Anyone who has ever worked at executive level will tell you the job is largely comprised with late nights, tough decisions, frantic organizational challenges and – above all else – relentless hard work.
Amid that demanding daily routine year-in, year-out, are a select number of brief moments which allow you to reflect and celebrate the achievements of yourself and your team. September 28, 2026, represented one of those moments for Bluberi Gaming and its CEO, Andrew Burke, who was honored as the Americas Global Gaming Awards Executive of the Year for 2026.
And the victory is nothing short of outstanding. Considering that most recent winners included CEOs of tier-one operators, not least Amy Howe for three years in a row as FanDuel CEO, Burke and Bluberi have truly excelled.
A walk along the vine
Although nothing is every truly achieved alone, Burke's individual journey towards Executive of the Year spans 20 years back to his graduation from the University of Cincinnati's College of Business with a degree in Finance and Real Estate.
By this time, Bluberi itself had already been an operational organization for over a decade, having been founded in Québec, 1994, as a technology and game-focused supplier serving the Class II gaming market in the Canadian province, and later expanding across the nation. Indeed, by the early 2000s, Bluberi had established several successful games and expanded into the US market.
When Burke arrived in 2020, Bluberi had one main development studio and approximately 1,500 units in North America. By 2025, Burke said the company had grown to around 12,000 units, with 194 licences
For Burke, a near five-year stint at private equity firm Alpine Investors was followed by his very first foray into the gaming industry, as 2010 saw him become Director of Business Development at American Gaming Systems (AGS). Over the course of the next nine years, Burke would advance to his final role as SVP of Slots at AGS. Meanwhile, during 2016 – as Burke was working as VP of Slots – Bluberi was struggling, officially filing for bankruptcy and undergoing a restructuring before, being acquired in July 2019 by funds managed by Toronto-based private-equity firm Catalyst Capital Group.
Burke's Bluberi story
The arrival of Burke at Bluberi came just one year later in 2020, as he succeeded Mike Starzynski, who had led the company through the period culminating in the Catalyst acquisition. During his time with AGS, Burke had not only gained considerable slot industry experience but also experience in working as part of a senior leadership team for a company executing mergers and acquisitions.
This experience – alongside Burke's experience working with Bluberi at AGS – proved invaluable, as he helped steer Blueberi through its Catalyst merger, using his prior knowledge of the supplier's technology and capabilities with the intent of shifting the company from its relatively small position into a large-scale gaming supplier. And that's exactly what he did.
Burke's strategy was effectively to retain Bluberi's Canadian game-development DNA while building a much more substantial US commercial operation. One of his first major decisions was establishing Las Vegas as Bluberi's US headquarters, while maintaining the original Québec operation as a development centre. He also began recruiting experienced executives from larger gaming companies, including people from AGS, Konami and IGT. Casey Whalen joined as Chief Commercial Officer in 2020, followed by executives including Mike Brennan and Christian Smith from IGT.
Indeed, When Burke arrived in 2020, Bluberi had one main development studio and approximately 1,500 units in North America. By 2025, Burke said the company had grown to around 12,000 units, with 194 licences, while revenue had increased approximately fourfold over the preceding three years.
Being named the Global Gaming Awards Americas Executive of the Year 2026 brings Burke into esteemed territory, placing him among an elite group of recent winners including Howe, as well as last year's winner - Wynn Resorts CEO Craig Billings
The proof behind the prize
By late 2024, momentum behind Burke and Bluberi was beginning to build. A partnership with Aberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC) marked expansion in Canada, as operations continued to ramp up across the US. G2E 2025 saw the supplier debut a new hardware and game portfolio less than a month after the company officially went live in Nevada.
This year's first quarter saw the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) officially recommend the company for licensing throughout the state, with the company having 218 active licenses across 244 jurisdictions, a dedicated iGaming studio in Montreal alongside seven internal studios. Burke's endeavour to build on Bluberi's niche Canadian heritage of organizational machinery and mould the company into a large-scale multinational gaming supplier has culminated in him walking away with one of the most prestigious awards the industry can offer.
What's more, being named the Global Gaming Awards Americas Executive of the Year 2026 brings Burke into esteemed territory, placing him among an elite group of recent winners including Howe, as well as last year's winner – Wynn Resorts CEO Craig Billings.
Indeed, what is significant about Burke's victory is not only that recent winners for many years have all come from tier one operators, but also that it has come for the CEO of a supplier that is not Light & Wonder, IGT or Aristocrat Gaming.
The Global Gaming Awards are the only industry awards won fundamentally on merit and independently adjudicated by KPMG. This represents a pivotal moment for Burke and Bluberi, who have earned their place in the gaming hall of history – congratulations to both.
February 2025 saw Bluberi celebrate the company milestone of 10,000 slots games active in the global market
