It didn’t take long for 2026 event season to get into full swing starting with The EAG (Entertainment, Attractions and Gaming) Expo in London on the 13th Jan closely followed the week after by the behemoth that is the ICE trade show in Barcelona. Better Change were exhibiting at both events showcasing our training and education products as well as talking about new and emerging global markets and exploring the latest developments in tech.
The ExCel London was the first destination of the year for the land based gambling industries annual showcase of the latest gaming equipment and business solutions. Among the throng of lights and sounds there is also the opportunity to discuss the progress of our industry, and Better Change were kindly invited by EAG and land based industry trade body Bacta, to exhibit and engage with delegates how they can support land based gambling in terms of compliance and promoting Positive Play.
The land based amusements sector is a significant part of our industry with millions of people each year enjoying high street arcades, bingo and family entertainment centres and like many businesses in hospitality and entertainment the past few years have been extremely challenging due to rising costs. Couple this with the recent pressure on the gambling industry, from the introduction of statutory levies, the threat of rising taxes and increased regulation and you have a potential perfect storm which puts jobs and long standing businesses at risk. Fortunately there had been some respite to the doom and gloom at the end of last year with the announcement that machine game duty would not be increased as part of the autumn budget. The challenge had also been laid out by government that to benefit from the relaxing of regulations, including machine allocations, stakes and prizes they had to demonstrate their commitment to player protection. This is a challenge that the sector has relished and as well as promoting new products there was a strong emphasis on regulatory compliance and safer gambling initiatives including Better Changes offer of free safer gambling e-learning to the sector in partnership with US training provider RG24seven and trade body Bacta. Bacta members can enquire about free training here.
Other highlights from the show include the second staging of the both the London casino show and the Social Immersive Entertainment Expo showing that the sector is innovative, resilient and looking to the future and the changing trends of its consumers.
ICE’s move from London to Barcelona in 2025 was met with both scepticism and excitement but it is hard to deny the biggest show in gaming has got a whole lot…Bigger! ICE has always been a huge melting pot bringing together the world of gaming together under one roof and the 2026 renewal has been the biggest yet, quite apt then that the theme for this years show was growing.
As we have done for the past couple of years Better Change once again teamed up with RG24seven and BMM innovation group to exhibit at this years show. The theme on our stand was that we were “questioning our education” and in an ever evolving world we want to make sure that our training and education materials are the best they can be. We invited people from the show to contribute to our huge chalkboard, brainstorming ideas and finding out what made training really rock for them as well as what areas need to be covered. This will be invaluable over the coming months as we continue to refine our offer with our partners and friends stateside. To encourage people to contribute we also held a prize draw giving away a years supply of airport lounge access and a remarkable notepad. Congratulations to Niamh from Mindway and George from Stakemates, enjoy your prizes!
One’s approach to ICE needs to be more strategic these days, you cannot expect to cover the whole event wandering from hall to hall! Fortunately the layout and the ease of access to the skywalk means you can get to where you need to be in minutes although do give yourself plenty of time to get from meeting to meeting, even on day 3 I was being overtaken by people running to get to their next appointment (you’ve gotta love the hustle)! Better Changes ICE took us to various parts of the exhibition floor, Engagement Director Rob spoke at the sustainable gambling zone about the benefits of a positive play approach as opposed to acting solely on markers of harm as well as meeting with representatives from across the industry to discuss the advancement of AI and its application in our industry at a breakfast hosted by Aibly, whilst Vicki and Anna attended a Global Gaming Women breakfast and also a seminar on emerging markets where we are supporting with the implementation of regulated markets as well as consulting with operators in various regions.
It was great to meet so many people for the first time as well as some familiar faces and we look forward to catching up on those conversations in the future. If you missed us either at EAG or at ICE don’t worry, we will be out and about again soon but in the meantime why not get in touch and see how we can support your organisations growth.