The European Amusement and Gaming Expo opened in the ExCeL Exhibition Centre, London, UK, on Tuesday with an increased number of exhibitors from last year.
While EAG experienced satisfactory footfall on the first day, numbers increased markedly on the second. “We were back to back the first day, but the second day was ridiculous, we didn’t stop all day,” said Justin Burke, general manager at Sega.
The show has increased in size since last year with 17 new exhibitors, although due to a re-design of the booths there was a feeling that there was more space this year.
It had a marked emphasis on virtual reality with several of the new additions to the show being VR related, including AI Solve, Immotion, Figment Productions and Vilmira.
There were also conferences held throughout the second day dedicated to the out-of-home VR sector, hosted by Kevin Williams, and featured talks from AI Solve’s CEO Devi Koli, Hologate’s founder Leif Petersen and Paul Calimore, the founder of Immotion.
“We have messed with a lot of different models to offer VR and it’s no surprise that the classic quick-turn-around arcade model is by far the most lucrative,” said Calimore.
Among the newest exhibitors was Bulldog Games – from the Novomatic Group – which concentrates not on gaming machines, but on redemption.
The final day included an open session with BACTA’s executive team who will provided a brief update for attendees on the industry’s current issues, followed by a questions and answers session.
