Gamecheck to be headline sponsor of Sustainable Gaming Zone at ICE Barcelona
Gamecheck has been named the headline sponsor of the Sustainable Gambling Zone at ICE Barcelona, January 19-21, at Fira Barcelona Gran Via.
Gamecheck Founder James Elliott noted the SGZ represents the industry’s leading platform for advancing player protection and safer gambling practices.
“The Sustainable Gambling Zone has been at the forefront of developments impacting safe gambling and through our sponsorship we will be demonstrating our unwavering commitment to player protection and improving the overall safety of igaming,” Elliott said in a statement. “The sponsorship aligns our brand values with the industry’s most respected player protection initiative, while also providing the ideal environment to showcase how we actively protect players and operators from fraudulent game implementations.”
“Whether you’re an operator worried about cloned versions of your games, a supplier seeking to protect your intellectual property, or a platform looking to differentiate itself through verified fair play, Gamecheck offers a solution,” Elliott added. “Every operator that commits to game verification makes the entire ecosystem safer and more trustworthy for players. We’re at ICE to start building that coalition of operators, providers, and regulators who recognize that fake games represent an existential threat to the industry’s integrity and legitimacy.”
The Sustainable Gambling Zone has a new presence in the main corridor between Halls 4 and 5 and a redesigned open layout. The SGZ provides visitors with an opportunity to explore new technology trends, speak with charities and individuals with lived experience, and engage in essential debate on the future of safer gambling regulation.
Gamecheck uses blockchain-based technology to enable operators to verify the legitimacy of all games on their platform and in the process protects their brand from being exploited through fake game implementations.
Elliott noted that Gamecheck’s approach to player protection is rooted in practical, verifiable solutions.
“We’re not talking about player protection in theoretical terms,” Elliott said. “We provide operators with the tools they need to prove they are offering legitimate, fair gaming experiences and to protect their brands from being undermined by fake or manipulated games.”
Elliott believes SGZ continues to set the global benchmark for meaningful industry engagement.
“Since its inception in 2018, many conferences have introduced similar initiatives, but ICE remains the undisputed leader in this space,” he said. “The depth of content, the caliber of stakeholders and ICE’s unstinting commitment to advancing the sustainable gambling agenda year after year make it the natural home for innovations that genuinely prioritize player welfare.”
Elliott said that sustainable gambling is not only a regulatory or ethical imperative, but a commercial one.
“The threat posed by the black market is becoming increasingly significant for the industry,” he said. “While sustainable gambling requirements can initially appear burdensome, they represent the most viable path for the industry to thrive in the long term. By committing to these principles, operators build consumer trust and reduce regulatory risk.”
He added that failure to address issues such as fake games and manipulated return-to-player rates carries significant reputational and regulatory consequences. “From a pure business perspective, the cost of not prioritizing sustainable gambling far outweighs the cost of compliance.”
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The Backstory
Why this sponsor move matters now
The Sustainable Gambling Zone has evolved into a high-visibility forum at ICE Barcelona, a show that draws tens of thousands of global operators, suppliers and regulators. The Zone’s mission has shifted from awareness to implementation, putting player protection technologies and early-risk intervention at the center of product road maps and compliance strategies. That change tracks with a broader industry realignment under tighter regulation and growing scrutiny of game integrity, data transparency and customer outcomes.
ICE itself has amplified the Zone’s influence. Organizers expected record attendance of 55,000 to 60,000 for the sold-out 2025 edition after moving from London to Barcelona, with debates focused on compliance and player protection. The move signals that safer gambling is not a side track but embedded in the core agenda. The opening day program featured cross-sector voices tackling issues such as cashless payments and digital currencies under strict rules, underscoring how governance and innovation now intersect on the main stage. Read more on the show’s new scale and focus in coverage of ICE Barcelona’s sold-out launch.
Against that backdrop, sponsorship of the Zone has grown more strategic. Brand alignment with sustainable gambling brings visibility with regulators and operators that want proof of safer-by-design product choices. It also positions sponsors to shape the narrative on verification, intervention and responsible play tools that increasingly drive approvals and market access.
