Gerhold: Building an Alternative to Established Labels Stephan Steininger May 24, 2024 – 2 min read Share this post Mario Gerhold © Gerhold The winner Lennard K. (left) receiving the trophy from the tournament casters (Konami) Tabletop Lennard K. is German Yu-Gi-Oh! Master 2026 At German Nationals 2026 in Münster this weekend, the winner Lennard K. qualified himself for the Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship in Japan end of August. By Pascal Wagner • 1 min read People Riatti, Jahn, Hartung and Lueneborg Staff Esports Player Foundation Advisory Board The esports player foundation has revealed its new advisory board members: Hans Christian Lueneborg of Riot is chair, foundation co-founder Evangelos Papathanassiou vice-chair. Max Hartung, Karsten Jahn and Matteo Riatti join. By Pascal Wagner • 1 min read From left to right: Olivier Deslandes (Chief Operating Officer) and Martin McBride (Chief Commercial Officer) © Side People Side Names New COO and CCO to Accelerate Scale and Growth Games services provider Side has reorganised its executive team to improve operational delivery and go-to-market capabilities. Olivier Deslandes has been promoted to Chief Operating Officer, while Martin McBride has been promoted to Chief Commercial Officer. By Marcel Kleffmann • 2 min read Mika Tammenkoski, CEO and co-founder at Metacore © Jussi Ratilainen Business Metacore Shutters German and Swedish Locations, 159 Layoffs in Finland As part of the acquisition through Supercell, Metacore is not only laying off 159 people in Finland, but is fully shuttering operations in its Germany and Sweden offices. By Pascal Wagner • 1 min read Arizona Sunshine, one of their best-known VR titles. (Vertigo Games) VR-XR-MR Vertigo Games Shutters Amsterdam Studio, Formerly Force Field Plaion daughter Vertigo Games has announced the closure of its Amsterdam office, the former Force Field Entertainment. CEO Richard Stitselaar says that "the VR market remains a challenging space". By Pascal Wagner • 1 min read Close, but no AI (yet): Mr Potato Head Chips Cheesie Onionton (Hasbro) Tabletop Hasbro's Launches AI Studio to Control How Its Brands are Portrayed in Generated Content With Sixth Wall, Hasbro wants to take control over how its brand characters are portrayed by genAI. The new studio partners with ElevenLabs to license twelve Hasbro characters to their AI marketplace - all from the toy and boardgame section. By Pascal Wagner • 2 min read from left to right: Madeleine Egger (Head of Womenize!), Ruth Lemmen (Co-Founder of Womenize!), Lissandra Haulica (Ambassade de France en Allemagne), Joscha Neumann (Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg) at Womenize! (c) Womenize / Anna Martynenko Events Womenize! 2026 Saw 170 Participants For the eleventh time, Womenize! has served as a platform for women and underrepresented individuals in the games and tech industries, with 170 participants attending in person and over 35,000 people watching on Twitch. By Marcel Kleffmann • 2 min read Global Esports Industry Week 2026 (c) The Esports Radar, Esports Integrity Commission, ESL Faceit Group Business Global Esports Industry Week 2026 in Cologne Global Esports Industry Week 2026 will take place in Cologne this year, coinciding with IEM Cologne. Over 400 attendees and more than 75 speakers are expected. The Global Esports Industry Week debuted last year in Austin, Texas. By Marcel Kleffmann • 2 min read R6 Central Combine (c) Ubisoft Esports Offline Finals of the R6 Central Combine at Ubisoft Düsseldorf Emerging Rainbow Six Siege esports talents from Europe and the MENA region have the opportunity to showcase their abilities in the upcoming EML Challenger Circuit 2026 series, where they can secure a spot in the offline finals on 25 July at Ubisoft Düsseldorf. By Marcel Kleffmann • 1 min read
The winner Lennard K. (left) receiving the trophy from the tournament casters (Konami) Tabletop Lennard K. is German Yu-Gi-Oh! Master 2026 At German Nationals 2026 in Münster this weekend, the winner Lennard K. qualified himself for the Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship in Japan end of August. By Pascal Wagner • 1 min read
People Riatti, Jahn, Hartung and Lueneborg Staff Esports Player Foundation Advisory Board The esports player foundation has revealed its new advisory board members: Hans Christian Lueneborg of Riot is chair, foundation co-founder Evangelos Papathanassiou vice-chair. Max Hartung, Karsten Jahn and Matteo Riatti join. By Pascal Wagner • 1 min read
From left to right: Olivier Deslandes (Chief Operating Officer) and Martin McBride (Chief Commercial Officer) © Side People Side Names New COO and CCO to Accelerate Scale and Growth Games services provider Side has reorganised its executive team to improve operational delivery and go-to-market capabilities. Olivier Deslandes has been promoted to Chief Operating Officer, while Martin McBride has been promoted to Chief Commercial Officer. By Marcel Kleffmann • 2 min read
Mika Tammenkoski, CEO and co-founder at Metacore © Jussi Ratilainen Business Metacore Shutters German and Swedish Locations, 159 Layoffs in Finland As part of the acquisition through Supercell, Metacore is not only laying off 159 people in Finland, but is fully shuttering operations in its Germany and Sweden offices. By Pascal Wagner • 1 min read
Arizona Sunshine, one of their best-known VR titles. (Vertigo Games) VR-XR-MR Vertigo Games Shutters Amsterdam Studio, Formerly Force Field Plaion daughter Vertigo Games has announced the closure of its Amsterdam office, the former Force Field Entertainment. CEO Richard Stitselaar says that "the VR market remains a challenging space". By Pascal Wagner • 1 min read
Close, but no AI (yet): Mr Potato Head Chips Cheesie Onionton (Hasbro) Tabletop Hasbro's Launches AI Studio to Control How Its Brands are Portrayed in Generated Content With Sixth Wall, Hasbro wants to take control over how its brand characters are portrayed by genAI. The new studio partners with ElevenLabs to license twelve Hasbro characters to their AI marketplace - all from the toy and boardgame section. By Pascal Wagner • 2 min read
from left to right: Madeleine Egger (Head of Womenize!), Ruth Lemmen (Co-Founder of Womenize!), Lissandra Haulica (Ambassade de France en Allemagne), Joscha Neumann (Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg) at Womenize! (c) Womenize / Anna Martynenko Events Womenize! 2026 Saw 170 Participants For the eleventh time, Womenize! has served as a platform for women and underrepresented individuals in the games and tech industries, with 170 participants attending in person and over 35,000 people watching on Twitch. By Marcel Kleffmann • 2 min read
Global Esports Industry Week 2026 (c) The Esports Radar, Esports Integrity Commission, ESL Faceit Group Business Global Esports Industry Week 2026 in Cologne Global Esports Industry Week 2026 will take place in Cologne this year, coinciding with IEM Cologne. Over 400 attendees and more than 75 speakers are expected. The Global Esports Industry Week debuted last year in Austin, Texas. By Marcel Kleffmann • 2 min read
R6 Central Combine (c) Ubisoft Esports Offline Finals of the R6 Central Combine at Ubisoft Düsseldorf Emerging Rainbow Six Siege esports talents from Europe and the MENA region have the opportunity to showcase their abilities in the upcoming EML Challenger Circuit 2026 series, where they can secure a spot in the offline finals on 25 July at Ubisoft Düsseldorf. By Marcel Kleffmann • 1 min read
