Slovakia-based social game developer Pixel Federation has announced a new environment-focused Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy. 

In 2020, Pixel Federation generated €47.8M in revenue and had 120M players across international markets, making it Slovakia’s biggest games development company. Its portfolio of popular free-to-play games includes Diggy’s Adventure, Seaport, Trainstation 2, and Trainstation. 

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the company pivoted its CSR strategy to support its home city of Bratislava by fundraising for frontline workers. Together with a number of other parties, the company launched a nationwide fundraising campaign, attracting the support of tech giant Amazon, ČSOB Foundation and many others, and raising over €1.4M. 

Now, with the COVID pandemic subsiding, the company is refocusing its upcoming CSR strategy towards a number of environmental projects. 

Pixel Federation Co-Founder, CSR Strategy lead and CLO, Lucia Šickova, said: “Education, the environment, culture and sport are still only an appendix on the edge of many Slovakians’ understanding of life skills. It’s a long-term and unchanged situation in non-strength sectors as they don’t have a quick return on investment. We want to ensure that the Slovakia we leave behind is better than the one we were born into.

“Our CSR strategy has always been a combination of long-term, consistent support for the projects we believe in, as well as one-time support for efforts we see as an urgent need. In recent years, we have also supported the Kramáre Hospital, the well-known Red Nose initiative, and focused our efforts to fundraise for frontline workers when the COVID-19 pandemic first hit Slovakia.”

Pixel Federation Co-Founder and former CEO, Šimon Šicko, added: “I see this activity as a partnership with the city. Our motivation is not personal or corporate PR, our motivation is impact and something that will outlive all of us.”

One initiative the company is already engaged with is planting trees in partnership with Bratislava city authorities. The first 12 trees, out of a planned 10,000, have already been planted on Šancova Street in the city.

Additionally, the Pixel Federation is also planning to work closely with BROZ (Bratislava Regional Conservation Association), which brings together professional conservationists dedicated to the protection and restoration of rare habitats in the Little Carpathians mountain range. 

Image credit: Pixel Federation

Investing in the Future through Education

The company hasn’t just made an impact with its environmental and COVID relief efforts either. Pixel Federation’s charitable ventures originally focused on raising awareness of gaming and providing opportunities for young people in a field that the country’s education system was neglecting. 

Pixel’s first educational project was the Butterfly Effect, which brought together successful Slovak digital companies including Sygic, Leaf, HubHub, and Pixel Federation, in an effort to share knowledge with young people. More than 130 program graduates successfully created 22 products and four startups as a result. 

With long-term financial support from Pixel Federation, the dedicated people behind Edulienka were able to create a standardized education system that focuses on innovative and comprehensive development of 21st century skills in socially disadvantaged children. 

Distributed among a number of schools in Slovakia, Pixel’s time and funds supported this project to ensure the expansion of the first school from 15 to 100 pupils and enabled those from socially disadvantaged families to study.

Genki, a new tool for internet content creators to generate revenue without having to ask fans for money, has opened registrations for the beta testing phase. 

Created by the inSTREAMLY team, Genki is a loyalty program that allows creators to earn commission from the purchases their fans make in thousands of shops affiliated with the Genki service. 

Fans can install the Genki browser extension, and then choose which creator they want to appreciate. Then, they simply do their normal shopping at any of over 30,000 shops, and the chosen creator will get 1-5% commission from their purchases – meaning fans don’t have to spend additional money, and creators get much needed revenue. 

According to the company, an average content creator using Genki could monetise around 20% of their total audience, with a yearly income per registered fan of around $20 USD. This compared to “a popular subscription and patronage platform” that estimates 1-3% of a creator’s audience can be monetised, with a total yearly income per fan averaging $21. 

Wiktoria Wójcik, co-founder of inSTREAMLY, explained: “No other platform out there provides similar benefits for both fans and creators alike. Current model of subscriptions and donations built in popular platforms is oversaturated and favoring only the top creators. 

“Individual fans are only able to support at most a few creators at a time and often, the majority of them are not able to pay for the subscription, though they want to appreciate the creator. On the other hand, a significant number of creators do not like to ask for the money directly. Genki’s groundbreaking approach allows the creators to monetise a broader audience with a very low entry barrier.”

inSTREAMLY’s other project, a platform connecting streamers of all sizes with top brand sponsorships, is now used by over 15,000 streamers and 70 brands worldwide.

