As we gauged the room at the Venetian Convention Center’s Bellini Ballroom ahead of the Global Gaming Awards Las Vegas 2023, one remark stood out above the others. Indeed, one of our guests – simply buzzing ahead of the ceremony – declared that the Awards are "like the Oscars”. Only the best companies win, only the most qualified executives make it onto our Judging Panel and there is true excitement in the knowledge that to have earned a Global Gaming Award is no fluke. Every winner will have had an extraordinary year or standout product to earn that accolade. Just like the Oscars.
And so it proved at the Global Gaming Awards Las Vegas in October, as Aristocrat took home three Awards – not the first time the industry giant has left with a multiple haul. There were notable victories elsewhere, too, as Circa Resort & Casino won Property of the year in North America for the third time in a row. The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, meanwhile, also claimed a hat-trick of consecutive victories in the Responsible Business of the year category. These are truly remarkable achievements.
The delight across the winners’ faces was palpable – again, you could truly see just how much victory meant to them. Despite the Global Gaming Awards Asia-Pacific taking place virtually in their first two years, you can see the same value attached to the Awards when winning executives come by to pick up their trophies in person.
The Global Gaming Awards is honoured to now host three ceremonies, celebrating the different regions in which gaming is prominent across the world. Running regional Awards also acknowledges the sometimes subtle differences, and sometimes not-so-subtle complexities, that separate rewarding an Asian land-based operator – for example – and a European online supplier. Different sectors of gaming deserve different categories for recognition, and different continents require separate Global Gaming Awards ceremonies.
Across each of these ceremonies, Global Gaming Awards Event Manager and host Mariya Savova owns the room, as she is joined on stage by Micky Swindale, Partner at KPMG’s Global Gaming Team. KPMG’s adjudication, of course, is another reason why the Awards are held in such high esteem across the industry. Every vote is verified and there has never been an anomaly.
And so we now look ahead to February’s Global Gaming Awards London, held at the world-famous Hippodrome Casino, and the largest gathering of CEOs and prestigious industry executives in Europe. Will bet365 prevail again? Will LeoVegas continue its dominance of the Online Casino category? Who will be named this year’s Executive of the year: someone new or will we have a repeat winner like Amy Howe just managed at the Las Vegas ceremony?
These are just some of several questions on the tips of our tongues, with anticipation as high as always for potential nominees – and potential winners. The only way these questions will be answered, of course, is through our fair and independent voting system; there is no bias or subjectivity, just the triumph of properties, companies and individuals deemed worth winners by their industry peers.
Whatever the outcome, one thing is for certain: there will be numerous happy faces leaving the Hippodrome in February, whether they finish first, second or third. As we’ve highlighted many times over the years, even being nominated is worthy of distinction alone, while those involved in the Judging Panel can take great pride in the part they have played in crowning the industry’s top performers for another year.
So if we’re to return to that original “Oscars” analogy, the process begins in earnest now, with self-nominations, the compilation of the Shortlist and the organisation of the ceremony. In just a few short months, we’ll see the results – before the focus turns to the Asia-Pacific Awards and once again Las Vegas.
Such is the rate of change within gaming, the Global Gaming Awards are constantly adapting alongside the industry. But the Awards’ core values will never be lost: integrity, fairness and the celebration of the very best gaming has to offer. Long may the industry’s growth and success continue.
