North American casinos will see the next wave of skill-based games this fall and mobile will provide innovation opportunities in the future to help a genre that’s in its infancy to grow and become more popular, according to panelists at the Casino eSport Conference.
“Game Design Considerations for the Casino Space” was the focus of a Wednesday panel of skill-based industry executives and educators during the virtual conference.
Dan Sahl, director for the Center for Gaming Innovation at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, told the audience that mobile is going to be a large driver of innovation in slots by pushing the environment of what a casino gaming experience should be — one that’s more interactive.
“There’s so much more we can do with every category of gaming if we’re targeting a mobile audience,” Sahl said. “As the industry looks to the post-COVID era, I’m pushing students to think of mobile. Real casino experiences of people playing around you aren’t going anywhere, but there’s an opportunity for operators and manufacturers of traditional machines and skill-based startups who are trying to put machines on the casino floor to change what games can be.”
Tournament play is one of those options, Sahl said. He tells his students that the cutting edge will be bets on esports outcomes and other emerging games played for cash.
Blaine Graboyes, CEO of skill-based manufacturer GameCo, said his company will launch technology in October that allows for single and multiplayer experiences across North America. That enables head-to-head competitions where people can play others and casinos take 10 percent of the wager. “It works with all of our games and casual sports games.”
There’s even a tournament mode, where casinos can host players for free or collect a cash buy-in for a large monetary prize. “It’s the first time casinos have a gaming product that allows them to monetize the excitement around esports,” Graboyes said.
Sahl said there’s a huge potential for casinos to use that concept for any type of skill-based games in their properties. “We’re seeing this explode online and there’s room for that in the casino and opportunity to take advantage of emerging peer-skilled games. The only challenge for those types of games is that they have a healthy player pool.”
That was echoed by Mike Darley, CEO of skill-based manufacturer Next Gaming.
“Can you gather enough people who want that gaming experience to make it profitable?” asked Darley, whose company has focused on arcade-style games of Atari and Taito to appeal to a broad audience. “Yes, you can, but it’s how long it takes to get that population and surrounding experience of the games.”
Darley said it’s vital that people also feel the games are “fair and legitimate” and that the outcomes aren’t skewed in any way. He also said it’s important for the industry to show up at properties and help players understand the games.
Jamison Selby, senior vice president at b spot that provides money games on a mobile platform, said there will be a growing hybrid experience between online and land-based casinos in the future and opportunities that people can bet on in the future.
“Fighter games are one of the easier things to bet on,” Selby said. “What’s the difference between betting on an MMA fight and betting on a fighter game?”
