GAMECO
and monetise these gamers. That’s a big part of it. Gamers are the largest
underserved audience in the US right now, and quite possibly also in the EU and UK. Gamers are misunderstood, stereotyped, people think they are kids in their parents’ basement, but they are now adults with real jobs, disposable income – but there is no space for them to get together, hang out and socialise. A place that makes them feel like a VIP – and casino have invented and owned that sexy, cool VIP experience and that is a key part of our thesis, bringing together the excitement and interaction of videogames with the sexy cool VIP environs of casinos. It’s another big focus for us.
CI: Could your style of game work with player tracking?
BG: Absolutely. Just like all slot machines, it has such a system integrated in the machine for a loyalty card which works like any other. Our dream scenario is that you come to the casino, log in with your game ID, it brings your character from the game you play at home into the casino, you now play at the casino with your customised character; maybe you win downloadable content, like a new helmet or a new skin; then you go back to the real world and everyone wants to know where you got it – and the only place you can get that game content or game experience, is at the casino. The idea of creating this videogame environment
in a casino is a very big commitment from us. All the casinos we are working with now have some kind of architectural plan where they are building out new areas where they plan to attract and retain this new, younger audience.
CI: What is the first step for you then? BG: I can share that we are focussed on New Jersey
The other area of innovation is the games themselves, these videogame gambling experiences. We are not shy to say that most of the rest of our products are things that we buy from top-notch partners, we focus on working with the absolute best in the business. We are new, and everything we can do to reduce risk and speed to market is really critical for us, both in hardware terms and in working with top videogame publishers to license and adapt their content. We can’t announce those just yet though!
CI: Even if your games get in to the casino though, that’s only half the battle – you still have to get players in to play them and to know about them.
BG: Attracting new players, and getting those
players actually to the cabinet, is something we have paid a lot of attention to. We’re not just counting on players showing up; we are working directly with casinos to come up with innovative marketing, production and promotion programs to attract, retain
as our first state and are getting ready to make our initial application to the department of gaming enforcement; that’s the first state in which we intend to become licensed. We aim to be in field trials on the floor in New Jersey later this year. That’s stage one; Nevada and several other states is stage two. We are working with GLI, our counsel and other
state regulators as well as our potential casino partners, we have identified perhaps ten other states for stage two: Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Navada, Michigan, Ohio, Maryland, Oklahoma, California. Ultimately, the majority of it is the US market. Then we have a team looking outside the US, as well as our igaming strategy and other aspects of reaching new audiences. In the US, the vast majority of gaming revenue is dfriven by slot play and it has really been down over the last ten or 20 years; our primary focus is to reinvigorate that revenue for the casino by bringing in this new, younger millennial gaming audience and monetising them in a similar fashion to traditional slot machines.
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