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Throughout the early months of each year, the global online gambling business often comes together at various events to celebrate the very best of its achievements across the previous 12 months. In 2026, this will be no exception. Players, professional gamblers, content creators and industry professionals will head out to global gambling destinations like Malta, Las Vegas and Barcelona over the coming months, to learn from the standout game developers, casino platforms and back-end tech providers that deliver the innovations keeping the business moving.
This article will look at three major awards events coming up in the early part of 2026, and see which games and suppliers are the most nominated. It will then extrapolate a few meaningful trends, highlight a few potential big winners and, finally, make a few new predictions for which companies will have continued success into 2026 and beyond.
The EKG Slot Awards in Las Vegas are First Up
The first big gambling business awards show of the year is the 8th edition of the annual Eilers & Krejcik Gaming (EKG) Awards. This event will be taking place at the luxury Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas on February 26.
Being a Las Vegas-based awards show, the majority of awards here are for land-based casino gaming cabinets. Although online casinos are growing in the US, they aren't as big business as land-based gambling (yet). Nevertheless, EKG ensures there are half a dozen rewards for online casino related categories.
The main list of nominees for the 2026 New Online Slot Game category are:
- 7s Fire Blitz Hot Stepper by White Hat Studios
- Mo Mummy Mighty Pyramid by Aristocrat
- Huff N Even More Puff by Light & Wonder
- Straight Cash by AGS Interactive
- MegaJackpots Cash Eruption by IGT
- Diamond Cash Mighty Elephant Win Ways by Greentube
- Gates of Olympus Super Scatter by Pragmatic Play
- 333 Boom Banks Power Combo by Games Global
Several of the top slot games nominated at this prestigious awards event are among lists of popular online slots that you'll find at casino comparison sites. Not only do these lists compare top games, but you can also find out exactly which casinos have them in their selection - so you never need to be dissapointed when looking for a particular game.
Some 160 nominees will be up for an award across 25 categories, assuring there will be representation on the night from a range of top global slot and gambling game development studios and casino operators.
The EKG Awards winners are decided by a mix of factors including industry experts, polls of gamblers and players and industry data on popularity and total playtime.
The EMEA Global Gaming Awards Announced at ICE 2026
The International Casino Exhibition is always one of the premier global gambling events of the year. As well as the awards, ICE is always a time when developers drop big announcements. Previously held in London for more than a decade, the event is now annually held in Barcelona. This year it took place between January 19 and 21.
Some 150 companies and several dozen individuals were up for awards across 15 categories. There was hot competition for the Online Slot of the Year category, comprising of the following hopefuls:
- Mighty Wild Jaguar by Wazdan
- Gates of Hades by Pragmatic Play
- Reactoonz 100 by Play'nGo
- Gold Blitz Ultimate by Fortune Factory
- 4 Pots Riches by Playson
- Snoop Dogg Dollars by BGaming
- Piriots 4 by ELK Studios
- Coin Gobbler by Amusnet
- Bill & Coin 2 by Relax Gaming
- Piggy Riches: Wand of Riches 2 by Greentube
However, it was Pragmatic Play's Gates of Hades that won out eventually on the night. A sequel (of sorts) to the Gates of Olympus game that was a huge success for the developer and inspired lots of copycats. This game gives more of the same while refining the formula - which has clearly worked out for them so far.
As well as the EMEA edition of the Global Gaming Awards, a North American and Asia-Pacific will be held elsewhere and slightly later in the year.
The CasinoGuru Awards are Something a Bit Different
Here's an Awards show that proves it not just all about making bigger and better games that keep players engaged for longer. In May 2025, the Xara Lodge in the European online gambling hub of Malta will be hosting the fourth edition of the Casino Guru Awards.
This awards show won't be looking at individual games, or stories of incredible growth and success - but instead it will celebrate the fairest, most responsible operators and policies, across charitable or community initiatives, responsible gambling tool development and fair and transparent bonus ideas.
Nominations close on February 15 and the shortlisted nominees will be announced in March. Around a dozen awards will be handed out on the night, including:
- Most Innovative but Fair Casino Bonus
- The Most Impactful Social Responsibility Initiative
- The Best Implementation of Responsible Gambling Tools
- Player's Choice Award
Studio and Game Innovations to Watch in 2026
So, what kind of games developers might be award winners this year? Well, although there are now a wealth of smaller slot studios that are increasing their market share, both of these big awards events are mostly dominated by known names.
There are a few newer developers (Amusnet, Relax, ELK) many of the same suppliers as 20 years ago still dominate the most popular charts at many online casinos.
Part of this trend is big game developers simply buying up smaller ones and absorbing their innovations and expertise. Expect that to be a trend to continue on the business side.
In terms of games mechanics and features, the titles widely expected to do well this year are narrative-framed games that involve lots of player choice. Making slots more interactive and gamified has definitely been a trend of the past few years, and that will no doubt continue into 2026 too.
Some example mechanics likely to be seen in award winning slot games in 2026 and beyond include:
- Progressive narrative quests
- Branching bonus rewards
- Distinct arenas or worlds to progress through with different reels and mechanics
- Inventory or stored item systems
- Player-controlled volatility or payline structure
Two growing developers who have multiple nominations across the above awards events are Relax Gaming and Greentube. Greentube is actually owned by long-time online slot developer Novomatic, which bought the London-based studio in 2010. However, they have been quiet for a few years and its only since around 2020 that the studio has come back to life significantly by really pushing its new and old games.
Relax Gaming has been developing online casino tech, including a poker platform, since around 2010. However, it only got into the online slot game in a big way in 2010. Since then it has become a staple at many online casinos across the globe, withs it DreamDrop linked jackpot games proving particularly popular with players and operators.
- B.E. Delmer, Gambling911.com
