching in the US via the state of West Virginia in July of that year. It has since seen its games live in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and most recently, Connecticut.
Magnus Olsson, Chief Commercial Officer at Play’n GO, commented “New Jersey has been of crucial importance to our US operations for over two years now, so it is with great pleasure that we make this announcement in conjunction with Resorts Digital Gaming.
“The company joins together two instantly recognizable operator brands, and the addition of Play’n GO’s games will be of enormous mutual benefit. We confidently describe ourselves as the world’s leading casino entertainment provider, and partnerships like this one are of great importance to us in establishing that idea. We’re excited to see this partnership flourish.”
Jim Ryan, Chief Executive Officer at Boyd Interactive, added “The whole Resorts Digital Gaming team is excited to bring Play’n GO games to our players. Play’n GO is one of the world’s leading iGaming brands, and we’re confident that our players are as excited as we are to see those Play’n GO titles on both www.resortscasino.com and www.mohegansuncasino.com.”
Match Hype has just won two industry competitions. Talk us through your product.
Match Hype brings engagement from social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram into the sportsbook. Our technology automatically turns raw sports data into short videos full of sports and betting insights. We have the capacity to create up to a million videos daily in more than 30 languages. We also provide hosting and streaming of the videos, and we track everything in the video thanks to our own player. The high level of video experience and the scale make us unique in the market, and we believe that this innovation is extremely needed in the industry—and the judges in the competitions probably agree with us.
What technologies are you leveraging to deliver such a cutting-edge tool/product?
We have more than six years’ experience in developing dynamic video solutions for clients like Microsoft, HBO, and SAP, and a decade in high-end video production for similarly well-known clients. Match Hype is the essence of this. We have developed our own robust cloud infrastructure that enables us to work on a huge scale. We can also leverage the integration of third-party solutions that help us make the video content rich and engaging. The AI boom came at the right time to help us make the experience for the viewer even better.
Who is Match Hype aimed at?
We focus mostly on sportsbook operators, where we think we can bring the biggest value. But we also have clients on the affiliate and media side. Our “competition” at the moment are creative professionals who are able to create one video at a time. To cover hundreds or thousands of events daily, you need huge manpower. With Match Hype, you don’t need that—it’s all automated. Anybody who appreciates this level of efficiency will benefit.
The end users are any sports fans who enjoy engaging videos. So basically everybody.
Has this industry been slow to embrace video content and unlock the potential it offers? If so, why?
It’s hard for us to talk about the whole industry, as we haven’t been part of it for that long. But iGaming feels like a conservative industry where only truly meaningful innovations make it. Fingers crossed for Match Hype being one of them. We are confident because of our track record in other industries, and mostly thanks to the results of our dynamic videos that are already used by significant igaming industry players.
What makes video content so effective at customer acquisition? How can Match Hype be used in this regard?
People just love video content. In the last review, TikTok said that the average user spends around 90 minutes a day on their platform. Platforms like Spotify used to be music and podcasts only; now they are full of videos. You just can’t ignore that. Video killed the radio star, and a static sportsbook is next to die.
And what about retention? How can it be used to keep players engaged and coming back for more?
Imagine that a 30-second video gives you the exact insights to help you make a betting decision without spending dozens of minutes on different resources to gather all the information. People don’t want to read anymore. This is probably an even bigger strength of Match Hype than user acquisition.
What can we expect from Match Hype in the coming months?
We will establish Match Hype as an industry standard for dynamic video content. We’ll bring many more sports like tennis, basketball horse racing and. We are preparing real-time video use cases—for example, half-time updates in football—and new distribution channels like integration directly into streams. The potential is huge. Stay tuned.
Any final thoughts?
For the last year, we have talked with literally hundreds of iGaming experts, investors, and executives. Almost every one of them sees fan engagement as a huge topic in the upcoming months and years. And video will definitely play a key part in it.
Video says more than a thousand words. Give it a go—watch one of our 30-second videos and see for yourself.
The post Exclusive Q&A w/ Radek Pšurný, CEO at Match Hype appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Gambling.com Group Reports Third Quarter 2024 Results and Raises 2024 Guidance
Huge Jackpot at King Billy Casino: C$3,658,306!
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