During Malta Week, which started November 15 and will run through November 19, one of the main highlights was the SiGMA Gaming Awards, which took place on Monday night during the first day of the SiGMA Europe event at the Hilton Malta in St. Julian’s, powered by BetConstruct.
The evening started out with a banter. Presenters Jon Thompson and SiGMA’s Lorraine Sammut warmed up the stage, leading up to the first post-pandemic ceremony.
One standout moment was reserved for the Outstanding Contribution of the Year recognition. This year’s winner, Mark Blandford, a pioneer in the gaming sector with 25 years of experience behind him, took the stage to receive this honor: “I love this industry, I’ve been in it since the beginning, getting involved 25 years ago – seeing it develop and mature into a great industry makes an old bloke like me very proud”.
There was also a guest appearance from French football legend Djibril Cisse, who turned up to introduce Betiton. “This is my first time to Malta, it’s a great country! I’ll be playing for you on Wednesday at SIGMA Night, so see you then!”
On behalf of SiGMA Foundation, Keith Marshall also gave a speech, urging attendees to get involved: “With you guys on board – the sky’s the limit. Don’t sit on the fence of indifference – this is your opp to shine.”
The evening then moved on to the auction – a live bidding round where several art pieces were up under the hammer for charity – with proceeds going to the SiGMA Foundation.
Artist Kevin Attard’s piece was auctioned for 3,000 EUR, while Derek Mason’s King of Cards -a piece exploring the synergy between fiat and crypto- raised 8,000 EUR. The last piece was by the international artist Reuven Shockner, known for using banknotes in his tactile artworks. His three-piece set went for a sum of 7,000 EUR.
Malta Week will go on through November 19, with a full agenda comprising conferences, pitchings and more.
The winners of the SiGMA Gaming Awards are:
- iGaming Consultancy of the Year – iGaming Advisor
- Corporate Services Provider of the Year – CSB
- Online Gaming Media of the Year – iGaming Future
- Online Casino Provider of the Year – Soft2bet
- Live Casino Provider of the Year – Pragmatic Play
- Online Sportsbook Provider of the Year – Digitain
- Game Provider of the Year – Stakelogic
- Rising Star Table Game of the Year – Full Color Gaming
- Platform of the Year – BetConstruct
- Unique Selling Point of the Year – Evolution
- Online Slots & RNG Games of the Year – Push Gaming
- Rising Star Operator of the Year – Betiton
- Online Casino of the Year – VideoSlots
- Crypto Casino of the Year – TrueFlip
- Sportsbook Operator of the Year – William Hill
- Affiliate Program of the Year – 7StarsPartners
- Affiliate of the Year – Bluewindow
- Sportsbook Affiliate of the Year – Oddspedia
- Esport Product of the Year – Esport Technologies
- Responsible Gaming of the Year – Betsson
- Gaming Fund of the Year – Yolo Investments
- CEO Woman of the Year – Clemence Dujardin
- Workplace of the Year – Betsson
- CSR Contributor of the Year – BBIN
- Online Payment Solution of the Year – Trustly
