G2E 2018
(Part One)
Te best gaming show in North America for a decade
A positive, vibrant and expansive gaming show is what everyone wanted from the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas - and it delivered - Big Time!
Global Gaming Expo (G2E) saw more than 27,000 gaming professionals visit Las Vegas October 8-11 for event presented by the American Gaming Association (AGA) and organised by Reed Exhibitions. Figures from key buyers, engagement in the educational programing and overall attendance significantly increased for G2E 2018. Overall attendance to the show was up more than six per cent, with a 30 per cent increase in participation with G2E’s education programmes at this year’s event.
Te restructuring of the corporate tax code in the US under the Trump administration has had a huge effect on businesses across the country, with reinvestment from companies into research and development of new products that could be seen across all parts of the exhibition floor of G2E in Las Vegas in October. Te show had a ‘moneyed’ feel to it with major investment in new games, cabinets, software and hardware solutions.
Te Top Tier games developers like Scientific Games, IGT and Aristocrat out did themselves in terms of products pushing the boundaries of technologies, game themes and play mechanics. However, it was the second tier of games developers, AGS, Everi, Incredible Technologies and Gaming Arts, that surprised the most at G2E. Tere was no obvious step down in the quality of the machines on the show floor as you might expect from this division of game developers. In fact, growth in the market appears to be swinging in their direction as financial investment is flowing to companies with higher growth potential and much less corporate debt on their books.
Understandably, the gaming industry at the G2E show placed the spotlight firmly on sports- betting as the sector responds to the opportunities the PASPA ruling raises for all parties; enablers, content providers and operators. What’s unclear at the minute is whether the huge investments into this sector
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will prove worthwhile for the majority of companies currently vying for dominance in this sector. Operator margins for sports-betting in the US are tight, with mobile and web-based solutions offering the best bet for investment return, but each state has to figure out if this is an acceptable means of play. In the meantime, lotteries and casinos across the US are also vying for rights to offer sports-betting within their states.
Several states are lottery biased, some even grant casinos their licences, and there’s an expectation of power-struggles to come in several states as casinos and lotteries assert their claims to the right to offer sports-betting on their patch. Should lotteries win over in many states, route-based operations will enable kiosk networks across large geographical areas to offer kiosk-style gaming, much more in the European vein as opposed to the large-scale casino video- wall experiences that dominate in states such as Nevada.
Speaking to ticket validation suppliers at G2E, many of the lottery operators believe that they can use their existing equipment within locations to offer sports-bets. Aside from the real-time nature of the sports-bets being made on the terminal, it’s unlikely that the ticket printers would be able to cope with parlay (accumulator) bets within the simple barcodes printable from a lottery terminal. Major upgrades would be needed to the sited kiosks to enable sports-betting, which isn’t yet being considered by the lottery operators.
Scientific Games caused quite the stir at G2E. On build-up day its fully enclosed stand was the talk of the exhibition, with its monolithic blue structure revealing nothing of the contents inside. Security was posted at the entrances and guests were asked to register in advance and present their passes for scrutiny before entry. As a concept it worked to create an air of mystery to the booth and privileged acceptance once
allowed access to the space, though it provoked strong reactions from visitors and exhibitors alike. Some hailing the concept as distinctive and effective, others stressing that it failed to grasp the essential nature of an exhibition - which is to show products. Others just repeated Trump’s mantra of “building a wall.”
Once upon a time you couldn’t move in Vegas without bumping into someone wanting to discuss the Gen Y and X issues relating to Millennial gamers and the necessity to draw these players into the casino. Well, it wasn’t mentioned once at the 2018 show - by anyone. Not sure that the issue has gone away, but more relevant perhaps is the fact that operators are making profits and the ‘Millennial Crisis’ is no longer the necessary distraction it once was. Either way, it was refreshing to no longer feel the need to ask the question and hear exactly the same answer from exhibitors on the show floor. Hopefully, the term has met the same timely end as ‘Server-Based Gaming.’
Finally, and not before stating again that it was a brilliant show, it’s also worth pointing out the negative issues that you have at every exhibition, but which at G2E are becoming angry voices instead of just grumbles. One major exhibitor made a point of the fact that the €110,000 shipping cost from Europe paled into insignificance next to the $300,000 cost to move their equipment from the entrance of the exhibition to their stand. Another company had a wrongly packaged container require two forklifts to remove standard equipment from the container, for which the extra charge was $50,000. Another exhibitor had paid for ‘priority’ breakdown of their stand on the final day of the show so that they could pack and clear their booth quickly ahead of the herd. However, it appears that everyone had exactly the same idea, with every exhibitor paying for priority breakdown, leaving no one with any advantage whatsoever. Not what you’d expect from America’s premiere gaming show.
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