On February 5, 2018 the 11th International Gaming Awards (IGA) gala took place in London. This is a major event for the global gambling industry since receiving an IGA recognition is considered huge honour for operators and providers. After all, the IGA awards are widely known as “The Oscars of the Gaming Industry”.
Each year, industry leading software providers such as Playtech, NetEnt and Microgaming enter the competition hoping to boost their already long list of awards. Similarly, top casino operators like casino.netbet.co.uk, William Hill and Mr. Green are all trying to win over the hearts of players and judges with their top-notch services.
Nevertheless, there are 25 categories in total and only one winner for each. These are the companies that took this year’s awards for the most important sections including Slots Operator, Slot Provider and Online Casino Operator.
Among tens of well-established gaming operators, William Hill was the one to receive the award for Online Gaming Operator of 2018. Powered by numerous game developers, William Hill is often considered a top online gambling operator for players worldwide. Another popular name in the industry, Leo Vegas, received recognition for its Live Casino section. Crowned as Live Casino of the Year by IGA, Leo Vegas is not unfamiliar with IGA awards; back in 2016 Leo Vegas was named Casino Operator of the Year.
Mansion, Cherry and Videoslots are three other casino operators that have been awarded prizes this year. Mansion received the honour of being named Online Casino Operator, whereas Cherry was given the Mobile Operator award. Both fans and experts have agreed that the highly-responsive and well-designed Mobile Cherry Casino deserved this year’s recognition. Lastly, Videoslots and its 2000+ games, out of which the majority are slots, was crowned as the Slots Operator of 2018 at the event.
Microgaming, Play’n GO, IGT and SBTech were the gaming product providers that received prizes this year. The prestigious iGaming Software Supplier award went to ever-popular Microgaming, while SBTech took home the award for Mobile Product of the Year. Fully deserved was the Slot Provider award given to Play’n GO. The provider has been constantly releasing top-quality slots with lots of entertaining features, something that didn’t go unnoticed in the industry. IGT, on the other hand, received recognition for their Lottery Product.
When it comes to innovation-related awards, there are the Innovator Operator and Innovator Supplier of the Year. These two prestigious prizes were given to SlotsMillion and Yggdrasil. SlotsMillion is known to players thanks to its ground-breaking Virtual Reality Casino, whereas the Malta-based game developer has been introducing top video slots with various unique and innovative features.
In the rest of the categories, BBIN was named Casino/Australia/Asia Focused Technology Supplier, while Betradar received the eSports Betting Software award. In the Gaming Operator Americas category, the winner war PokerStars NJ, while Melco Resorts & Entertainment took the Gaming Operator Australia/Asia recognition. Other winners include Caesars EMEA, Bethard, Galaxy Entertainment, Kindred, AstroPay, The Ritz Club and Mr Green. The list of winners is concluded with ComeOn, Betconstruct and Caesars EMEA.
