White Hat Studios' Jackpot Royale named Gaming Product of the Year at American Gambling Awards

White Hat Studios has won Gaming Product of the Year for Jackpot Royale at the 2024 American Gambling Awards, an event produced by Gambling.com Group Limited (Nasdaq: GAMB) that recognises leading companies and individuals in the regulated US online gambling sector.

The award was announced on 9 October 2024, with judges citing the jackpot system’s contribution to player engagement and revenue generation for operators in the online gambling space.

Product performance

Jackpot Royale offers players the chance to win one of three jackpot tiers: Maxi, with an average value of $5,000; Major, averaging $25,000; and the top-tier Jackpot Royale prize, averaging $175,000. The mechanic is built on a self-sustaining model, with 1% of every bet placed contributing to jackpot reseeding, a structure intended to keep the product cost-effective for operators while maintaining player excitement.

According to the release, Jackpot Royale has now been integrated into 30 games and paid out $15.4 million in prizes to 950 players across the US in its first year. During the awards’ judging period alone, the product paid out more than $15 million to US players. White Hat Studios said the mechanic continues to be rolled out across new titles on a monthly basis, giving operators an ongoing way to refresh their content offering.

Industry reaction

Andy Whitworth, chief executive of White Hat Studios, said the award reflected the company’s focus on creating engaging gaming experiences, adding that Jackpot Royale had reshaped player experience while delivering measurable results through its self-sustaining design. He said the company intends to keep integrating the feature into new and existing games to support operator partners.

Charles Gillespie, co-founder and chief executive of Gambling.com Group, congratulated White Hat Studios on the win, noting that the judging panel had been particularly impressed by the game’s three-tier jackpot structure and cost-effective design, which he said delivered both player excitement and tangible value for operators.

White Hat Studios operates as a US-focused content supplier offering slots, jackpot slots and RNG table games, alongside its wider White Hat Gaming platform, which provides player account management, digital wallet, fraud prevention and CRM tools, and aggregates third-party content including Kambi Sportsbook and more than 120 games providers.