Kaizen Foundation Launches in Romania and contributes €350,000 to the Renovation of a Critical Section in the Pitesti Pediatric Hospital

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Executives from Flexion, the games marketing company, will hold a series of summit talks with top developers at GDC in San Francisco (18 to 22 March 2024) to discuss how direct-to-consumer (D2C) services could enhance revenue.

The D2C’24 Summit will focus on the opportunities offered to developers by recent moves freeing up the mobile games market and, in particular, on new routes to user acquisition. The aim will be to align the industry on the best way forward in light of changes in the app stores.

Flexion is already the leader in accessing alternative markets including Amazon, Samsung, Huawei, Xiaomi, Aptoide, DT Hubs and ONEstore, boosting revenue for top games without upfront costs or significant effort. It is building on its partnerships with these platforms and other industry leading companies from UA to 3rd party billing to meet future developer needs.

“We have many years of experience and the know-how in taking an existing game and finding new revenue sources. We have also built partnerships across the industry – including with alternative app stores – that will allow us to help developers go much further in future,” Jens Lauritzson, CEO of Flexion, said.

In the last quarter, Flexion saw a 64% increase in its own revenue, as an increasing number of developers took the plunge into alternative markets. Through working with Flexion, developers see a more than 10% average boost in revenue (over marketing in Google Play alone) without significantly adding to their costs.

Jens said: “Developers have been frustrated by difficult user acquisition, where it is challenging to achieve positive returns due to changes in tracking and high store fees. But with the DMA in Europe and court cases in the US forcing Google and Apple to ease their stranglehold on the mobile games market, now is an excellent time for developers to re-engage directly with consumers.

“Many will hesitate at the underlying complexity and size of investment needed to exploit these opportunities, and so third-party services, like those being developed by Flexion, are going to be vital in making the ROI figures work.”

Through the D2C’24 Summit, Flexion will canvas opinions and share its ideas on direct-to-consumer marketing with top developers. The goal will be to create a consensus on the tools and services developers will need to maximise returns.

“We’re at the edge of a step change in the mobile games market and it’s important for the industry that we get things right. That’s why we’ve invited developers to these talks, and I’d be happy to hear from anyone else who would like to contribute to the discussion,” Jens said.

Ben Anquetil’s appointment as Head of Business Development is an important part of Flexion’s future-focused strategy. He has a brief to evaluate the company’s value proposition for D2C with the aim of ensuring that developers generate better return on their marketing spend going forward.

“I’m delighted to welcome Ben to the Flexion family at such an exciting time. He has a wealth of experience in the alternative distribution space and in strategic initiatives that generate more revenue and audiences for developers. With his help, Flexion will grow a whole new aspect of its business, offering developers easy access to the burgeoning range of markets that will become the norm,” Jens said.

“I foresee amazing opportunities for developers. By using D2C services, they will be able to enhance user engagement and retention for their games while improving margin. These factors will give them the freedom to grow revenue and audiences,” Ben said.

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Takashi Oya, the president of Kyushu Resorts, one of Nagasaki Prefecture’s partners in its plan to develop an integrated resort has disassociated himself from the possibility of an appeal against the negative decision from central government.

As reported by local industry outlet, Oya told a meeting at the general affairs committee of the Nagasaki prefectural assembly on Monday (March 12) that he would not file a request for an administrative appeal as the chances of getting a favourable response were negligible. Under Japan’s Administrative Appeal Act, the deadline for any such appeal would be March 27.

Oya said he still believed the Nagasaki IR District Development Plan deserved to be approved. He suggested the reason for the rejection could have been due to the lack of clarity in the certainty of fundraising and implementation capacity.

Nagasaki submitted its IR District Development Plan alongside Osaka in 2022, aiming to partner with Casinos Austria International Japan and to open by 2027. The expected cost for the development was to be JPY438.3bn.

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LeoVegas-owned sportsbook BetUK has been told by the UK’s Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) not to repeat an advertisement again which featured former footballer Adebayo Akinfenwa, due to its appeal to under-18s.

The radio ad for the operator in September 2023 saw Akinfenwa state he was a brand ambassador for the company. He promoted BetUK’s responsible gambling tools including deposit limits, reality checks and timeouts.

The ASA investigated the ad on the grounds of a complaint which said Akinfenwa may appeal to under-18s, and the body has subsequently ordered BetUK not to repeat the ad.

The ASA acknowledged BetUK’s argument that during his playing career, 41-year-old Akinfenwa never played in the Premier League – and so his appeal to under-18s was “low-risk.”

However, the ASA, referring to the B/CAP guidance, said that Akinfenwa was “likely” to have appeal to under-18s due to his social and media profiles.

“The B/CAP guidance classed footballers at lower league and non-league clubs as ‘low risk,’ but also stated footballers from outside the topflight could be of ‘moderate risk’ on the basis of their social and other media profiles,” the ASA said in its ruling.

Akinfenwa initially rose to fame through the FIFA series of video games, where he was highlighted by YouTuber-turned-boxer KSI for his in-game strength attribute.

“While we acknowledged BetUK’s view that Mr Akinfenwa’s clothing range, BeastModeOn, had broad appeal and was not targeted at children, we considered the manner in which he was portrayed in the media and by which he had marketed himself would have led some football fans to view him as a cult hero in the game,” the UK’s advertising watchdog said.

“We therefore considered that his media profile, alongside our view that he was unusually well known for a former lower league footballer, would have placed him in the ‘moderate risk’ category of the guidance.”

BetUK also argued that only eight percent of Akinfenwa’s followers on Instagram were under-18s and that the radio ad was played during a show which was likely to have an adult audience.

The operator added that 13% of his Snapchat followers were under 18.

The ASA, however, noted in its ruling that Akinfenwa therefore “had at least 157,000 followers who were under 18 years.”

The watchdog added that the true number was likely higher due to the unavailability of follower data for Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok.

“Although his career as a lower league footballer and his media profile in isolation would have placed him in the ‘moderate risk’ category, we considered that because he had such large numbers of social media followers who were under 18 years due to his career and profile, Mr Akinfenwa would be placed in the ‘high risk’ category and was likely to be of strong appeal to under-18s,” the ASA concluded.