It’s award season, everybody! You’ve got the Nobel prize, the Man Booker and a host of other kinds of ceremonies taking place within the coming weeks. Among them is the Global Gaming Awards, the international award for… well, gaming. Specifically online gaming and it isn’t just ordinary, no-money-involved type of gaming. This has a lot to do with online gambling as two of main categories is best Land-Based Operator of the Year and Best Customer Loyalty Program. But there are twelve categories in all and some of the winners this year are truly prestigious.
What Are the Global Gambling Awards?
For those who are new here, you’re probably wondering: just what are the Global Gambling Awards? Or, more importantly, what is the significance of it? Well, it’s a huge event in the world of gaming which involves top experts from the industry from every country coming to judge for the twelve categories.
This year the GGA took place in Las Vegas and 60 judges were invited to decide on the winners. The event is sponsored and run by NYX Gaming who are a massive software development company in their own right developing games such as Foxin’ Wins and Merlin’s Magic.
For an online operator to get a Global Gaming Award is a massive achievement. They can display it on their webpage and players will instantly know they are in the presence of a great gambling provider. It’s a mark of excellence that shouldn’t be underestimated.
The Winners For 2016
As we’ve mentioned, there are 12 categories that make up the Global Gaming Awards. Many of the candidates could win more than one category. Few of them do win more than one but it’s an added bonus if they do. And this year there have two companies that scooped multiple wins.
And the winners are:
- 1. Land-Based Operator: MGM Resorts
- 2. Customer Loyalty Program: MGM Resorts
- 3. Digital Operator of the Year: 888 Holdings
- 4. Casino Product of the Year: IGT’s Playspot
- 5. Land-Based Industry Supplier: IGT’s Playspot
- 6. Digital Industry Supplier: Playtech
- 7. Digital Product of the Year: Microgaming
- 8. Digital Gaming Innovation: NYX Gaming’s Witch Pickings
- 9. Land-Based Gaming Innovation: Scientific Games’ SG Universe
- 10. Digital Acquisition Program: Unibet
- 11. Responsible Business: GeoComply
- 12. North American Executive of the Year: Maureen Sweeny
MGM Resorts are without a doubt the most successful winners scooping wins in two completely separate categories. This may not mean much to the online gambling community but for the land-based section of the industry, this means that MGM Resorts are now a huge competitor.
What’s So Special About Witch Pickings?
We could spend all day picking apart and analyzing the winners. But since we at Fortune Frenzy have NYX’s Witch Pickings, we’ve decided to talk about why we think it wholly deserves its award. NYX is known for its innovative video slots as they seamlessly blend 3D and 2D graphics into one format.
Witch Pickings is probably their best example of this to date. The graphics are truly spectacular with such smooth animation and performance that it puts many other slots to shame. There are no jerky graphics or pixels to be found here.
There is also a tendency among 3D video slots to create characters that step into the uncanny valley. NYX knows how to create interesting and fun characters to go along with their games, demonstrating they have a talented group of artists on board. You can play Witch Pickings here at Fortune Frenzy, so why not see it for yourself?
No Love For NetEnt?
Perhaps the biggest snub at this awards ceremony goes to NetEnt as we feel the judges made a serious oversight in not giving them anything. Not even an honourable mention? They only developed a series of innovative rock-themed slots, invented the cluster pays slot, and made excellent use of unconventional reel layouts.
Maybe they’ll get lucky next year. We are honestly a little sore, though, that they were ignored. They may have been in the running for many of the categories, but lost out to its competitors. Apparently all of the above isn’t ambitious enough. Ah, well. Better luck next time. Shame on the judges. Shame!
