Our last day at Global Gaming Expo each year tends to be our busiest, and this year was no exception. With five booth tours in as many hours, it certainly kept us busy, but we saw some pretty cool things throughout the day. Here’s a few overall themes from the day
Licensed Themes Are More Selective, But Executed Well
This year I was impressed with the choice and implementation of licensed themes. The trend started earlier in the week as we saw an impressive early direction for a Queen (the band) themed slot, as well as some inspired Wheel of Fortune slots for this year.
Thursday brought us looks at a new Gremlins slot by Light & Wonder, the final version of Mix-a-Lot’s Anaconda and Cherry themes, and Gaming Arts showcasing beautiful games based on The Jetsons and The Goonies.
Across the board the execution on these were top notch, using the themes in expert fashion to make for something exciting and unique. But most importantly, they felt purposeful – this wasn’t just a license for the sake of nostalgia (although brand recognition certainly gives these sorts of games a leg up). All of the games have the potential to succeed based on what we saw.
Longer Bonuses are Back in Vogue
We saw signs of this with games like the Flaming Pots series, but longer bonuses are back in style, which is great news for players given how much importance these bonuses are taking on. Longer bonuses means a longer window of time where as players we’re not required to be making bets.
With all of the efforts made to speed up the total amount we wager – bigger minimum bets, faster coin count ups, quicker reel spins – this is one trend we can get behind. Having a fun and engaging bonus that lasts a while is amazing, and with bonuses like the pots, the cash collect feature seen on so many games now, nested bonus features that extend a bonus when triggered – these scenarios are good news.
There Are Some Incredibly Talented People in This Industry
With all the time we spend covering the actual games coming out, we rarely take a moment to acknowledge the amazing people that work in this industry. We’ve had the privilege and the pleasure to get to know so many talented and creative people who bring the slots to life, as well as help ensure they get to casino floors, and G2E is a regular reminder of that.
We spent some time with Kimberly Cohn of Light & Wonder – she and her team have been the steady hands behind the Ultimate Fire Link series since its inception a decade ago (G2E 2026 marks the 10th anniversary of the original’s being showcased). She’s also incredibly warm and is one of our favorite people to catch up with each conference cycle.
Jason Pawloski, a talented member of the Konami team, also was part of the team behind Brian Christopher’s World Cruise a couple of years ago. Robert Christensen is now at Aristocrat Interactive, but our paths of crossed on a number of occasions before and he’s incredibly perceptive at spotting where things are headed. We also got to reconnect with Lauren O’Brien, who showed us Monopoly Big Board Bucks back at IGA.
Looking back to our earlier days at the conference, Anthony Baerlocher has spent the better part of three decades at IGT, working on such classic titles as Double Top Dollar and the earliest Wheel of Fortune iterations, and he was our tour guide during the IGT booth visit. Joshua Ferrer is an incredibly savvy mathematician and game designer at Eclipse, and he was among those showing us their latest creations.
And that’s just a few examples – we met with so many amazing and talented people, and it’s easy to forget while immersing ourselves in the final product just how many people put so much effort into getting the slots out into the world. The conference gives us a rare chance to interact with them and learn a bit more about how the sausage is made, as it were, and we’re always appreciative of the time and energy that goes into them, and then to execute on a conference like G2E itself.
G2E 2026 was another wonderful year packed with things to see and do, as well as learnings that will continue to serve us well as we head into 2027.