Genki Beta will be open for all creators during the first month, after which it will switch to an invite only mode. You can find out more about Genki, and register as a creator or fan, here. 

AYO.NEWS says:

Effective monetisation is a constant headache for all but the most popular few percent of content creators, so we’re sure there’ll be a lot of interest in Genki. The question is whether Genki can keep friction to a minimum with the sign-up and admin process, and crucially, can it attract and keep the right merchants in the program? 

The government of Malta has launched a new initiative to try and attract so-called ‘digital nomads,’ with a specific emphasis on iGaming affiliates. 

Under the new scheme, eligible business owners and remote workers moving to Malta will be entitled to a one-year €300 residence permit. Applicants will be required to prove they are working remotely, owners of a company, or freelancers offering services to international clients, and must have a valid passport and documents to prove they are living in a residential property in Malta. 

The Nomad Residence Permit initiative was announced by Parliamentary Secretary for Citizenship, Alex Muscat, together with Residency Malta Agency CEO, Charles Mizzi, and Identity Malta’s Anton Sevasta.

Regarding the scheme, Muscat said: “Trends show that nomadic professionals are looking for safe places, even in terms of the healthcare that is available to them. We believe Malta is an ideal safe and secure destination to live and work in and we’re taking this step to introduce the ancillary services that accommodate these professions. There’s a market for digital nomads. We’ve already attracted digital nomads in the past.”

While Mizzi added: “Residency Malta has launched this new permit that allows digital nomads to come to Malta and work here, while enjoying all the perks that Malta offers foreigners. The process is simple and we promise an efficient service that discerning nomads expect.”

Meanwhile, Eman Pulis, founder of SiGMA Group, took to social media to say: “We as SiGMA Group have lobbied the Gov of Malta for the past five years to introduce incentives for affiliates to relocate to Malta. Malta has done a great job attracting suppliers and operators because of the MGA license. However for the igaming ecosystem to be complete the country needs a constant supply of affiliates. The more affiliates we have in Malta the harder it becomes for an operator to simply pack up and leave the country.” 

AYO.NEWS says:

While the Nomad Residence Permit seems like a suitably 2020’s policy in name, we wonder if it will have any real impact?

We’ve always got the impression digital nomads like to find places where they can enjoy a better quality of life and make their earnings go further –  not places with eye watering rents, abysmal infrastructure, an environment that’s now distinctly more nightmare urban dystopia than Mediterranean paradise, and beaches that are usually more mosh pit than chill. 

Plus, considering that EU citizens, COVID-19 aside, already enjoy freedom of movement and abode that perfectly suffices for most digital nomads, we can only assume this initiative is aimed at Brits and those from further afield, like North America. However, they are already spoiled for choice when it comes to cheap, sunny, and welcoming destinations for remote work – the Caribbean, Thailand, or Bali for example. 

Yes, Muscat is correct, Malta has attracted digital nomads in the past. But, could that possibly be because the islands used to be cheap and beautiful? As a foreigner who has been living in Malta for six years now, I can attest that much of what used to make the country attractive just a few shot years ago no longer exists. 

So, if they want to attract and keep both iGaming businesses and associated talent, maybe the Maltese government should focus on making the islands an attractive and affordable place to live and do business again, rather than peddling desperate sounding gimmicks like this? 

New digital art project Artifex is launching its NFT platform and auction of limited edition NFT artwork based on self-portraits of renowned artists.

Artifex is an NFT platform designed to showcase the work of innovative digital artists. The auctions commenced on May 20th featuring original work from Billelis and toomuchlag, and on May 21st with pieces by FVUCKRENDER and Baeige. 

Auctions continue this week with works from Blake Kathryn and Jason Ebeyer (Tuesday, May 25), Aeforia and Maalavidaa (Wednesday, May 26) and Victor Mosquera and XSULLO (Thursday, May 27) at www.artifex.art.

Roger Dickerman, Founder of Artifex, commented: “Following the success of our NYC NFT takeover in Times Square and around the city, where we showcased digital art from 23 top artists in the space, we feel it’s time to fully launch Artifex and auction single edition artwork as well as showcase limited edition sculptures honoring some of today’s most influential NFT artists.

