Using its standing as one of the top online gambling regulatory bodies, the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) introduced its first annual online gaming industry awards back in 2016. The awards and ceremony proved to be quite a smash, leading the MGA to carry on with its new tradition.
On the 27th of November at the MFCC, Ta’ Qali, the MGA with sponsor SiGMA presented its third annual Malta Gaming Awards. In attendance was some of the industry’s biggest names. The event featured first-class entertainment, a charity action featuring fine artwork and jewelry, delicious food and major industry exhibits from many of the world’s top software providera. All of that aside, the centerpiece of the event was the awards ceremony where dozens of awards were handed out to top companies and executives in a number of important categories.
Gaming providers were evaluated on their services, the popularity of its games, game and promo innovation (see bingo-bonus-code.co.uk) and industry standing. The nominees and winner were selected from a of 18 judges, all of whom are considered to be well-respected officials from the iGaming industry.
The event’s hosts included Jodie Thind – Director of Lyceum Media, Jon Thompson – Director of Risk, Steve Hili – Comedian and Desi Campbell – singer/songwriter. The list of special guests included H.E. Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca – President of the Republic of Malta, Joseph Calleja – world renowned soprano and Brock Pierce – Blockchain evangelist.
When it came time for the awards to be handed out, participants were waiting with great anticipation. To say the least, the hardware was spread out among a vast portion of the industry’s top players.
The biggest award (Best Video Slot) of the night went to software develop Pragmatic Play for its revolutionary video slot “Wolf Gold.” Accepting on behalf of Pragmatic Play was Chief Commercial Officer Melissa Summerfield. In accepting the award, Summerfield stated: “We are delighted to have won Best Slot Game at this year’s Malta Gaming Awards, and I want to congratulate the entire Pragmatic Play team on their hard work in helping to make this possible. This award marks a year of real progress as we continue to build on our stellar range of slot titles with a series of expertly-modelled products.”
The following is a list of award winner in some of the other popular categories:
Best Games Supplier – Play N Go
Best Online Casino – LeoVegas
Best iGaming Brand – bet365
Best Mobile Provider – Betsoft
Best RNG Casino Provider – NetEnt
Best Slots Provider – Microgaming
By all s, this year’s event was another smashing success. The charity auction raised good money for a number of important charities. The highlight of the auction was a piece of artwork from the Polish artist Sylwia Pacura. The piece titled “Sophia meets Uma” went for an impressive €18,000. The crowd was particularly pleased by the performances of Steve Hili and soprano Joseph Calleja. In addition to the proceeds for the auction going to charity, proceeds from entrance fees will also be donated. Given the success of this event, it is sure to become a regular stop on the online gaming awards tour.