ICE Barcelona 2025: Regulatory challenges and the global impact of UNIDESA at the tradeshow

UNIDESA is a leading supplier and leader in the design and development of gaming machines for the hospitality industry and gaming halls, recognised as a benchmark in the sector. It is part of the B2B Division of the CIRSA Group, a leading multinational in the gaming and leisure sector in Spain and Latin America, with a long track record of success and growth in this highly competitive and constantly evolving industry. 

From the perspective of Juli López, commercial director of the company, ICE Barcelona not only reflected the high level of professionalism of the sector at a global level, but also highlighted the solidity and strength of the Spanish market: “At UNIDESA we are proud to have been able to give an excellent image, demonstrating that the Spanish sector is in good health and has an exciting future”.

‘Unidesa is currently focused on the Spanish sector, both in the hotel and catering sector, as well as in the gaming salon sector and in the area of management systems with our Forward Systems’, said Juli López in relation to the market in which they work. 

Main innovations presented during ICE Barcelona:

The main novelties presented in Hospitality are The Manhattan Mirage, a new improved evolution of the Manhattan platform, a leading product in the Spanish market, and the Legends which brings together the best sellers of Unidesa's traditional machine models, described Juli López. 

As for Gaming Rooms, he went on to detail the following: ‘a new games package on the Queens platform with Twist&Link, which will allow us to extend our reach to different types of players with this new link mix 3 approval and which already allows us to combine 4 games packages (Fire Shot Link/Hit the Link/Pyramid Cash/Twist&Link), and the great novelty of being able to have the Manhattan for arcades in the new Next cabinet, available with monetics as before, but also now with TITO, so important in the arcade environment’.

UNIDESA's commercial director reflects on the trends that will mark the future of the industry, as well as the impact of the show in the LATAM region and the challenges facing the Spanish market in terms of regulation. 

What trends do you think will shape the near future of the industry?

We continue to be attentive to what is happening in the international environment in terms of game development and that has worked so well for us. In parallel, we are also listening to the needs of the operator to incorporate their opinions/ideas into our products. Innovation, technology and the technical and operational reliability of our products must remain at the core of our DNA.

How did you perceive the impact of ICE Barcelona for the LATAM region?

ICE Barcelona has really strengthened its position as an international tradeshow for the sector alongside the most important in the world, and as a consequence it also has an important impact in LATAM; let's not forget that Cirsa, for example, has a long history of success in these countries.

In relation to the Spanish market: what challenges do you face in a market with fragmented regulations according to autonomous communities, and how do you manage it to comply with regulations and offer a quality experience to customers?

We know the scenario in which we have to play. It is a complex reality given the diversity of regulations, but we take it positively and as a differential fact that makes us stronger and more special in an international context. Unidesa is putting all its efforts into achieving fluid and direct communication between all the regulators and the manufacturers' associations that represent us, with the aim of preserving the viability and future of the Spanish gaming market.

To conclude the interview, Juli López comments that Expo Congress Torremolinos, to be held in September this year, and ICE Barcelona 2026, will be the next fairs to be attended.