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Casino Guru Awards introduces judges for Responsible Gambling Tools category
Casino Guru Awards has revealed the names of the judges for the Responsible Gambling Tools category.
After the announcement of the Casino Guru Awards last week, Casino Guru News is excited to outline one of the most important categories for the upcoming ceremony and the people who will decide what the best companies in it are. The Casino Guru Awards category for “The Best Implementation of Responsible Gambling Tools” is set in a way to make sure that all entries are judged objectively and fairly, we have secured the services of industry specialists with proven track record and extensive understanding of the subject matter.
Casino Guru Awards is thrilled to introduce Gordon Moody CEO Matthew Hickey, Responsible Gaming Foundation General Manager Kevin O’Neill, Responsible Gambling Council Director, Standards and Accreditation Tracy Parker, Gamban VP of Strategic Partnerships Stephen Aupy, Entain SVP for American Regulatory Affairs and Responsible Gambling Martin Lycka, Kindred Head of Responsible Gaming & Research Maris Catania from, and Genius Gaming Consult – Senior Consultant Regulatory Frameworks James Mpiirwe, Betknowmore Head of External Affairs Matt Smith, Gambling Addiction Expert Jody Bechtold, and Pieter Remmers, Founder Assissa Consultancy Europe as the judges for this crucial category which is a focal point of everything Casino Guru Awards is about.
- Matthew Hickey is an industry veteran with 20 years of experience under his belt. Gordon Moody is focused on providing treatment to people who are severely addicted to gambling.
- Kevin O’Neill’s position as General Manager for the Responsible Gambling Foundation gives him the opportunity to drive industry standards and resonates with his genuine interest in promulgating responsibility during gambling activity to both player and operator.
- Tracy Parker primary interest is on collaborating with organizations through her position at the Responsible Gambling Council and foster meaningful industry-wide change. Parker is determined to help organizations introduce safer gambling experiences by tapping into best practice research, employee training policies, and more.
- Stephen Aupy from Gamban is working on helping key stakeholders in the industry achieve commercial sustainability while ensuring high player protection standards. Aupy comes from a philosophy of “lived experience” in approaching responsible gambling tools and initiatives.
- Martin Lycka has more than 12 years of experience working on various responsible gambling initiatives in listed gambling companies. He is currently with Entain. Lycka is also part of the Entain Foundation, the Entain Foundation US and the American Gaming Association’s boards and has a deep understanding of the RG aspect of the industry.
- Maris Catania is specializing in understanding the early symptoms and signs of gambling addiction, and she has been working hard to expand the industry’s understanding of what early signs should be addressed and what responsible gambling tools need to be used to achieve that. Her work with Kindred Group has been crucial to this end.
- James Mpiirwe is a legal practitioner with 13 years of experience. He pioneered the National Responsible Gaming Policy of Uganda, and he has used his more than a decade of experience to drive impactful and meaningful change in the industry.
- Matt Smith has been with Betknowmore as Head of External Affairs for years now. He has lived experience of gambling and he is passionate about providing support and training services to prevent and address personal and societal harms caused by gambling.
- Jody Bechtold is an esteemed problem gambling specialist and co-author of “The Gambling Disorder Treatment Handbook: A Guide for Mental Health Professionals” Her experience spans multiple organizations and institutions that are studying and looking to help tackle problem gambling.
- Pieter Remmers is the Founder of Assissa Consultancy Europe, a household organization that provides responsible gambling training to the industry. Under his leadership, Assissa has worked and brought around impactful changes in a number of regulated markets across Europe and his own track record with gambling goes back to 1989.
Casino Guru will also bring its own judges to the process as well with Head of Content Maros Gasparik and Sustainable & Safer Gambling Lead Simon Vincze also weighing in. Vincze brings a unique insight into the online gambling industry and how it can become safer for everyone at attested by his work on the Global Self-Exclusion Scheme and Casino Guru Academy.
Each of the judges of the panel has a deeper understanding of problem gambling and the problems that the industry faces, and how important responsible gambling tools can be. This is why Casino Guru Awards has seen it fit to only invite people who truly understand that.
All of these judges have had different although similar experience with understanding, fostering, and even developing Responsible Gambling Tools. Because of this, Casino Guru Awards feel strongly that the panel of judges will be able to distinguish the most accomplished companies in this field.