“The industry desperately needs a solid platform that filters through the noise to reveal this generation’s true artists, while also creating an opportunity for artists to represent themselves in their work; and we’re happy Artifex will meet this need.” 

Each Artifex auction is released in “waves” around specific themes. The first wave is “The Family,” which represents the spirit of the NFT space: the collaboration, the community, and the positivity. The group consists of talented artists who rose up on Instagram and beyond to forge digital and real world relationships, and blaze trails both together and individually. 

Each artist will showcase their work as a metaphorical self-portrait– such as a humanoid, animal, or object representation of self. The artwork ultimately answers the question: how do you see yourself in a piece of art? 

Each original artwork is auctioned as a 1/1 NFT. The NFTs will feature an Artifex, or a 3D sculpture of each artist’s work, created by art director DurkAtWork. The Artifex is a /100 NFT, 67 of which are available as limited editions. Through the Artifex, the character steps out of the original artwork into 3D virtual immortality. The sculpture is timeless and has a roadmap for metaverse-compatibility, AR filters, and more.

Simona chats with Aaron Speach, CEO of NASDAQ-listed Esports Technologies, Inc., about his experience in esports and the company’s exciting plans to create the world’s best esports betting platform.

Esports Technologies aims to offer a full suite of services and products to provide best in class esports betting to customers and industry partners. These include odds modelled using advanced AI, gamified wagering experiences, and advanced data visualisations.

In March 2021, Esports Technologies relaunched Gogawi.com in selected markets, offering esports, sports, slots, and casino gaming. Watch the video to find out Aaron’s insights on cross-selling players between verticals – something many operators have previously found challenging.

Earlier this year, Esports Technologies announced a strategic partnership with Clinton Sparks – entrepreneur, investor, author, music producer, songwriter, multi-platinum DJ, and CBDO and Co-owner of Boston-based esports and gaming organisation XSET.

Don’t miss Simona’s chat with Clinton:

Multi-platinum Puerto Rican singer-songwriter Ozuna and renowned French sculptor and visual neo-pop artist Richard Orlinski have partnered to release an NFT collection on Rarible, facilitated by Zytara Labs. 

Ozuna, one of the world’s most popular singers and Latin Grammy award-winner, made history earlier this year by becoming the first Latin recording artist to drop an NFT collection. 

Richard Orlinski is always eager to discover new forms of art, and enters the digital NFT world with this collaboration. These upcoming digital art pieces—a collection titled El Oso & Wild Kong—are inspired by Orlinski’s art work, most notably his iconic sculpture the Wild Kong, and Ozuna’s famous Teddy Bear logo. 

The drop is scheduled for release on the Rarible NFT marketplace on Friday, May 28, 2021. El Oso & Wild Kong collection will include a total of 5 pieces will be available in the following limited quantities with one piece for auction, and the other 3 available at fixed prices:

• Voiture: 500 Limited edition  
• Trophée: 100 limited edition 
• Portorico Calin: 100 limited edition
• Stadium: 50 limited edition
• No Mans Land: 1:1 edition for auction 

Ozuna shared, “I’ve always had a huge appreciation for Art. To now be able to collaborate with such a well respected artist like Orlinksi is a thrill and an inspiration. Working together and bringing people our collaboration directly and uniquely, we will continue pushing boundaries together and making art accessible.” 

Richard Orlinski expressed, “It has been a great pleasure collaborating with Ozuna on this collection. The blockchain technology gives us new opportunities to be creative, to build bridges between different types of art, and most importantly to make art accessible to a greater number of people, which is a common goal Ozuna and I share. This collection is the first step of a long-term artistic relationship between Ozuna and I.”

Al Burgio, Founder and CEO of Zytara, expressed, “We are incredibly excited to support this unique NFT collaboration between Ozuna and Richard Orlinksi that represents the type of artistic creation that is made possible by the innovations brought forth by blockchain technology and the immutability of NFTs.”

This NFT drop will also include original prints and sculptures by Richard Orlinski. To stay up to date, please visit orlinskixozuna.com

AYO.NEWS says:

Ozuna is definitely proving his acumen when it comes to staying at the leading edge of culture and business. Last month he became a managing partner in US-based esports and gaming brand XSET, and shortly afterwards unveiled the XSET Ozuna Presents: Built 4 Play clothing capsule.