ICE 2020 analysis: Where has all the innovation gone?

The new year in online gambling really begins with an unforgiving slog in freezing weather to a giant hall in a largely featureless corner of London and the giant ICE exhibition. The great, the good and the large majority that make up the remainder of the sector squeeze themselves onto the Docklands Light Railway and head east to find out what’s new and what everyone will be talking about in the year ahead. But this year the answer was not readily forthcoming.

With online gambling poised at the start of a cultural revolution as regulation pulls it into ever more contorted shapes and the rise of giant new markets both west and east, you would expect an event throbbing with innovation, excitement and products that push new boundaries. But for a year with so much impending change then the ICE conference felt a bit…familiar. A bit safe. One where an industry was trying to work out what it did next, but secretly hoping someone else would tell it before it needed to decide for itself.

Instead of innovative products and solutions, we had ranks of self-service betting terminals, walls of live gaming and virtual sports, an almost endless number of game studios and lots of sports betting, oh so very much sports betting. This is increasingly a sports-led industry and with the rise of the US market there is little doubt it’s where most suppliers want to be. Giant stands from the likes of SBTech, BetConstruct and Kambi are now to be expected but on an equal footing these days are the likes of Betgenius and Betradar.

The growth and reach of these data companies has been a real story of the past few years and there is little doubt they are directly competing with those who may have once been partners. The one-stop shop model is compelling to any supplier, and it appears to be where both firms are aiming themselves with the handy addition of holding on to a part of the value chain nobody can afford to be without. But you sense it is going to create some awkward relationships and potentially some ill will between various parts of the sector.

The most interesting firms pushing hard at the sports betting supply sector, however, were arguably Playtech and Novomatic. Two giants of their respective sectors were not holding back on their ambitions for sports this year, doubtless with at least one eye on the US market. But as Latin America and to a lesser extent Asia and Africa open up, these will also be key markets and the ability to offer a strong land-based product for them will be hugely important.

From a casual observer’s perspective, it feels like this begins and ends with SSBTs, of which there were dozens dotted around the various supplier stands. If anything, it was surprising to see the land-based crossover pushed less within the more traditionally online operators, although there were some virtual sports products clearly aimed at a retail audience. But considering the potential power players in the next few years and the progress of regulation in some key markets, omni-channel’s best years could well be ahead of it and much more can be done here.

The same, however, could really be said of much of the industry. With so much coming up in the wider technology space, from 5G to VR to AI to the completely shifting media and gaming landscape, it was surprising to see so little that felt like it was taking the industry to a new place. In fact the only place most seemed interest in heading towards was the US or grey markets in Asia. That need to regroup and take advantage of near-term opportunities in the face of slowing growth elsewhere is understandable but a little uninspiring nonetheless.

Keep calm and carry on

And there was no real sign of attacking the issues thrown up by the new regulatory environment in a big way. There are plenty of solutions on the margins, revised products and offerings that are reshaping existing content and tools for what might come next but very little in terms of a big leap forward. The same could really be said for a number of areas, albeit there was notable floor space given over to esports. But you sense this is an industry hoping to just keep calm and carry on while the floor beneath its feet is falling away. It’s arguable this is actually the best approach and there is certainly no need to panic or stop building products that work and that customers enjoy playing. But a little less conversation and a lot more action in terms of thinking bigger and bolder wouldn’t go amiss.

The opening day of the conference was full of talks discussing how to respond to regulation and responsible gambling, but it remains a topic of conversation played out mostly through a handful of senior voices and everyone else is focused on business as usual. There was a lot of talk about regulation in the conference sessions, but not a great deal to signify how the changes everyone is expecting would filter down into the games people will play in future or the tools the industry will need to make the most of it.

It felt somewhat appropriate that on the first day of the conference, a committee meeting was taking place back in parliament featuring the CEOs of the UK’s big five while over in E16 it was all big screen slots, dancing girls and suited executives clustered round one of many espresso machines talking shop. The industry stood weighing up its options for the present while its future was being decided elsewhere.

That’s not to overstate this as a titanic moment. This is not, yet, a crisis. But the industry is facing a huge challenge right now and it doesn’t appear to be rising up to meet it. At a time when the industry should be trying to imagine a new future, it seems more set on reimagining the present. And this feels a little problematic as we head into the chaos of the new decade.