Industry News
With video games comes a new era in gambling
Gambling is one of the most entertaining and at the same time, lucrative endeavors out there. People go to casinos or visit online gambling websites to have fun and shake off all the exhaustion they have collected during the day, but also to place wagers and win some money.
And even though the industry has never really lacked the big customer base, which was “pampered” with various bonuses and gifts like Australian casino reload bonuses, there are some concerns when it comes to the demographics. You see, slot machines and craps tables might be a great entertainment for Baby Boomers or Generation X, but Millenials are significantly different in their preferences.
In today’s casinos, you won’t be able to find just as many youngsters as older players whose childhood was associated with the development of those brick-and-mortar casinos. One can even say that they’ve been growing side by side.
As for the Millenials, they’re more of an action-loving generation. To them, entertainment is associated with skill, strategy, and a lot of action.
In light of this issue, many casinos are starting to rearrange themselves to account for younger generations. This includes offering more video games as a form of gambling.
Lacking new life
As we’ve mentioned above, the casino industry is steeped with older generations like Baby Boomers and Generation X. When it comes to Millenials, though, they seem to fail to attract them.
Even though major gambling venues like Las Vegas have been upgraded to the point where they not only offer gambling opportunities but also cover other areas of entertainment such as nightclubs, restaurants, sporting events and many more; and even though these possibilities are undoubtedly more appealing to youth, the industry still lacks the new blood.
When offering more diversified entertainment forms, Las Vegas and similar gambling sites actually inhibit their gambling-related revenues and divert them more towards those night clubs and restaurants. Youngsters might go to Vegas, but most of the time, they’ll opt for sporting events and nightclubs, not casino halls.
In 2014, among the visitors of Las Vegas, 24% were Millennials but only 63% of them were actually gambling. This compared to 78% of Baby Boomers and 68% of Generation X.
According to M. Meyerhofer, the Gamblit Gaming executive, “The majority of visitors to Vegas are under the age of 50, while the majority of those who play slot machines are over 50. Casino operators are seeing 100 percent of their floor wired for a population group that is no longer the majority.”
Obsolete technology
One of the main reasons why gambling sites are lacking youngsters is that the majority of games haven’t been updated to meet the requirements of today. For example, slot machines are still based on the exact same mechanism of pulling the lever to ring the reels and win, in case of getting the exact symbols in a row.
While there were some design changes in the game, the main idea has always stayed the same. “Millennials have grown up in an era of digital media and games. The passive experience of a slot machine does not resonate with them,” adds Meyerhofer.
Introduction of video games
As it turns out, things are starting to change in favor of casinos, as well as younger generations. In February 2016, Nevada and New Jersey passed legislation which allows casinos to introduce more skill-based games.
We can even say that things are moving fast, considering the rate at which the new legislation was passed: it was introduced in January 2015 and already in June the same year, it was signed. Everyone’s mentioning that there’s some kind of urgency to introduce new possibilities for new blood.
The idea behind the legislation is that game providers can now create video games that are:
- Skill-based;
- More action-packed;
- Include gambling capabilities.
With such arcade games as Angry Birds, Temple Run, or hard-core shooters like Call of Duty and Battlefield, casinos will be able to attract millions of youngsters in their venues.
Besides, there will be more opportunities for not only playing the games but also to bet on others playing those games. Various casinos in Las Vegas are already including betting on esports in their establishments.
And with such online gaming tournaments as Fortnite World Cup or Counter-Strike: Global Offensive yielding millions of viewers around the world, attaching gambling capabilities to them will undoubtedly bring larger revenues to the industry.
Possible complications
Besides the positive effects, many analysts are warning about the possible negative consequences of such development. According to Tomer Perry, a research associate at the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University, introducing younger generations to gambling might create problems.
Perry believes that if conventional gambling is itself very addictive and causes psychological problems to gamers, then adding new video games that appeal to youngsters can propagate this problem to them as well.
At the end of the day, gambling is a form of entertainment that can be just as good as it can be destructive to a certain person. It depends on what you’re planning to do with that risk-taking endeavor.
Bringing new life to the industry can be as beneficial to casinos as to youngsters, who can find their favorite forms of entertainment in brick-and-mortar casinos, as well as their online websites and enjoy a little risk.
Industry News
Maximising Your Cross-Market Appeal
With Bitblox introducing an entirely new breed of crypto-based price prediction games to the iGaming industry, we talked to CEO, Brandt Page, to discover how combining elements of both chance and skill with lightning-fast betting rounds has helped improve their cross-market appeal.
When Bitblox was first established, our core concept was relatively simple; we didn’t just want to provide players with a new twist on an existing format like slots or casino games, but instead sought to create an entirely new vertical that combined elements of chance and elements of skill.
One of the main drivers behind this decision was the fact that we wanted our releases to appeal to as broad an audience as possible – and I think from the figures we’ve seen so far, we’ve already had some notable success on that front in terms of the players that are engaging with our games.
Funnily enough, I was recently talking to the Head of Marketing from one of the operators that we work with and they told me they were struggling to place our games optimally. Initially, they’d put them in with crash and instant win content, but they soon discovered a lot of their in-game traffic was coming from sports bettors. A move to the sports betting tab followed, but the exact same-thing happened with casino players, leading to the games eventually winding up on the front page.
As this was going on, our games were continuing to post solid numbers with the customers who bet on both sports and casino – and all of this engagement was coming without there being any additional promotion from us or the operator. So why was it that our games were performing so well across these different player segments? I believe there are a number of contributing factors.
