Celebrated game designer Joe Kaminkow confirmed as keynote at ICE World Gaming Forum

Clarion Gaming has added to the A-List of luminaries participating in the ICE World Gaming Forum with confirmation that Joe Kaminkow, the powerhouse behind the success of Aristocrat and IGT will be one of the headline speakers at the Casino & Leaders Conference (CLC) taking place on 20 January.

Joe who holds over 150 patents throughout the fields of game design, operations, and networks, creating or contributing game design intellectual property to more than 1,500 games across multiple formats and markets joins a line-up of headliners which includes Vicente Fox, 62nd President of Mexico, and Akhil Sarin, CMO of online brands Stake and Kick, as well as over 100 other speakers so far announced including Simon Thomas, Chairman of the Hippodrome Casino, Marcel Tobler, CEO, Swiss Casinos, Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin, Chair, French Gambling Authority, Rhea Loney, Chief Compliance Officer, BetMGM, Sana Ali Aamir, European GM of Fever, and Warren Cho, Worldwide Gaming Leader, Microsoft.

Aristocrat’s Chief Innovation Officer will be leading a headline talk on attracting a diverse global audience through branded IP, drawing on his lessons from secured licensing rights from Batman, Star Trek, and Wheel of Fortune to Sex in the City and Game of Thrones. He will then join a panel of brand experts, including HASBRO, who will explore how to attract Millennial and Gen Z players in both the land-based and online space.

Announcing the news, Clarion Gaming’s Senior Conference Producer Damien Ashton-Wellman said: “The World Gaming Forum is about delivering thought provoking, authoritative insight delivered by Tier 1 thought leaders. Joe Kaminkow meets all of those criteria.

“He has been inducted into the Pinball Hall of Fame, the American Gaming Association's Hall of Fame, the Licensing International Hall of Fame, the Coin-Op Hall of Fame, the Amusement Expo International’s Hall of Fame and the EKG Hall of Fame, as well as being named a ‘Top Ten Most Influential Person in Gaming’ by Strictly Slots Magazine.

“At Williams Electronics he secured licensing rights from NASA that led to the 1984 smash hit game Space Shuttle. Following that success he was recruited by International Game Technology (IGT) to revolutionize slot machines through the extensive use of licensed titles like the iconic Wheel of Fortune deal. Joe went on to found Spooky Cool Labs in Chicago, where he developed an online Wizard of Oz city builder, before the company was acquired by Farmville creator Zynga.

"Having had a chance to see him in his element in his Las Vegas workshop, there is no one better qualified to talk about the convergence of gaming and entertainment than Joe. He's the gaming industry's very own Doc Brown, and not just because he owns the DeLorean!

The participation of Joe Kaminknow will add to the profile of the program which in 2024 succeeded in bringing together over 1,210 senior decision makers from 79 countries, including 621 operator C-Level, 87 global CEOs, 72 national and regional regulatory bodies, and 7 government ministers.

Situated in the heart of Fira Gran Via Barcelona and featuring an exclusive club-style VIP lounge for delegates and speakers, dedicated networking garden, and a range of concierge services, the ICE World Gaming Forum will run Monday 20th – Wednesday 22nd January alongside the ICE and iGB Affiliate exhibitions.