EGR B2B Awards Shortlist Announced
The EGR B2B Awards are set to go ahead in July, and the category shortlists have been announced. The prestigious awards will celebrate the achievements of online gaming service providers from a broad spectrum of disciplines. In line with COVID safety, the awards will take place as a mix of virtual events and a live event in London.
This year, an in-person event with food and drink will be held at York Lawns in Regents Park, London. ©Rene Asmussen/Pexels
Virtual and Live Events
One of the most anticipated industry events, the EGR B2B Awards, is preparing to take place next month. The awards are in their twelfth year and despite the difficulties of the pandemic it has been a bumper year. A record 700 entries were submitted from more than 230 companies. EGR would like to congratulate and thank all companies participating.
The two-day event will consist of a mixture of virtual and live events. Kicking off on July 6th will be a day of virtual events celebrating the achievements of gaming suppliers. Sponsors will share their insights, and there will be award presentations and winners’ speeches.
There will also be interviews with the winners, virtual tables, a virtual photobooth and content snapshots. Day two will continue with virtual events, including further awards announcements. Winners of the headline categories will be announced, and those celebrating at home can enjoy a special food and drink gift box.
On the evening of July 7th, an exclusive in-person event will be held at York Lawns in Regents Park, London. Set in four acres of beautiful greenery, guests will enjoy an outdoors event with elegant marquees. Premium food and drinks will be served, alongside entertainment and trophy presentations.
As one of the industry’s first face to face events in nearly a year and a half, the celebrations will be COVID-safe according to government guidelines. Thorough cleaning and hygiene practices will be maintained. Social distancing will also be enforced, and the event will be designed to reduce queuing and close contact.
This year’s EGR B2B Awards is supported by a number of sponsors. Headline sponsor is BETB2B, which offers a leading sports betting and online casino platform. Diamond sponsor is SoftGamings, another leading iGaming developer that offers turnkey and white label casino solutions. Other sponsors include BetConstruct, Digitain, iSoftBet, Optimove, Playson, Pragmatic Play, Sporting Solutions and UltraPlay
New Categories Revealed
Ahead of the awards ceremonies in July, the shortlist for the EGR B2B Awards 2021 has been announced. As the awards recognize the achievements of suppliers from across the industry, there are a broad range of categories. Accolades will be awarded to companies dealing in gaming software, mobile, payments, recruitment, IT, infrastructure and more.
This year over 200 companies will be competing to take the top spot in 41 specialist categories. A number of new categories will be debuted, including Aggregator Platform, Data and AI Partner, Data Centre and Cloud Systems Provider, Fantasy and DFS Supplier and a new headline category, Full Service Platform of the Year.
The headline categories are the most hotly contested awards. Top awards will be distributed for categories that include Compliance and KYC Supplier, Casino Software Supplier, Mobile Gaming Software Supplier, Mobile Supplier, Payments Company, Poker Supplier, Slot Supplier, Sportsbook Platform Supplier and White Label partner.
Making up the rest of the awards are prizes within the Software and Network categories and Service categories. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, this year’s awards will not feature a live judging day. However, every category will still be judged by a hand-picked external judging panel. Each panel will be selected based on their specific market knowledge and to avoid any potential conflict of interest.
EGR’s selection of judges are updated every year, and aim to encompass a diverse range of expertise. To ensure fairness, every judge is required to sign a disclaimer to keep all information confidential. To avoid attempts to influence the competition, the full list of judges will only be revealed after the judging has been completed.
Judges will analyze the submissions and score them based on category criteria. An online judging platform will then calculate the winners based on all the scores. Judges can deliberate if there is no clear winner, and some Highly Commended runners-up may be chosen. Accountancy firm Deloitte has been chosen to officiate the voting process.
Last year’s big winner was undoubtedly Red Tiger, which picked up five prestigious awards. Other companies that won multiple awards included Playtech, which won three awards, and Betgenius, which won two awards. We’ll have to wait until July to find out who wins big this year though.
ICE London Postponed
While the industry can very much look forward to July’s EGR B2B Awards, ICE London 2021 has unfortunately had to be postponed until next year. After listening to requests from its customer base, Clarion has decided to reorganize the date of the industry trade fair to February 1st until February 3rd, 2022. The event will still take place at the ExCeL London venue.
It will be shortly followed by the iGB Affiliate London event, which has been scheduled for February 3rd until February 5th. Clarion has announced that its flagship iGB Live! event will still take place later this year, from September 28th until October 1st at RAI, Amsterdam. That event will help to support the economic recovery for European gaming communities.
Managing director of Clarion Gaming, Stuart Hunter, spoke about the difficult decision to postpone ICE London. After gaging the opinions of ICE exhibitors, Clarion found that many were still uncertain about attending the event. While events are starting to go ahead as part of the UK’s roadmap out of coronavirus restrictions, the sheer scale of ICE London could pose difficulties.
Last year’s event took place in February, and was one of the last big industry events before the pandemic. The event, which came under fire over its use of models, saw more than 35,000 gaming professionals in attendance. It also featured more than 633 exhibitors from 65 nations.
It is hoped that by next year, travel restrictions will be relaxed and immunization programs will have progressed further. That would allow an event in 2022 to be safer for participants and visitors, and to be on a bigger scale than would be possible this year. The plan to postpone has been welcomed by exhibitors, who look forward to returning in better times. Stuart Hunter explained:
“We are totally focused on helping all sectors of the industry bounce back from what has been an horrendous year. ICE London and sister event iGB Affiliate London both stand shoulder to shoulder with their communities and the team is ready and primed to help our loyal stakeholders wherever they are and in any way possible.”
