Stuart Hunter: "AI, regulation and responsible play were the big-ticket themes that underpinned the record-breaking World Gaming Week"

Record-breaking attendance and evolving priorities defined ICE and iGB Affiliate Barcelona , along with World Gaming Week, marking a pivotal moment for the global gaming industry. In this interview, Clarion Gaming's Stuart Hunter reflects on how the events, the key topics of regulatory dialogue, and responsible gambling initiatives are reshaping the format. He also explores the growing role of AI, collaboration, and stakeholder-driven agendas in shaping the future of iGaming worldwide.

ICE Barcelona and iGB Affiliate 2026 were the largest editions of both events to date. From Clarion Gaming’s perspective, what does this milestone represent, not just in terms of numbers, but in terms of the industry’s evolution and priorities?

The scale of the support for ICE and iGB Affiliate Barcelona was unprecedented. For that week in January Barcelona became the capital of global gaming. The audited attendance figures confirmed that a record 62,988 industry professionals from 162 nations attended World Gaming Week - a 5% increase on the 2025 attendance and the biggest gathering of industry professionals in the history of gaming. To break those figures down the attendance comprised 51,996 visitors to ICE, (+4% on 2025) and 10,992 for iGB Affiliate (+11%).

The figures set new records for both event brands with visitation, which measures the number of visitor days, hitting 120,439 - up 9% year-on-year. 2026 was the first occasion that total attendance exceeded 60,000, the first time that iGB Affiliate broke through the symbolic 10,000 figure and the first time that visitation was more than 120,000. I think these key metrics clearly demonstrate that ICE and iGB Affiliate Barcelona are the events which the global industry looks to not just for the very latest products and services but also as the place where the connections are made and the conversations take place involving games creators, operators, regulators, politicians and policy makers, that will shape the future of gaming across continents during 2026 and beyond. Significantly, many of those key conversations that started in Barcelona will be continued and developed further when the industry meets in London for July’s edition of iGB L!VE.

Clarion Gaming has increasingly positioned ICE and iGB Affiliate within a wider ecosystem of experiences, including World Gaming Week. What drove the decision to build these "events within the event," and how has this strategy changed the industry's engagement with ICE and iGB Affiliate?

Historically, exhibitions were all about showcasing the latest products and services. While the show floor remains the single most important reason to participate, exhibitors are now taking a more holistic approach, using the opportunity to also host customers outside show hours for a fully integrated experience. Similarly, non-commercial organisations such as trade associations, strategic bodies and regulators stage their own events. Quite quickly we saw that a three-day show was becoming a week-long event. To reflect this, we officially celebrated World Gaming Week from 18–23 January, with a host of special events taking place across Barcelona, a host city, which is uniquely positioned at the intersection of commerce, culture, and creativity. World Gaming Week ’26 was packed with opportunities to foster the connections and collaborations that power gaming across the regulated industry. It’s another dimension to the ICE/iGB Affiliate Barcelona experience and one that delegates really value.

Regulation has become one of ICE Barcelona’s central themes. With the iGaming industry facing rapid and often fragmented regulatory changes across multiple jurisdictions, how challenging is it to shape meaningful dialogue around these issues?

One of the central commitments we made for ICE Barcelona ’26 was to work with the industry and use the power of the brand to combat illegal gambling. The illegal market represents a major threat to consumers, to governments and to operators alike. We established a Regulatory Advisory Board to provide us with industry insight and based on their advice we introduced an enhanced Regulator Programme, which provided exclusive access to the ICE World Gaming Gala, discounts for regulators, closed-door sessions, working lunches and much more.

To encourage open discussions the ‘World Regulatory Briefing’ part of the ICE World Gaming Forum operated under the Chatham House Rule which encourages dialogue by creating an environment in which participants can speak freely without fear of their comments being publicly attributed to them. As the meeting place of the global gambling industry ICE Barcelona is ideally positioned to help facilitate initiatives that support a healthy, responsible and sensibly regulated industry. ICE provide an unparalleled opportunity to bring regulators and the industry together to discuss all of the issues, to solve problems and to realise opportunities.

The Sustainable Gambling Zone has grown into a more prominent feature of ICE Barcelona. How has the industry responded to this initiative, and do you feel it is helping shift responsible gambling from a compliance requirement to a genuine strategic priority?

You are right to highlight the distinction between player protection as a compliance issue on the one hand and as a strategic imperative on the other. I am incredibly proud that ICE was the first industry event to add an area dedicated to responsible gambling back in 2018. Since then, the feature area has grown in size and reflected shifts in thinking. This has included the change of title to the Sustainable Gambling Zone a change which was made in partnership with the industry.

Once again, the Sustainable Gambling Zone (SGZ) demonstrated how the industry is committed to player protection. The SGZ opened with safer gambling organisations Proyecto FES, Fejar, Betblocker and Fundación Convivir each receiving a donation of €20,000 to help further their essential work. The donations were the result of generous contributions from 11-leading brands comprising Acordjoc, Betsson Group, BGaming, Cirsa, Flutter, Grupo Orenes, Merkur, Merkur Dosniha, Novomatic, Novomatic Spain and Zitro. The record €80,000 raised the cumulative total donated by industry supporters to €462,500.

iGB Affiliate has long been a cornerstone of the iGaming ecosystem, particularly for companies navigating the complex and highly competitive affiliate marketing landscape. This year, amid rapid regulatory shifts and accelerating technological innovation, what stood out in the conversations and priorities of industry stakeholders compared to previous editions?

We have an ongoing dialogue with our stakeholders and two topics really stood out in terms of the defining trends specifically, the ways in which regulatory frameworks are maturing the ecosystem and the impact of artificial intelligence. There could have been few conversations in Barcelona that didn’t reference AI and how it’s reshaping operations, from content workflows to analytics, to freeing people to focus on creativity and building partnerships.

Rajaraman Ramachandran’s winning entry in the first ICE Innovator Challenge that we launched in partnership with Microsoft, focused on how AI‑driven player protection can significantly amplify the industry’s commitment to responsible play, and over time help improve its reputation with global policy makers and politicians. Rajaraman, who is co-founder and CTO of Gamucopia Creatives, argued that AI provides the ability to spot risky play patterns much earlier and at scale, so that interventions can take place before harm escalates. His key point being that a transparent, auditable watchtower that both operators and regulators can rely on shows that risk management is continuous and serious, and not an afterthought. The pace at which the industry is adopting new technologies was a stand-out feature of ICE and iGB Affiliate Barcelona.

Looking ahead, what types of conversations and themes would you like to see iGB Affiliate and ICE Barcelona explore more deeply in future editions?

A key and consistent characteristic that runs through all of our live events is that we don’t set the agenda but instead facilitate the opportunity. Every feature that industry professionals participated in or experienced in Barcelona was the result of a programme of sustained collaboration with our international stakeholder communities. So, to answer your question, it’s not about what themes we want to see explored in future editions, it’s about what the industry wants: our job is to deliver the industry agenda in the most professional way possible and involving the broadest community of global thought leaders.

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