Microgaming win Platform of the Year at EGR B2B Awards 2020

One of the online gambling's busiest and most prestigious award ceremonies of the year has just taken place, with the event being stages online in a virtual environment for the first time. The EG2 B2B Awards are an annual event that has been running for over ten years now and it rewards the biggest names in the industry for their excellence across a wide range of different categories.

Of course, Microgaming are no strangers to picking up awards in this event over the years and they were winners once again in 2020, this time for the coveted Platform of the Year award.

The award is viewed by many in the industry as one of the most important awards of the evening and its announcement saw the Isle of Man-based company rewarded for its "forward-thinking customer-centric management team".

Other comments from the judges who decided on the winner in each category praised Microgaming stating their nomination was; "A strong well-established platform with a wider offering of third-party content and good commercial deals in the relevant timeline. Impressive entry from the industry giant, still expanding after 26 years with tier 1 contract wins such as 888, Mansion and GVC. Content aggregation platform is industry leading."

Microgaming's recent Virtual Sports partnership with Inspired also proved to be a shrewd move with Inspired being named the Virtual Sports Supplier of the year with their Virtual Grand National and Virtual Kentucky Derby products in particular being given special praise.

A total of 39 different awards across many different categories were handed out during the evening. Other companies to have had successful evenings included Red Tiger, who landed five awards, while Kambi landed two and Playtech three.

Music to the Ears

News of the award will be music to the ears of Microgaming's senior management team who have overseen a marked change of direction at the company over the last three years or so. The company have made determined efforts to move from producing their own games in house, to building up partnerships with a number of software development companies around the world, such as Triple Edge Studios, Gameburger Studios, Alchemy Gaming and All41 Studios to name but four. The exclusive content provided by these companies has proven to be a winner and helped Microgaming achieve this award.

However, it is not just these exclusive partnership deals that pushed Microgamign to the top of the pile. The judges were very impressed with the company's content aggregation offering, which has seen Microgaming strike deals to offer games and other entertainments from a wide range of providers. Indeed, Microgaming announced just a couple of weeks ago that they had further expanded their range of content aggregation deals by signing a deal to bring Stakelogic's premium slot games to the Microgaming platform.

Other companies to have signed up include esports betting provider Unikrn, Nevada-based slots company Gold Coin Studios, SpinPlay Games, Neko Games and the already aforementioned deal with Inspired Entertainment for the incorporation of Virtual Sports betting onto the Microgaming platform.

Important year

The fact Microgaming have landed the award has put the cherry on the cake for the company after what has been one of the most impactful years in the company's long history. In addition to the burgeoning partnership and content aggregation schemes seeing a massive increase in the output of games from the company and a far wider selection of slots available on the Microgaming platform, the company has also given its coveted Microgaming Progressive Jackpot Network an overhaul too.

The network, which has paid out over €1.1 billion in winnings to lucky players over the years, has seen a major revamp of its crown jewel game, Mega Moolah slot, with three new Mega Moolah games added to the network, Mega Vault Millionaire (which is exclusively available on the Casino Rewards Network), Atlantean Treasures and most recently, Absolootly Mad.

Furthermore, the company vastly increased the value of their Wowpot progressive jackpot prize and got rid of the original Wowpot slot, replacing it with the new Wheel of Wishes slot which features a progressive jackpot prize seeded at £2 million, as well as three other progressive jackpot prizes available to be won. At least two new slot games are slated for release this year that will also share this massive jackpot prize.

In a year when the company also pulled its multiple award-winning poker network, this change of direction and refocus on the slots and casino gaming markets in particular, seems to have resulted in some big positives for the company.

Another award for the trophy cabinet

This latest award from the EGR B2B ceremony will sit nicely alongside the 16 other awards that the company has won at the event over the years. Since being named the RNG Casino Supplier of the Year in 2010, Microgaming have picked up at least one award at every EGR B2B awards event since. Last year, they claimed the gong for Innovation in Slot Provision (repeating their success in the same category from back in 2011) and in 2017, their Mobile Gaming software landed an award.

Other awards have come from Innovation in RNG Casino Software (2013), Innovation in Bingo (2013), RNG Casino Supplier (2012) and the company was named best Poker Network in 2011, 2015 and 2018 and best Poker Software in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016.

However, the company has also received a number of awards from other ceremonies and judging panels including landing several Awards for Excellence trophies from as far back as 2006, including being awarded the Company of the Year gong in 2018. The companies innovative PlayItForward charitable initiative won the CaisnoBeats Pride of Gaming Award in 2019 while the International Gaming Awards this year awarded Microgaming their Great Place to Work award, and in 2016, the same group awarded Microgaming their Innovator of the Year prize.

Other awards have come from bodies as diverse as the Malta Gaming Awards (for Slots Platform of the Year), Women in IT Excellence, HR Excellence Awards, ICE Awards, National Technology Awards and the Women in Gaming Diversity Awards.