I’ve been attending and enjoying iGB Live in Amsterdam most years since 2014, unlike Harrison and Chris who went for the first time just last year.
For 2025, however, it was all change for iGB conferences. ICE, one of the biggest gaming industry conferences on the calendar, abandoned the chill of London in February for a new January date in Barcelona taking the iGB Affiliate conference with it. In turn, iGB Live left Amsterdam and came to London. And let me tell you, a London conference in July has a COMPLETELY different vibe to one in February!
The Amsterdam RAI conference centre is right next to a wonderful outdoor bar area called the Strandzuid (yes, it is a beach, sort of) and my big worry was that the move to London wouldn’t be able to replicate the networking opportunities and relaxed atmosphere that iGB Live is famous for. I’m delighted to report that Clarion Gaming did a brilliant job in that respect! The conference was located at the western end of Excel and made great use of the Waterfront Bar and adjacent areas. There was also iGB Oasis, a boat tied up at the dock which made a great venue for some relaxed networking.
Although it has thousands of attendees, iGB Live is much smaller than ICE and this puts far less strain on nearby hotels and venues, taxis and public transport making it a generally less fraught experience all the way from the welcome drinks at a rooftop bar in Canary Wharf to the Unwind session at Flight Club in Shoreditch.
Our schedule was packed with meetings and events, many of them separately. Deals were done, connections made, new partnerships forged and lightbulb moments experienced. Chris, Harrison and I did make time to attend one rather splendid event together, the Super Group party on the rooftop of their new London offices.
I also attended an exclusive iGB Executive dinner on the first evening and – again courtesy of iGB Executive – I was invited to the iGB Affiliate Awards.
I very much enjoyed my evening at the awards, even though we didn’t win either of the awards we were shortlisted for (there’s always next year!) Congratulations to all the winners!
All in all, the FTD Digital team thought iGB Live 2025 was a great conference and it will definitely be staying in our diary for 2026 and future years.
