As summer approaches, so does the return of the Global Gaming Awards – with the Asia-Pacific 2025 ceremony in Manila and the Americas ceremony in Las Vegas now fast approaching. In the wake of a successful first ever in-person Awards meeting last June, the industry’s most prestigious Awards gear up for a fourth outing in the Asia-Pacific region – as all roads lead to Manila for the luncheon ceremony on day two of SiGMA Asia on 3 June 2025. Elsewhere, the Global Gaming Awards’ flagship event returns to the Venetian Las Vegas for its 12th edition in October – with self-nominations for the Americas ceremony already open.
Indeed, although the industry’s most esteemed Awards first arrived in the Asian region in 2022, the Global Gaming Awards’ history spans back over 10 years to the first ever ceremony in 2014. Since that time, the Awards have taken on multiple forms in Las Vegas, London and Barcelona – circling the globe to celebrate the best and brightest from all four corners of our vibrant industry.
Three times a year, the Global Gaming Awards ceremonies attract the most reputable high-level senior executives for unbeatable networking opportunities and an unmissable celebration of the industry’s finest innovations – and the innovators behind them. 2025’s Asia-Pacific and Americas ceremonies will be no different. Held on the second day of the SiGMA Manila conference at the SMX Convention Center in the Philippine capital, the build-up to this year’s luncheon ceremony has already begun, with the self-nomination window now officially closed as of 7 March.
As such, the finalisation of the full Shortlist of nominees took place on 11 April 2025, with all nominated parties receiving official notification of their successful shortlisting towards the end of the month. Then, from 21 April, the official voting process commences. As the Global Gaming Awards is powered by Gambling Insider, the publication helps to compile a stellar list of industry experts that make up the expert Judging Panel. Judges are required to choose a winner and runner-up from each of the 10 categories and, of course, they will be strictly excluded from voting in any categories within which they hold a conflict of interest. Finally, the full voting process is then independently adjudicated by KPMG in the Crown Dependencies.
As the voting process takes place, the full shortlist of nominees will be revealed to the public on 5 May 2025. KPMG Partner, Micky Swindale commented on the organisation's continued involvement with the awards, saying: “We review the Global Gaming Awards’ system and tools for collecting votes, check that judges weren’t allowed to vote in categories where they have a conflict and confirm that the winner and runner-up in each category has been determined correctly based on votes cast. Finally, we select a random sample of judges whom we contact to verify that the voting system has accurately recorded their votes.
“KPMG’s commitment to and involvement with the gaming sector is unparalleled and that is why we have so welcomed the opportunity to support the Global Gaming Awards events for the EMEA, Americas and as of 2022 - Asia-Pacific. The combination of a thorough shortlisting process, a highly distinguished panel of judges, and the organisers’ commitment to independent verification of the judges’ decisions, means that any company or individual that makes it to the final shortlist should be extremely proud.”
Indeed, the 10 total categories of the Awards are broken down into various sections, with land-based awards being separated into categories including; Casino Operator, Casino Product, Casino Supplier, Table Game Product and Inegrated Resort of the Year. Among last year’s winners for these Awards, Casino Operator was taken home by Galaxy Entertainment & Bloomberry Resorts as part of a joint honours and Casino Supplier went to Aristocrat – who also scooped the Award for Casino Product for Dragon Link. Integrated Resort of the Year was taken home by Marina Bay Sands, with IDX Games’ X Stadium winning Table Game Product of the Year.
Elsewhere, Corporate Social Responsibility of the Year was won by Wynn Resorts and Executive of the Year was won by PAGCOR Chairman & CEO Alejandro H. Tengco. For online, Digital Sports Betting Supplier of the Year was won by BetConstruct, Digital Sports Betting Operator by 1xBet, Digital Casino Supplier was won by Pragmatic Play and Digital Casino Operator by Bet88.
Of course, that was then – and this is now. The Asian gaming landscape, indeed, looks a very different shape than it did 12 months ago. The implementation of the UAE lottery, alongside the development of the nation’s first integrated casino resorts have marked huge steps forward for gambling in the Western Asian region. In Southeast Asia, the Philippines spent the backend of 2024 weathering the POGO storm, which it has now, seemingly, managed to navigate its way out of. Elsewhere, legislation in Thailand has come on leaps and bounds, with the nation going full steam ahead with its own plans for integrated resort casinos, while Macau continues on its path towards enhanced diversification at the top of the tree.
“These are the most prestigious awards in the gaming industry, and we ensure we maintain this reputation year after year” - Mariya Savova
In the Pacific region, New Zealand has solidified plans to fully regulate its gambling market, which is one that will contain no space for greyhound racing enthusiasts, following the recent outlawing of the sport in the nation. In Australia, enhanced regulation around problem gambling and advertising continues the pursuit for a healthier environment amid increasing AUSTRAC governance.
This overview of key stories, while brief, highlights the vibrant and fast-evolving nature of gambling in the Asia-Pacific region – one that will be subject to the ultimate celebration at the Global Gaming Awards Ceremony in Manila this June.
Running parallel to the build-up of the Asia-Pacific Awards is the nomination process for the Global Gaming Awards Americas ceremony – set to be held on the other side of the summer at the Venetian Resort Las Vegas on 6 October 2025. Self-nominations for the Americas ceremony officially opened on 3 March and are set to close on 8 May. As with the Asia-Pacific Awards, these nominations will then be evaluated by a panel of over 100 C-Level industry executives before a finalised shortlist will be finalised on 8 August. Then, voting commences on 1 September, prior to the passing of the awards through the KPMG adjudication process. On 8 September, the full Shortlist of nominees will be unveiled to the public, before the final countdown to the main event begins.
It has been another monumental year for gaming across the Americas – and one that has been dominated largely by a single buzzword. Of course, Brazil has been the belle of the proverbial ball during the last 12 months, with the regulation of the gargantuan market set to re-shape the complexion of the gambling industry across the Americas and, indeed, across the globe, for ever.
Elsewhere, sweepstakes have swept across the US market, causing contention and excitement in equal measure – as online gaming (but mainly mobile sports betting) continues to rise in prominence in the North American and LatAm markets. 2025 has, so far, seen record-breaking monthly sports wagering handles coming out of New York State – with provincial iGaming regulation in Alberta set to shake up the Canadian market in 2026.
Much to discuss and celebrate already, then, six months ahead of this year’s Global Gaming Awards Americas in Las Vegas. Commenting on this year’s upcoming ceremony, Event Manager Mariya Savova stated: “The Global Gaming Awards were launched to recognise and reward the dedication, hard work and continuous innovation made by our industry. These are the most prestigious awards in the gaming industry and we ensure we maintain this reputation year after year. These are the only Awards that give a reason why each company and individual is nominated and we release all those reasons in the public domain.”
