In an effort to appeal to younger gamblers, Las Vegas casinos are beginning to explore the idea of integrating gambling with video games. New studies show that younger gamblers do not like spending money at traditional slot machines. Instead, millennial gamblers prefer to spend their money on more interactive casino games.
Nevada-based game developers are hoping to increase the amount of interaction between the gambler and the casino game over the next decade. These game designers are currently working to combine arcade-style game-play with gambling stakes and rewards.
Marcus Prater, an executive for the Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers, says that the new generation of gamblers wants games that are based on skill. One game that Prater is pitching to Las Vegas casinos is a hunting game where the gambler shoots at various wild animals. The more animals the gambler hits, the more money the gambler wins.
Prater argues that this new style of casino gambling is based on popular video games made by PlayStation, Sega, and Xbox. He says that the next step in this game redesign process is for Nevada-based legislators to create rules and regulations that can accommodate these new skills-based gambling games.
Video Game Gambling and Casino Revenue
Casino operators are intrigued about the possibility of video game-based gambling games boosting casino revenue. Statistics show that total gambling revenue in Las Vegas has dropped from $12.9 billion in 2007 to around $11 billion last year. Perhaps the most shocking trend is that slot machine revenue has dropped more than 20% in this 7 year span.
A game developer named Greg Giuffria claims that this drop in slot machine revenue indicates that young gamblers are not interested in the idea of standing around and playing slots. Instead, Giuffria says, gamblers born after 1989 want the sort of interaction found in video games.