The gaming industry converges on ICE London 2023
ICE London 2023 gets underway today.
UK.- The biggest event in the gaming calendar begins today (February 7), back in its traditional slot after last year’s later event. ICE London 2023 is being held at ExCel in London’s Docklands. Over the next three days, more than 35,000 people are expected to attend as operators and suppliers big and small showcase offerings across every vertical.
Operators and suppliers will be unveiling new products in the exhibitor zone, while trade associations, strategic bodies and regulators will also be represented. And as well as the ezone, there will be networking events, awards and more.
Clarion Gaming says that a record 68 nations will be represented at this year’s event, up from 65 in February 2020. The 623 exhibitors include names from Argentina to Australia, Macao to Mexico and Ukraine to the United States.
Managing director Stuart Hunter said: “No other exhibition in the gaming space can come anywhere near the internationalism of ICE. To have 68 nations represented by our community of exhibitors means that visitors are immediately part of what is a global experience with unique access to the smartest gaming innovators drawn from every corner of the world.
“There are very few exhibitions of scale in any industry sector which are able to compare with such international representation and legitimately lay claim to being a ‘global’ or a ‘world’ event’.”
ICE London has had its place in the gaming calendar for years and has been held at ExCel since 2013, with breaks only due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which also saw last year’s event held later than usual, in April instead of February.
Present at the expo will be Alfastreet, AMATIC, Amusnet Interactive, Beter, BMM Testlabs, Btobet, CreedRoomz, CT Interactive, EGT and EGT Digital, Endorphina, EvenBet, EveryMatrix, Evolution, FashionTV Gaming Group, FBM, Galaxsys, Kambi, Lady Luck Games, Merkur, Pascal Gaming, PopOK Gaming, Pragmatic Play Latam, SOFTSWISS, Soft2Bet, Sportradar, TCSJOHNHUXLEY, TransAct Technologies, TVBET, 27th Gaming Group and Uplatform.
Networking events began yesterday with the ICE VOX opening drinks. Meanwhile, later in the week more than 5,000 affiliates, advertisers, ecommerce sellers, networks, and tech suppliers will gather for iGB Affiliate London.
ICE Landmark Awards
Some of the industry’s most influential personalities and best-known organisations will be honoured in the ICE Landmark Awards in the ICE Lounge tomorrow (February 8) at 4pm local time.
Recipients will include Ernie Stevens Jr, chairman and national spokesperson for the Indian Gaming Association (IGA) whose leadership during Covid helped to protect and preserve Tribal Gaming and secure the vital funding needed to keep Tribal Casinos solvent through the worst of the pandemic.
Ernie Stevens is joined by US industry stalwart Roy Student, who in a distinguished 50-year career founded and was president of both Gaming Systems International and Cyberview Technology, industry journalist David Snook and Per Jaldung, who has served as Chair of the European Casino Association since 2015.
The posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award will honour Jimmy Thomas who died on July 30, 2022 aged 88. Simon Thomas, executive chairman of The Hippodrome Casino, will accept the ICE Landmark in honour of his father.
As for commercial organisations, Les Ambassadeurs will receive a Landmark in recognition of corporate philanthropy and community engagement while Betson Group will receive an award on its 60th anniversary alongside TCS John Huxley (50th anniversary), Continent 8 (25th anniversary) and Nanocosmos (25th anniversary).
Hunter said: “The Landmark Awards serve as recognition of the extraordinary achievements of the individuals and organisations that make-up this extraordinary industry. Many of the progressive initiatives, game-changing products and influential personalities that have shaped the industry have had strong connections with ICE and its predecessor ATEI and I am delighted that the show continues to play such an important role in helping to create opportunity and prosperity for the global business.
“The recipients of these awards have all been nominated from within the industry and it is an honour to have them with us at this historic edition of what is the world’s most influential and international b2b gambling exhibition.”
Clarion Gaming announces shortlisted cities to host ICE from 2025
Clarion Gaming has announced that it’s moving into the next phase of its process to decide the future location of ICE. London has hosted ICE since the show began, first at Earls Court Exhibition Centre and then at ExCel from 2013. As such, the announcement of competing cities to host the event from 2025 represents the biggest review since ICE was enlarged to incorporate the former International Gaming Expo (IGE) and Amusement Trades Exhibition International (ATEI) in 2009.
With specialist consultants Equimore, which has worked on major event brands like the MWC Barcelona, Clarion Gaming has announced a shortlist of four cities that meet its demanding criteria: London, Barcelona, Madrid and Paris. Each city will make a formal bid to host ICE for the period from 2025 to 2029 in a process that will be completed this year. Clarion hopes to announce the winner in Q3.
