Merkur Gaming David Orrick Director of Industry Relations
What role does Merkur Gaming cabinet design play in helping casinos reopen while keeping security and hygiene measures in place for both players and casino staff alike?
For Merkur Gaming, indeed for the whole Gauselmann Group and specifically their 800 gaming arcades and 10 casinos in Germany and throughout Europe, the Covid-19 crisis caused huge difficulties in the gaming operational sector. Te enforced closure(s) of all gaming operations, the need for enforced short-time working and to protect the jobs of 14,000 employees worldwide gave the industry time to pause and reflect on what the casinos of the new era will look like and what new innovations will be necessary to keep players and staff members safe.
Can cabinet design help gambling halls and casinos adhere to social distancing measures? So for example are cabinets now being fitted with partitions? Does cashless gaming now play a more important part in cabinet design?
Merkur Gaming, with its many years of success as a top line operator, is proud to state that its products are ‘made by operators for operators’ and it is certain that the cabinet designs of the near future will incorporate the lessons so painfully learned during times of restrictions and, indeed, lockdowns. Te arrival of TITO technology changed the face of casino gaming forever and cashless gaming can be seen as the next giant step forward. For example, the long established regulations governing the placement of gaming machines and the space that must be allowed for their installation in German arcades
(each individual gaming machine must have a dedicated space of 10 square metres) is clearly Covid-friendly and the use of screens to control virus transmission in those venues, along with enhanced cleaning and sanitisation measures all help to keep players, and staff, safe. Some, if not all, of those measures will be a feature of casino floors even after Covid-19 is under control. Cabinet design will be one element of what will evolve as the casino industry, post-pandemic, but it will be one element among many that will shape the future of gaming in the future.
Are you anticipating the demand for social distancing to continue in casinos once gaming
Merkur Gaming has a brand new casino-specific cabinet currently in development. That cabinet (which has the code name ‘Slot 22’ for now) will create an outstanding casino floor presence that will sit proudly on what will surely be redesigned gaming floor layouts and what will be many more innovations in the casino experience of tomorrow.
venues begin to reopen? If so, will Merkur cabinet design have to change long-term in order to meet this change? How will social distancing measures and COVID impact your cabinet design overall?
It is abundantly clear that the effects of Covid-19 will be felt long after the virus itself is contained and, eventually, eradicated. In simple terms, we have all become used to the ‘keep safe’ restrictions and, once those restrictions are lifted, we will all have to re-learn the ‘normal’ that we knew in early 2020 and adapt to whatever will be the ‘new normal’ by late 2021 or into 2022. It is certain that manufacturers will continue to evolve gaming cabinet design and implementation but the specifics of that evolution remain, as yet, to be seen. For example, Merkur Gaming has a brand new casino-specific cabinet currently in development. Tat cabinet (which has the code name ‘Slot 22’ for now) will create an outstanding casino floor presence that will sit proudly on what will surely be redesigned gaming floor layouts and what will be many more innovations in the casino experience of tomorrow.
WIRE / PULSE / INSIGHT / REPORTS P71
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