A rebrand that raised the bar
What began as a safer gambling showcase has become a broader platform for sustainability across the player journey. Clarion Gaming reintroduced the Zone with an emphasis on earlier identification of risky behavior and preventing harm before it escalates. The Zone’s rebrand widened the tent to include consumer protection and ESG content across a large footprint on the ICE floor, with programming that spans charities, lived experience, compliance leaders and technologists.
That thematic shift mirrors a larger industry pattern at ICE. Exhibitors are coupling front-end excitement with back-end trust technologies, pitching not just entertainment but evidence of robust fairness, transparent data flows and precise risk monitoring. The Zone’s prominent location and expanded programming turned it into a traffic driver and a barometer for where policy, product and brand strategy meet.
Flutter’s earlier pledge to bankroll the Zone
Before the doors opened in Barcelona, Clarion said Flutter Entertainment would be the headline sponsor of the Sustainable Gambling Zone and would donate to ICE’s safer gambling charity fund. Flutter tied the move to its Play Well strategy, which aims to increase uptake of responsible play tools among active online customers. The company reported that by the end of the second quarter of 2024, 47.5% of customers had engaged with those tools, up from full-year 2022 levels, and highlighted more than $100 million invested in 2023 across research, product and marketing to support the effort.
The sponsorship announcement also framed the Zone’s rebrand as a pivot toward earlier engagement with at-risk customers, a stance that puts data and personalized monitoring at the center of operations. For large consumer brands, the value of the Zone lies in convening regulators, treatment groups and competitors in one place to hash out what “effective” looks like in practice.
The messaging from Flutter underscored a wider point: responsible product design and marketing are becoming table stakes for growth. In markets where rulebooks are tightening, demonstrable harm minimization can unlock licensing, reduce litigation risk and protect margins. That is why sponsorship of the Zone is no longer just a communications exercise; it is a strategic investment in the infrastructure of compliance.
Innovation on display across the floor
The gravity of the Sustainable Gambling Zone is reinforced by the broader innovation drumbeat at ICE. Partnerships, new content pipelines and headline ambassadors show how operators and suppliers are competing on differentiation while threading the needle on regulation.
- Four Leaf Gaming’s tie-up with Bragg Gaming Group gives the studio U.S. distribution through Bragg’s remote game server and player journey tools, highlighting how new titles are being routed through platforms built for targeted promotions and oversight.
- Betby’s partnership with chess champion Magnus Carlsen shows brands leveraging credible ambassadors to push AI-driven sportsbook features, a tactic that requires careful guardrails around integrity and consumer expectations.
- Looking ahead, Konami’s plan to debut Konami Online Interactive at ICE 2026 underscores Barcelona’s status as a long-term launch pad for omni-channel content and hardware. As more land-based brands build online extensions, the expectation is that fairness, auditability and consistent RTP disclosures will be baked in from day one.
These moves converge on a single theme: product innovation must coexist with proof of fairness, risk controls and verifiable compliance. The Zone offers a venue where vendors can demonstrate those capabilities, not just talk about them.
The compliance calculus is shifting
The stakes for sustainable gambling are rising as regulators probe data transparency, game integrity and the effectiveness of harm-prevention tools. Conferences are answering with deeper content tracks, but exhibitors are responding with technologies that verify provenance, authenticate content and close gaps exploitable by bad actors. Operators face pressure on multiple fronts: preventing fraud, curbing the black market, meeting responsible play mandates and protecting brands from reputational shocks.
Within that context, sponsors of the Sustainable Gambling Zone aim to be seen as solution providers in front of an audience of regulators and partners who increasingly demand evidence. ICE’s scale magnifies the message: what is showcased here can set expectations across jurisdictions. The Zone’s location and programming make it a proving ground for the tools and partnerships that will shape licensing outcomes and consumer trust in the year ahead.
The broader industry pivot is clear on the show floor. Growth narratives now ride alongside commitments to verifiable fairness, transparent player journeys and early intervention. Sponsorship of the Zone signals a bet that safer-by-design will become a competitive advantage, not just a compliance checkbox. As Barcelona cements itself as the hub for these conversations, the companies that can demonstrate both innovation and accountability are best positioned to define where the market goes next.
