ICE Totally Gaming 2017, the most international event in the world of gaming, is over now. Inspired by the cheerful atmosphere of innovation and progress, SoftSwiss team is back from London with a whole lot of new ideas to implement, leads to process, and partners to work with. It was the 5th ICE for our company, the first one dating back to 2013 where we presented our online casino platform for the first time. A lot has been achieved in the past 5 years and SoftSwiss is no longer a newcomer on the gaming market, but the annual London conference still remains an important milestone for the company. This year’s show was not an exclusion.
The gaming industry is a fast evolving one and ICE is a perfect place to spot the latest industry changes and pick up new trends. What was very remarkable this year was the increased space taken by the online gaming sector. While the land-based business still dominated on the exhibition floors, the number of iGaming companies including software providers, game developers, large operators and affiliates grew significantly compared to previous years. This is an inevitable trend which will strengthen in the future as more and more land-based operators and players are realizing the strength and advantages of Internet gaming and are moving online.
Another noticeable fact was a great number of new game developers who presented their content at ICE. Among 33 online game providers (which is a lot), at least 10 companies are new names in the industry. This is a positive trend as competition pushes the progress, and we believe the better variety of games offered to players will boost online casino business in general.
An absolute highlight for SoftSwiss was the London Affiliate Conference which followed ICE and took place on the same floor for the first time this year - ExCeL London. It was the first time our company participated in the affiliate event in London but it was absolutely reasonable due to the growing number of brands working with SoftSwiss platform and looking for our support in marketing.
Moreover, SoftSwiss CEO Ivan Montik was among the four speakers at “The boom of cryptocurrency gambling” panel at LAC. Not many affiliate marketing specialists have yet adapted their programs and techniques to working with bitcoin, so the main goal of the discussion was demonstrating to them the vivid growth of the cryptocurrency gaming market and show the opportunities it offers to the affiliates. “We had a similar discussion at ICE three years ago and my point was that Bitcoin would become one of the strongest players on the iGaming market, outweighing the traditional payment methods. However, at that time risks and doubts regarding the future of Bitcoin prevailed over my optimistic forecast. In three years which passed, Bitcoin went through ups and downs which made it stronger. With the polished technological base and vivid progress in terms of jurisdictional acceptance, it has strengthened its influence on iGaming and affiliates should view it as a great development opportunity,” stated Ivan Montik.
All in all, ICE 2017 was good in terms of networking, up-to-the-minute information sharing, learning new competitors and strengthening relationship with existing partners. Finally, we really appreciate ICE for the opportunity to informally hang out with our clients and to establish personal contacts with numerous partners who help make our brand rock.