First and foremost, having this hybrid model of games of chance and games of skill that I’ve already mentioned has placed us in a fairly unique position within the iGaming industry. On the one hand, the simple premise of our Bitcoin-based titles – coupled with their attractive designs and intuitive UI – makes them highly accessible to casino players who are just looking to have fun.
On the other, the fact that Bitblox games aren’t based on RNG and are instead pinned to the real-time movements of the Bitcoin market certainly resonates with a sports betting audience. As they have the ability to follow the charts and use this information to inform their decisions, they definitely feel they have more control over the outcome than if they were playing a traditional slot.
Another key aspect of our cross-market appeal is the fast-paced nature of all Bitblox releases. With casino players being accustomed to the quick wins and instant gratification of slots and crash games and sports bettors also showing a growing preference for in-play wagering, we’ve ensured each game round is resolved quickly and that there are multiple opportunities for betting.
When we first launched Up or Down?, which features one-minute betting rounds, we soon learned that even this timeframe is too long for some players. This resulted in us developing Up or Down? Turbo – a game which kept the same mechanics as its predecessor but reduced the betting window to 20 seconds – and this has gone on to become one of our most successful titles.
Keeping all this in mind, one of the things I’m most excited about is the upcoming release of our latest game, 3 in a Row, as I think this is a title that really ties everything I’ve talked about so far together. Designed to look like a slot machine, 3 in a Row challenges players to correctly predict how the Bitcoin price will move over three separate 20-second windows for even bigger payouts.
Intended to appeal to casual users and serious sports bettors alike, players can elect to either spin the reels for fun and select a random price sequence or use the bet builder feature to put together their own custom prediction. With the latter essentially functioning like an accumulator bet, players can select up to three possible combinations – i.e. Up/Up/Up, Up/Up/Down etc – and only one result needs to land for them to win, ensuring they stay engaged until the final seconds.
I believe that 3 in a Row can help build on the strong foundations we’ve laid down with casino and sports bettors and provide operators with another popular option that offers significant cross-market appeal. Based on what we’ve seen from previous Bitblox releases, the audience for titles that combine elements of chance and elements of skill is definitely out there – and I’m looking forward to our unique brand of crypto-based games being enjoyed by even more players in future.
Industry News
Gaming Corps to launch with lotteries in the USA via EQL games deal
In-demand content provider extends reach into largest iGaming market in the world with its full suite of games made available via iLottery aggregation platform
Gaming Corps, a publicly-listed game studio based in Sweden renowned for creating industry-leading games, has made its debut in the US market through a breakthrough agreement with leading lottery provider, EQL Games.
The distribution agreement will see Gaming Corps’ full suite of games made available to EQL Games’ powerful iLottery Aggregation Platform, developed to provide lottery operators across America with direct access to a portfolio of proprietary and third-party games.
Following the integration, EQL Games’ lottery operator partners will be offered proven Slots, Table Games, Multiplier Games, Mine Games and Plinko Games, as well as titles under Gaming Corps’ innovative and trademarked Smash4Cash™ series.
The deal and integration come at a time of growing demand among online lottery operators in the US for non-traditional content, a format that Gaming Corps has excelled in, especially with its Smash4Cash™ games, which have been a hit with players in global markets.
EQL’s aggregation platform has been developed to allow online lottery operators to quickly and easily access content from multiple game studios simultaneously through one integration and one commercial agreement.
Its iLottery Aggregation platform simplifies the process of adding new games to an online lottery brand across regulated states. In addition to the third-party content provided via its aggregator platform, EQL Games has a portfolio of in-house titles.
This includes games produced under licence with Team USA which were rolled out by several state lotteries for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris this year, with new titles being planned ahead of the Winter Games in Milan (2026) and the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles (2028).
Juha Kauppinen, CEO of Gaming Corps, said: “The USA has always been somewhat of the holy grail for game developers like us, which has been further emphasised as markets in several states have become regulated. The potential in the American market is enormous, and the impact for us is a bit difficult to assess, but we have great hopes for the collaboration with EQL Games, which has an impressive platform towards U.S. lotteries.
“We believe it will have a significantly positive impact on our revenues. I would like to personally take the opportunity to thank EQL Games and Brad Cummings for the collaboration, and we are now working hard to complete the integration so that all our games will be offered to EQL’s customers via their platform.”
Brad Cummings, CEO of EQL Games, added: “Including Gaming Corps as a supplier to the EQL Games iLottery Aggregator is an exciting step forward in our mission to offer unique, high-quality content to state lotteries. Gaming Corps’ expertise in iGaming, along with their unique game portfolio, fits perfectly with our vision of enhancing the lottery experience through dynamic and engaging content.”
Industry News
Public Voting Starts for Ortak x B.F.T.H. Arena Awards 3.0
The highly anticipated Ortak x B.F.T.H. Arena Awards 3.0 has officially entered the public voting phase as submissions are closed.
More than 70 game providers have turned in over 160 submissions, including Tom Horn Gaming, Pragmatic Play and RubyPlay. Public voting involves enthusiasts casting their votes to pick the winner of the Game of Public Choice category.
The Public voting phase ends on December 1st 23:59 GMT+4.
Concurrent to public voting, the first phase of private voting also starts during which all participants who have submitted entries get the chance to vote for one favourite in each category. An international auditing company oversees this phase to eliminate duplicate votes and self-votes. This phase ends on November 19, 23:59 GMT+4.
The second phase of private voting will also take place with a jury of industry experts making their decisions based on the shortlist picked by participants during the first phase.
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