New Caesars chief backs call for more innovation in casinos
News on 1 Oct 2015
News on 1 Oct 2015
One of the industry hot topics discussed at this year’s G2E conference in Las Vegas has been the changing preferences on casino gaming of the key “millennial” generation which is so important for future business in both land and online gambling.
GameOn has already used the event to preview its skill-based content for gambling cabinets (see previous reports) and that has been followed by reports on what Caesars Entertainment’s recently appointed new CEO Mark Frissora thinks about the issue.
Friussora told delegates that he was shocked at the lack of innovation in the industry when it comes to the younger demographic, and revealed that his company is currently experimenting with a “casino within the casino” on The Strip in order to understand the reactions and expectations of the millennial generation – those aged between 18 and 35 years.
Because the data gathered is currently confidential, Frissora did not give out very much information on the project other than to say that it included variable venue space and changing traditional slot machine offerings by involving social game features such as leaderboards that track high-point players.
Frissora appeared to agree with many other industry experts who have opined that the millennial demographic prefers online or mobile action, and that physically sitting in front of traditional slot machines has little appeal unless the content can be matched to their preferences for skill, interaction and themes to which they relate.
“Are you kidding me? I know my kids,” he said, adding that his family ranges in age from 29 to 35 years old and they generally don’t even shop in physical stores, doing most of what they do online.
“These games need to change,” he said, noting that the Nevada regulator recently approved the principle of skill-based slots akin to arcade games, although technical standards still need to be created.
In addition to the GameCo initiative, Scientific Games is working on new and similar developments, one of its executives revealed at the conference. He said the supplier’s first skill-based slots are scheduled to debut late 2016 or early 2017.
