SBC News Gamevy crowned Game to Watch ICE 2016

Gamevy crowned Game to Watch ICE 2016

Helen WaltonA year on from scooping the PitchICE Best Start Up award, Gamevy have won the Game to Watch competition at ICE 2016, beating off stiff competition from some hot new contenders, including Skillz Gaming.

The hotly-contested game to watch competition sees companies compete for the game judged most interesting and likely to succeed. Given the innovation for which ICE is famous, it is no wonder that this prize is so sought-after by companies who pride themselves on their game design.

Helen Walton, Gamevy Marketing Director, said: “Last year was incredible for us. We said we wanted to do even better this year. And we have! Not only did our cheeky guerrilla promotion boys in heels become one of the most talked-about campaigns at ICE, but we have also started significant conversations with leading operators and aggregators. To win this competition for our hero gameshow is the perfect recognition of all our work.”

The Game to Watch

The Heist is an online gameshow in which players must take 10 steps to reach the vault. They must avoid alarms and answer quiz questions correctly to reach the money. Once in the vault, players enter the jackpot of jail round.

Will they cash out and take their winnings? Or will they risk it all to steal more? The game offers a £1 million jackpot – fully insurable – and has a variable RTP dependent on the player’s skill and on when a player decides to cash out.

Paul Dolman-Darrall, Chairman of Gamevy, said: “Jeopardy has long been understood in gameshows. But for gambling it’s fairly new. Cash out has been a huge innovation in sportsbooks and it’s good to see that the judges recognise how it can change our ideas of what works in games as well.”

The judges and audience commended the stylish animations and graphics of The Heist, as well as it stripped back UX, which allowed users to play quickly and enjoy the combination of gameshow quiz and jeopardy.

A Revolution in Gaming

Dolman-Darrall, who presented the game, reflected on the skills gaming revolution which is coming to gambling, and paid tribute to the exceptional games The Heist was competing against at ICE 2016.

He commented: “The concept of skills gaming is about a blue water market – we are not cannibalising the existing gaming genres, we are acquiring new customers who don’t think of themselves of gamblers by offering a type of game that offers greater engagement. That means there is not really only one winner – because we all share that vision.”

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