This world’s premier international gaming trade show and educational program took place at Sands Expo & Convention Center in Las Vegas. Global Gaming Expo 2018, also known as G2E, gathered a record-breaking participation on the trade side and offered an extremely valuable and interesting content on the education side.
The products and services presented by the exhibitors were grouped in 20 categories, the largest surfaces in the show belonging to IGT, Aristocrat, Scientific Games, Novomatic and Konami Gaming. It is important to notice that 71 out of the total 376 exhibitors were for the first time at G2E.
Probable the most relevant news was related to decision of the USA Supreme Court that struck down the federal law prohibiting sports betting in the U.S. Therefor, G2E was the perfect venue to explore the great opportunities on the market following this decision.
It goes without saying that sports betting was one of the main topics of the conferences and education events. No less than 7 symposiums were dedicated to this subject on the main stage from the Sands Expo during the 3 days of the show.
I followed some of the other conferences as well but I was really impressed by what happened on the stage where the Innovation Lab was organized by the American Gaming Association. Over here I had the chance to see a number of very interesting 15-minute TED-style sessions. The topics of these presentations were very diverse and captivating, ranging from applying the artificial intelligence in gaming up to the convergence of the traditional casino games with new trends such as gamification, social gaming and e-sports.
Considering the very large surface of the exhibition, the high number of exhibitors, events, stages and conferences as well as the popularity of the show I found extremely useful the mobile application provided by the organizers of G2E. With the help of this app I was able to organize my schedule for the 3 days of the show according to my personal interests, preferences and pace.
In conclusion, I would say that the Global Gaming Expo is one of those things that happen in Vegas but don’t stay in Las Vegas, as the experience, the contacts and the information from this event are extremely relevant and useful in our everyday activity.
