Latest News
THE STAR SYDNEY’S LEADERSHIP TEAM ACHIEVES EQUAL GENDER REPRESENTATION
The Star Sydney leadership team has reached a 50/50 split of men and women following two recent appointments to
the executive group reporting to the Chief Operating Officer (COO).
The Star Entertainment Group has a target of 45% women and 45% men representation in leadership roles across its
properties in Sydney and Queensland, while the remaining 10% reflects scope for any gender identity, including non-binary gender identities.
The result also signals the success of an ongoing commitment to improvement in gender representation. Five years
ago, the equivalent leadership team at The Star Sydney comprised 23% women.
The Star Sydney’s COO, Damian Quayle said that achieving gender equality in the leadership team was the result of a
focused effort including the development of a talent acquisition and recruitment pipeline, fostering an inclusive and
diverse work environment and implementing a group-wide gender equality strategy.
“I am incredibly proud to say that my leadership team reflects a more balanced representation of genders, of our
workforce, of our community and the millions of guests we welcome each year,” Mr Quayle said.
“I wholeheartedly believe that equal representation drives better teamwork, a wider base of experience to drawn upon
and ultimately greater performance.”
The Star Entertainment Group’s Chief People and Performance Officer, Kim Lee added, “We recognise that diversity –
of genders, different cultural backgrounds, experiences and ideas is critical to creating a welcoming environment for
our guests and team members. With more women being elevated to senior roles than ever, The Star is on track to
meet its targets.”
Following the appointments of Sandra Thefs and Christina Lambert, the team now comprises three women and three
men.
Speaking of the two appointments, Mr Quayle said: “Sandra adds over 25 years’ experience in the gaming industry to
the team. She most recently spearheaded delivery of Sovereign, The Star Sydney’s $250 million premium
entertainment and gaming venue.
“Since taking on the role as Director of Hotels, Christina has truly excelled. She has led The Darling Sydney in
maintaining its pre-eminent position as the only luxury hotel to receive the coveted Forbes’ Five Star award. She is now
also responsible for developing a program that ensures that level of service and guest experience is delivered across
our entire property.”
Sandra Thefs, who has been with The Star since 1995 – first as a dealer at Treasury Brisbane, then venturing south for
the launch of ‘Star City’ in 1997 said a strong network of advocates were key to her progression.
“Throughout my time with The Star, I have always been supported in my ambitions to progress my career by my peers
and my managers,” she said. “They instilled the confidence I needed and encouraged me to take up opportunities I
might not have otherwise pursued.
”As Chair of Balance at The Star, our gender equality network, I have seen firsthand the progress we have made in a
short space of time.
“Although there is more work to be done to achieve parity across the board, we have clear direction from our Executive
team, a newly released gender equality strategy to help our targets and a committed workforce all working towards the
same goal.”
The Star Sydney’s Director of Hotel and Guest Experiences, Christina Lambert, said she is thrilled to be part of a
leadership group that values equity, diversity, and inclusion.
“I have had the pleasure of leading The Star Sydney’s hotel team over the last two years, and excited to extend my role
into guest experience across the property,” Ms Lambert said.
“It is important for me to see a balanced representation of genders in our teams, and I’m grateful to be part of that and
ensuring it is reflected across all levels of The Star’s operations.”
Sandra and Christina join Samantha Apps on The Star Sydney‘s leadership team.
Ms Apps joined The Star Entertainment Group in 2017 as General Manager, Group Procurement where she led the
transformation of that function, increasing benefits delivery by 150% over her first two years.
She moved into The Star Sydney’s leadership team in February 2021 as General Manager, Hospitality and Group
Supply Chain. A passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion, Ms Apps is an active ally and member of the ‘Proud at
The Star’ committee that champions a safe, inclusive and welcoming environment for LGBTQI+ team members and
guests, and NSW state representative on Chief Executive Women’s Connect Committee that supports the pathway to
the C-Suite for talented women across Australia.
Latest News
Steer Studios Joins Make-A-Wish® International’s Infinite Wishes Initiative
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– Steer Studios joins Bandai Namco, Square Enix, and 2K in supporting Make-A-Wish International’s mission to unite the global games industry for good. –
Make-A-Wish® International, the world’s leading wish-granting organization, has today announced that Riyadh-based Steer Studios, part of Savvy Games Group, has joined the organization’s Infinite Wishes Initiative, offering valuable support to help make a difference.
The funds were raised through Steer Studios first mobile title, Grunt Rush. By collecting stars during gameplay, the player community unlocked the donation, helping to grant life-changing wishes to children living with critical illnesses.
