Events
ICE London 2024 – Key Takeaways
The ICE London 2024 was the final time that the prestigious iGaming expo featured in London, and from 2025 it will change venues and move to Barcelona. The ICE London 2024 began on Tuesday, February 6 and lasted until Thursday 8 February. It was held in the ExCel London, 10 minutes away from Canary Wharf. The event was one of the biggest of its kind, hosting 811 exhibitors and tens of thousands of international visitors. It was very much a memorable event, with top companies showcasing their latest goods, and some even taking European Casino Awards for their achievements.
What is the ICE iGaming Expo?
ICE, which stands for International Casinos Exhibition, is the global B2B gambling exposition. The event is open to all landbased and online operators, as well as software developers, affiliates, gaming experts and any media partners. Each of the operators, and partners, are given stands. They can then show their latest innovations, be it games, features, softwares or any other technological development. Visitors can view and inquire about any of these new products and stay updated on the latest trends in the iGaming industry.
As part of the “show and tell” programme at ICE, business partners and professionals give seminars and hold conferences on the latest developments in the industry. These meetings are open to all and serve to help the gaming industry move forward together. The insight delved into at these seminars can relate to anything, from new gaming products to technologies, marketing, casino operations and legislation.
ICE VOX
The ICE Vox is a learning programme that runs alongside the ICE London. The ICE Vox had workshops that specialised in Safer Gaming, Entering New Markets, iGaming Customer Hourneys and Innovating Lotteries. The World Regulatory Briefing took place during the ICE Vox, bringing together policymakers, regulators and industry operators. On February 5, the International Casino Conference, or ICC, was held. Hosts of the conference spoke on the importance of the evolution and adaptation of the iGaming industry, and discussed the future of the land-based sector.
ICE London 2024 Top Sponsors
The event was sponsored by over 40 gaming studios, software developer companies and gaming business affiliates. As a gamer, you may recognise some of the sponsors such as:
- Pragmatic Play
- Playtech
- Novomatic
- Merkur Gaming
- Evolution
- Smartsoft Gaming
But there were also some payment processors and software developers such as
- Amazon Web Services
- PaySafe
- Jeton
- Pavilion Payments
Beyond the sponsors, there were loads of familiar companies attending ICE. The stands were divided into sectors for eSports, Sports Betting, Payments and Casinos. There was even a dedicated gaming area, where attendees could try out the best and latest slots and casino games on offer.
Stand Out Gaming Studios
There were loads of nifty innovations and exciting new gaming products showcased at the event. As a gamer, most of the interesting stuff was happening at the game studio stands. Whilst groundbreaking payment systems and sustainable carbon-footprint-reducing technology are intriguing; we were most fasinated by what new games and features the developer studios came up with.
Merkur Gaming
At Stands: N4-230, N4-210, N4-110, N5-458, N4-250
The main feature of Merkur Gaming at ICE was its new gaming cabinets. There were new linked progressive games to check out such as Clash Link, Link Wave and Link Zone Rush. There was also a new version of the Zonic cabinet, a big hit in Germany, and a brand new Merkur Roulette game.
Ever the forward thinker, Merkur Gaming proved to be highly popular among visitors. Its collection felt fresh and will no doubt feature in casinos across Europe and international venues.
Pragmatic Play
At Stands: N7-130, N7-110, N7-150
Pragmatic Play started the new year on the front foot. Since January, it already bolstered its list of casinos with new partners in the Benelux, Latin America and African markets. The hugely popular gaming studio had also released new live casino games and slots. In January, it released a new Gothic-themed slot called Blade & Fangs and a dog-themed slot called The Big Dawgs.
Playtech
At Stands: N6-130 and NG16
During the ICE London, Playtech announced that it had completed the first milestone in a new partnership with Hard Rock Digital. It's massive news for Playtech, who will look to supply the Hard Rock Casino chain with its gaming products. We may see more Playtech games in New Jersey, Arizona, Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee and Virginia land based US casinos. A big player in the iGaming industry, Playtech has masses of slots, casino games and live games. It has built a reputation for providing games packed with dynamic features.
Play'n GO
At Stand: NG14
Play'n GO closed 2023 with a record December performance. Piggy Blitz was the most popular game of all its new releases, smashing the record for daily active players, rounds played and Gross Gambling Revenue. In November, Play'n GO registered a quarter of a billion spins in one day. The Swedish studio started the new year in style, releasing a new Cat Wilde slot, Cate Wilde and the Incan Quest; as well as Love Is In The Fair and Moon Princess Power of Love – just in time for Valentine's Day.
Playson
At Stand: N4-310
Playson headlined a new slot called Reel of Fortune, as well as other new titles such as Blazing Wins and Power Crown: Hold and Win. The sneak peek at the new game turned a lot of heads, with immersive mechanics creating a new user experience.
Evolution Group
(Evolution, NetEnt, Red Tiger, Big Time Gaming, NoLimit City)
Hall: A-C Stand: N1-100
Visitors had a blast at the Evolution Gaming stands, and at the Hall which was taken up by Evolution Group. Lots of new games were premiered, not only by Evolution Gaming but also by all its subsidiary companies (and studios that it has stakes in). These include the likes of Red Tiger, NetEnt, Big Time Gaming, Nolimit City and Ezugi. There were exciting games on show from these studios too.
Evolution
Lightning Storm and Lightning Dragon Tiger are the two latest games in Evolution's Lightning game series. Lighting Storm is a game show title with instant payouts and five thrilling bonus games and a huge multiplier wall. Lightning Dragon Tiger is a reinvigorated version of the classic Asian card game, with zappy multipliers and electrifying visual effects.
NetEnt
This internationally acclaimed game studio supplied two headline games, Cursed Treasure and RAGE. Both slots, they include a variety of bonuses and features. Cursed Treasure, an ancient fantasy game has dynamite scatters, bonus spins and a buy feature. RAGE has a bunch of thrilling characters and chain re-spin bonuses.
Red Tiger Gaming
The popular game vendor released a sequel to its 2021 slot Primate King. Primate King Megaways is designed to take you on a wild ride, as you collect gold coins to evolve the Primate Wild, which can cover the entire reel.
Big Time Gaming
The company that invented Megaways, released Trigger Happy. With wilds, multipliers, bombs, trigger coins and cascading reels, it was a big hit at ICE.
NoLimit City
NoLimit City was also among the studios that headlined new games. Fire In The Hole 2 is a sequel to the 2021 game and is bound to feature in online casinos all over the world.
If you want to try these games out, head on to these casinos:
Conclusion
As the ICE awards bid farewell to London, a new chapter opens. There were loads of takeaways for operators, game studios and industry professionals. Avid gamers also got a glimpse of what’s to come, with lots of fresh games and new ideas. No doubt, we will see loads of epic games popping up in the aftermath of the ICE London 2024.
