There is no question of where the future of casino gaming is going online or on location at the world’s great casino resorts. It is headed for a collision course with video games in a clear and determined effort to meet the challenge of stirring up new revenue…
There is no question of where the future of casino gaming is going online or on location at the world’s great casino resorts. It is headed for a collision course with video games in a clear and determined effort to meet the challenge of stirring up new revenue streams in formats that capture the hearts, minds and wallets of the next generation.
The problem is simple. Whether we call them Generation X,Y or Z, up and coming gamers do not play those ubiquitous one-armed bandits that casinos bank on for a large share of their revenue. In so many words, their parents played the slots, but they do not.
The numbers are daunting. According to the Nevada Gaming Control Board Gaming Revenue Report, as posted on the website Fact / Myth, those one armed bandits that make up the backdrop for chase scenes in so many movies, are actually the big money maker for U. S. casinos. Revenue from slots in 2016 topped $7 billion, which was more than the money earned at all the other gaming tables combined, which came to just over $4 billion.
But to the younger generation, who grew up with Halo, Skyrim and Call of Duty with 3D imagery, background music, theatrical maps of fictitious countries and the ability to play against other gamers around the world, the idea of sitting in front of a slot machine and pulling a lever until three cherries appear in a small display is like the difference between ice hockey and shuffleboard. It’s the difference between water skiing and bingo.
In a word: Boring!
Enter a New York City company called GameCo. Inc. and the intriguing idea of melding some of those 3D action sequences with gaming – that is with real money exchanging hands – and the casino industry is all ears. Some of those early games, with the expected early glitches, are just reaching casinos in a testing stage now.
