How Gaming Tech Is Changing The Business Model For Land-Based Vegas Casinos

The landscape of Las Vegas isn’t quite the same as it used to be. No, not in the sense of hotels and amenities. Dramatic changes are taking place inside the casinos. The interiors of the well-known gambling halls are now being filled with cutting edge technology designed to attract a younger audience. Reason being—they have to adapt to the new-wave Millennial generation—those currently aged between 18 and 35.

The brick and mortars endured a $1.9 billion dollar decline in revenue from 2007 to 2014. Slot machines, during that period, suffered the most taking a 20 percent hit. The casinos also stood by while the average age of visitors to the city dropped over the past seven years. It also watched as more money became spent annually in nightclubs than in casinos.

Clearly, a move needed to be made to keep up with the new youthful audience as Baby Boomers move on to greener pastures (ahem). Enter pay-per-play video games. It’s a relatively new concept for the land-based renditions, but it’s something that has been in the works online for years.

The adoption of 3D game-play casino software started the trend. For example, Vegas slot and table game provider GoldenSpins.eu is using BetSoft technology in an effort to pull players away the casino floor and onto their laptops, tablets, and smartphones. While the CGI game trailers and 3D-feel certainly make the experience more engaging, it hasn’t slowed brick and mortar operations as much as Millennial attitudes towards casinos.

It brought the younger generation online and kept them in their comfort zone. Millennials are the main users of the World Wide Web, so an online casino’s recruitment efforts always stood superior to the real deal. However, with the inception of video game technology on land, the edge that once only lived on the net, will soon become mutual.

In the 1990’s, 58 percent of Las Vegas’ resort revenue as a whole, came from casinos. While in 2015, that number was only 37 percent. Honestly, a 31 percent decline in 20 years? That’s a hefty margin. The problem is the younger generation (and larger demographic) that now frequents Vegas, only really visit for the shopping, entertainment and nightlife. They don’t see a need to gamble.

So you have to break it down—what do Millennials enjoy? Their phones, their Xbox or PlayStation and their computers. What do they all have in common? That’s an easy one— video games.

Online gaming will always have an edge on their land-based cousin when it comes to incentives. They can offer so much more in return for your customer loyalty. However, the line between what separates virtual casinos from the real, is getting thinner by the day.

Dozens of Las Vegas casinos are currently testing advanced gaming technology options with the hopes that some will stand out above the rest. G2 is one of the companies that stands to make millions or potentially billions from the new trend of “skill-based games”. With each new G2 designed game selling for about $20,000 each, it’s a gamble that Las Vegas hopes will truly one day pay off.

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