The head of the gaming division for Clarion Events, which produces the ICE Totally Gaming trade show, said that the London event, which was held last week, has surpassed the Global Gaming Expo as the world’s largest gaming industry trade show.
Kate Chambers, managing director of Clarion’s gaming division, said attendance and booth figures validate the claim of ICE to the world’s-largest title, with 529 exhibitors from 62 nations and 28,500 attendees at the 2016 edition compared to 450 exhibitors and 27,000 attendees reported by the American Gaming Association at G2E 2016.
Chambers also lauded the growth of ICE VOX, the educational program at the London show.
“The learning and knowledge-exchange opportunities that are available at ICE are widely recognized as being among the very best in the industry,” Chambers said. “The ability to engage with the industry’s pre-eminent authorities and thought leaders and then meet with the people responsible for creating the very latest online and off-line gaming technologies on a show floor is unique to ICE. ICE VOX will retain all of these stand-out credentials at the same time as reaching out to new communities of knowledge-hungry gaming professionals.”
ICE took up an additional hall at the ExCeL London center this year to accommodate an influx of first-time exhibitors. “We know from our research that one of the most popular features of ICE is the opportunity the show delivers for visitors to meet new, fledgling suppliers with fresh and invigorating ideas,” Chambers said. “The additional space we have invested in means that all first-time and returning exhibitors can be hosted in what we are describing as an ‘innovation quarter,’ enabling them to demonstrate their products/services and represent their brand personality in what is gaming’s most popular and prominent shop window.”
There are differences between ICE and G2E, however. ICE’s tagline—Totally Gaming—is appropriate since it attracts exhibitors only in the gaming arena, more than half of them from the online gaming sector, including sports betting. G2E doesn’t attract much of an online component because iGaming is only legal in three states and several Canadian provinces. But G2E does attract a large proportion of exhibitors dedicated to non-gaming amenities in integrated resorts.
Meanwhile, a group of 20 senior executives from eight commercial casinos in Macau attended last week’s ICE trade show to view the latest technology using artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality (VR).
Jay Chun, president of the Macau Gaming Equipment Manufacturers Association (MGEMA) led the group of Macau executives. MGEMA produces the annual Macao Gaming Show. In a press release, MGEMA said the delegation was at ICE “to explore advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality (VR) and how they impact gaming.”
Chun is also chairman of Hong Kong-listed Paradise Entertainment Ltd., which makes electronic casino games marketed under the LT Game brand. LT Game has a current partnership with London-based Inspired Gaming Group to provide virtual sports content to LT’s electronic table games in Macau.
