GameCo is a very interesting company that we’ve been keeping our eye on since they released their revolutionary skill-based games in Atlantic City last year. It’s great to see new products in casino gaming and the fact that GameCo’s approach is so different from the current market makes their games that much more intriguing.
Until now, you could only access GameCo’s games in Atlantic City, but in a recent announcement, it seems that the brand will be spreading out, starting with North America’s largest casino resort Foxwoods in Connecticut.
“We are very pleased to be expanding the world’s first skill-based gaming offerings to the Connecticut market with Foxwoods Resort Casino as they have embraced the opportunity to bring a new type of gaming entertainment to their guests,” said Blaine Graboyes, the CEO and co-founder of GameCo.
“As casino gaming continues to evolve and appeal to a new generation of players, we are focused on strategically aligning with casino partners such as Foxwoods who share our vision of combining the entertainment, engagement, and excitement of video games, e-sports, and gambling to create a new type of destination for current and future casino customers. In addition to current slot players, the target demographic for our innovative VGMs includes approximately 23 million gamers who are over 21, represent the top percentile of household income, play video games, and are already visiting casinos.”
This is an indeed a very positive outlook for the company, but it doesn’t seem too unrealistic. Slot games are already very popular, so taking them in a different direction, without losing their current fanbase, is a great idea.
“Skill-based slot machine technology is the next generation of gaming, and we welcome this addition to our already industry-leading resort casino experience,” stated Felix Rappaport, the President and CEO of the Foxwoods Resort Casino. “This partnership with GameCo is just another example of our commitment to provide our loyal guests new and exciting reasons to visit Foxwoods.”
Skill-based games are a very different animal when compared with classic slot machines. Because the player has more control over the outcome, he/she also has greater potential to win. This is of course a huge factor to consider on the part of the casinos considering to introduce games like those offered by GameCo.
Actually, the Caesars casinos in Atlantic City all removed their GameCo games after six months, saying that the games just weren’t earning enough to justify keeping them. This decision wasn’t anything absolute, and according to Caesars, the company will re-consider adding skill-based games in the future.
The thing with skill-based games is that the revenue earned will always be lower than what a classic slot machine can make in a given time period. This is a very short-term outlook, however. A casino that makes sure that its players have a good time, and can sincerely win money, will always have loyal visitors and new players coming in regularly. So, while on one hand skill-based games may not earn that quickly in a short amount of time, in the long run they can create a very happy customer base and still rake in regular earnings.
Another thing to keep in mind is that the casinos don’t have to give up on the regular slots. The skill-based games can just be an addition. After all, many casino visitors, especially younger players, will completely avoid slot games and this can be a great way to make slots more attractive.
Overall, we’re excited to see how skill-based gambling games evolve. We’d love to see how these games are introduced to the Canadian market, and it will also be interesting to see how this spills over into the world of online casino games. Exciting stuff!