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The German Games Industry Association Congratulates Winners of the German Computer Game Awards 2025
Outstanding games from Germany and a great show with many well-known personalities: the year’s best games made in Germany were honoured at the German Computer Game Awards 2025 (DCP) in Berlin. In the Palais am Funkturm, guests from the areas of culture, society, media, politics and the game industry celebrated the creative teams behind the high-quality games. The hosts Katrin Bauerfeind and Uke Bosse led the audience through the entertaining evening, which numerous viewers also followed via live stream.
The winner in the highest-profile category, “Best German Game,” was “Enshrouded” from the studio Keen Games. The coveted award was presented by Federal Minister for Research, Technology and Aerospace Dorothee Bär, who is responsible for computer and video games in the new Federal Government. The survival RPG game also won in the category “Best Innovation and Technology”. The award for “Studio of the Year” went to Megagon Industries from Berlin, the studio behind the successful “Lonely Mountains” games. The games community and DCP jury chose the streamer Stephan Bliemel, known as Steinwallen, “Player of the Year”. For over a decade, Steinwallen has impressively demonstrated in his video streams how history can be successfully imparted through games. Prize money totalling 800,000 euros was awarded in the framework of the DCP 2025.
The German Computer Game Awards were hosted by the German Federal Government and game – The German Games Industry Association.
“We congratulate all the award winners. Impressive variety, captivating stories and first-rate technologies: once again, on the grand stage of the German Computer Game Awards 2025, the enormous strength of German games studios was clear to see. Germany produces exciting games with world-market potential. These successes send a strong signal and show what Germany has to offer as a game production location. Together with the new Federal Government, we want to enable this creative and technological excellence to shine even more brightly on the international stage in the future,” said Felix Falk, Managing Director of game – The German Games Industry Association.
Overview of all the winners of the German Computer Game Awards 2025:
Best International Game (not endowed)
• Split Fiction (Hazelight Studios / Electronic Arts)
Best German Game (endowed with 100,000 euros)
• Enshrouded (Keen Games)
The other nominees each receive 30,000:
• Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders (Megagon Industries)
• Thronefall (Grizzly Games)
Best Family Game (endowed with 40,000 euros)
• PRIM (Common Colors / Application Systems Heidelberg)
Newcomer Award – Best Debut (endowed with 60,000 euros)
• Nordhold (Stunforge / Stunforge & HypeTrain Digital)
The other nominees each receive 25,000 euros:
• Footgun: Underground (Turtle Knight Games / CobraTekku Games)
• Mindlock – The Apartment (Roof Cut Media / United Soft Media)
Newcomer Award – Best Prototype (endowed with 50,000 euros)
• Blob the Klex (Melena Dressel, Alejandro Rebolledo, Laura Octavianus / Hochschule Darmstadt)
The other nominees each receive 25,000 euros:
• MapMap – A game about Maps (HAW Hamburg / Pipapo Games)
• Stuntboost (Julian Höltge, Tobias Kozel)
• Echoes of Mora (HTW Berlin / Meike Strippel et al.)
• Exhibit A (MDH München / Olivia Falke et al.)
Best Innovation and Technology (endowed with 40,000 euros)
• Enshrouded (Keen Games)
Best Audio Design (endowed with 40,000 euros)
• ODDADA (Sven Ahlgrimm et al.)
Best Game Design (endowed with 40,000 euros)
• Thronefall (Grizzly Games)
Best Graphic Design (endowed with 40,000 euros)
• Harold Halibut (Slow Bros.)
Best Mobile Game (endowed with 40,000 euros)
• Duck Detective: The Secret Salami (Happy Broccoli Games)
Best Story (endowed with 40,000 euros)
• Vampire Therapist (Little Bat Games)
Best Serious Game (endowed with 40,000 euros)
• Deine Stimme (Sebastian Grünwald & Reality Twist / Bavarian State Centre for Political Education)
Studio of the Year (endowed with 50,000 euros)
• Megagon Industries (Berlin)
Player of the Year (not endowed)
• Steinwallen
Special Jury Award (endowed with a total of 10,000 euros; the two winners each receive 5000 euros)
• Flipper und Arcade Museum Seeligenstadt
• GAME:IN
The post The German Games Industry Association Congratulates Winners of the German Computer Game Awards 2025 appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Slotozilla is an industry-leading online casino and slot review platform. Since its inception, the company has published refreshed analyses covering iGaming operators and software – with the intent to provide accurate, informative data for all users.
