Industry giants will jostle with fast-rising start-ups for the honours at the first ever CasinoBeats Awards, to be handed out as part of the glittering SBC Awards bash at The Artillery Garden at the HAC, London, on Tuesday 4 December.

As the gaming media brand prepares to enter its second year, winners will be named in five categories, specifically Casino Operator of the Year, Rising Star in Gaming, Game Developer of the Year, Best Gaming Innovation and Innovation in Live Casino.

The winners will be named before an audience of 700, gathered as part of the SBC Awards night, now in its fifth year.

Among those nominated in the leading Casino Operator category are Betsson, GoWild, LeoVegas, Twin and Videoslots, while operators Volt Casino and Omnia are nominated in the Rising Star category, along with Iron Dog, Spinmatic, QTech Games and more.

Yggdrasil, Realistic and Play’n Go are nominated for both Game Developer of the Year and Best Gaming Innovation, but face stiff competition in both categories, with rival listings from Microgaming, Red Tiger Gaming, Pragmatic Play, Wazdan, iSoftBet and more.

Blockchain casino platform provider Funfair Tech is also listed for Best Gaming Innovation, at the end of a stellar year of growth, while Betgames.tv also gets a nomination in the same category.

Innovation in Live Casino also attracts some established names, with Ezugi battling it out with BetConstruct and Evolution Gaming.

View all of the SBC and CasinoBeats nominees here

Stewart Darkin, editor of CasinoBeats, said: “As we near the end of our first year at CasinoBeats, it seems appropriate that we should recognise some of the many successes from a sector that continues to grow and innovate.

“As part of the SBC Awards night, hosted by presenter Kirsty Gallacher, these inaugural CasinoBeats Awards will follow September’s CasinoBeats Summit as a fitting bookend to our first year – and in the process celebrate some of the sector’s headline makers.”

Presenter Kirsty Gallacher hosts the Hall of Fame awards at the Natural History Museum, London, in September