Launched in August 2025, Infinite Wishes is a global programme built to unite the video games industry. It was created in response to a growing number of gaming-related wishes from children around the world.
Steer Studios joins a growing list of partners and advisors including Bandai Namco, Square Enix, and 2K, helping shape how the games industry can make a tangible, positive impact for children who need it most.
In 2024, the Make-A-Wish International network granted more than 16,000 wishes for children living with critical illnesses.
The post Steer Studios Joins Make-A-Wish® International’s Infinite Wishes Initiative appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Latest News
New GoldenRace game, RaceDay, allows players to simultaneously place bets in several races
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GoldenRace, leading provider of award-winning Virtual Sports and betting solutions, is always reinventing its products so operators can increase their winnings and players can obtain a better betting experience.
Set to transform the way your players engage with Virtual Sports, GoldenRace’s brand-new multi-race product for Retail and Mobile, RaceDay, allows them to bet on up to six races of your choice, simultaneously, offering higher odds and increased betting volume.
Operators can select their favourites from GoldenRace’s top-quality races: Horses (in different formats with 6, 8, 10 or 12 competitors) and Greyhounds – two of GoldenRace’s more successful products- Motorbikes, Karts and Trotting. They decide which ones and how many, giving players the power to bet across all those races at once.
RaceDay highlights
- More bets: Players can now bet on up to six races concurrently, maximising their opportunities and increasing betting volume on your platform.
- New RaceDay market: With combination bets across different competitions in one view. This innovative market helps boost the odds and leads to more significant wins for players.
- Stronger player growth: Higher payouts and an exhilarating experience attract more players, driving sustained growth.
- Increased appeal: RaceDay delivers premium user experience with live video, real-time scores, upcoming events and a unique, customisable design.
- Anywhere reliability: Thanks to low-bandwidth optimisation, RaceDay offers seamless performance and reliability on both Mobile and Retail platforms, ensuring players can “Race it all!” wherever they are.
With real-time video, live scores, upcoming events, customisable design and low-bandwidth optimisation, RaceDay blends pure adrenaline with the best user experience to unlock higher odds, bigger wins and more bets on worldwide operators platforms.
The post New GoldenRace game, RaceDay, allows players to simultaneously place bets in several races appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Latest News
QTech Games adds more creative content from BEON
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QTech Games, the leading game aggregator across all emerging markets, has continued to maintain the momentum in its premium pipeline, as evidenced by its latest deal with BEON, an emerging force in the slots space, whose first raft of games is crash games-focussed.
Integrating a progressive portfolio from one of the most productive and innovative developers in the sector adds more muscle to QTech Games’ proprietary platform, which is leading the way across growth markets like LatAm and Africa. In a progressive production line that will span different slots genres, BEON is also committed to launching games tailored to specific partner requests, while simultaneously growing its portfolio with a new wave of titles in development.
As a result BEON is building a reputation for creating high-quality, immersive games with standout features that set them apart in any igaming domain, thanks to a smooth performance running off agile mechanics which are dedicated to gameplay precision and optimal retention. Its first five games to be released comprise Skydot, Fury Flight, Redy, Nomad and Orizon, while BEON’s unique Crash Game Generator tool allows operator partners to launch customised content inside 24 hours.
This collaboration delivers a targeted range of localized content, enabling QTech Games to continue to meet the varied preferences of players across emerging markets, while supporting both companies’ ambitions for global growth.
Philip Doftvik, QTech Games’ CEO, said: “BEON’s initial rollout of eye-catching crash games is premised on clever mechanics, easily intelligible gameplay, high payouts and colourful graphics, which are breaking up an often-copycat environment. This kind of content is well-suited to LatAm and African markets, which directly tracks our ongoing expansion throughout these territories. These games are robust, scalable, and future-ready – so, we look forward to seeing what’s next. ”
Saba Chkheidze, Managing Partner at BEON, added: “Partnering with QTech Games constitutes the perfect opportunity for us to bolster our product distribution across emerging markets and deliver our fantastic crash games to more and more top-tier operators.
“It’s a collaboration which marks a step-change in BEON’s growth strategy across untapped markets like Latin America and Africa, where we hope our games will connect with many new players. Aside from crash games, our roadmap is packed with fresh concepts and slots titles that aim to combine engaging gameplay with solid technical performance, ensuring that our partners and players always have something new to look forward to.”
The post QTech Games adds more creative content from BEON appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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