Throughout 2024, Slotozilla collected relevant data pertaining to player usage of the platform. These insights unveiled clear illustrations of player preferences, gender distribution, age-related data and other appropriate gaming behaviour. The report outlines significant findings laid bare by Slotozilla’s year-long study.
Explosive Global Favourites: The Demo Slots That Dominated 2024
Clear regional preferences were brought to light during Slotozilla’s 2024 analysis, as Book of Ra dominated the European industry. Where’s the Gold represented Australia’s favourite slot, while Plinko, Wolf Run and Sizzling Hot garnered significant attention from a worldwide player base.
Sizzling Hot Deluxe earned plaudits within the French gaming arena – attaining nearly one-quarter of the nation’s demo playtime. Industry developers and operators should expect these slots to influence the iGaming scene in 2025 and beyond.
Beyond the Numbers: Surprising Engagement and Demographic Shifts Revealed
The previous year detailed a clear shift towards all-encompassing domination by particular titles and demographics. For example, Columbus proved a major hit among USA bettors – racking up an average playtime of 194.8 minutes. That figure sits far ahead of the next game in line, King of Atlantis, which garnered 72.5 minutes per average session from French users.
Similar lob-sided statistics exist when comparing gender-based play, as male German players form 73.91% of the nation’s users—potentially guiding marketing efforts.
Modern Industry Impact
Data collected by SlotoZilla evidences various marked industry shifts spanning several key demographics. The report’s holistic view of the modern iGaming industry highlights the increasing necessity for targeted marketing campaigns, relevant themes and boundary-pushing features.
Users located in Australia, Poland and Canada are notable in this regard – as players from all three vital nations tend to access online slots from the age of 25 onward. Strategies around this data are central to maintaining a robust industry.
The post Slotozilla Data Report: Unveiling 2024’s Gaming Statistics appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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BGC Raises Concerns About Potential Negative Impact of Further Tax Hike on the Gambling Industry
The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) has warned against further new tax rises on members, as it was confirmed Levy payments to the Horseracing Betting Levy Board are expected to increase for the fourth year in a row.
BGC members are expected to contribute a record £108m in Levy payments to the HBLB for last year, new figures reveal.
The figure, provided by the independent HBLB, is an increase of £3m on the previous year.
It is the fourth year in a row that Levy contributions have increased, from £97m in 2021/22, to £100m in 2022/2023, £105m in 2023/2024 and £108m in 2024/2025.
This increased contribution came despite a concerning fall in betting turnover, and amid threats of a further new tax hike on online sports betting.
The independent HBLB said average turnover per race was down by about 8% on 2023/24, representing a 15% fall on 2022/23 and 19% drop on 2021/22.
Meanwhile, earlier this month the Treasury announced a new tax consultation, proposing replacing the three current online betting and gaming tax rates, with a single new one, sparking fears for sports like racing.
Betting and Gaming Council CEO Grainne Hurst said: “For the fourth year running Levy contributions have increased to record levels, demonstrating the growing, long-term investment regulated betting provides British horseracing.
“But it is concerning to see once more that despite record Levy contributions, racing continues to struggle, both as a sport and as a betting product, with betting turnover down again year on year.
“BGC members remain committed fans of racing and recognise better than most the huge economic impact it makes in communities across the country.
“It’s now more important than ever this vital contribution is not undermined by further new tax rises through the creation of a single tax for online betting, which risks driving punters away from the sport, or into the arms of the growing, unsafe gambling black market.
“These parasite operators don’t pay tax, don’t care about safer gambling, and do not contribute a penny to the Levy. The BGC wants sustainable growth, for our members and for racing, but any new taxes would halt investment, hurt punters and harm racing.”
This fourth annual increase is a new record since the Levy collection reforms of 2017/18.
The post BGC Raises Concerns About Potential Negative Impact of Further Tax Hike on the Gambling Industry appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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