The casino floor themselves are changing along with the people that frequents them and the main reasons they come {casino.org}. Millennials, or those born in the final two decades of the 20th century, make up the biggest generation in the United States and make up almost 1/3 of the population, according to a recent White House study. The typical slot player, however, is older than fifty, having grown up before the Internet, mobile technology, Play Station, and Xbox games. The majority of slot machine laws also existed before the Internet. Experts concur that in order for casinos to grow and better serve the younger generation of casino patrons, the rules must be modified to reflect modern trends.
The future’s casino gaming lounge
This is a conceptual design for a casino gaming lounge created by Glendale, California-based technology vendor Gamblit Gaming. (Image courtesy of Baltimore Sun and Gamblit Gaming) {www.casino.org/blog/the-casino-floor-of-tomorrow-attracting-millennials-to-casinos/}
Why Young People Find Traditional Slot Machines Uninteresting
Traditional slot machines scare off young people since the result is solely dependent on chance casino.org. Their preferred games are those that need some ability, such as those they now play on their tablets, cellphones, and the internet. It’s even better if they can utilize those talents to compete against other players. Some video game producers want to provide the kinds of games where users may use their smartphones to see their current standing in the competition and that of other players. {www.casino.org/blog/the-casino-floor-of-tomorrow-attracting-millennials-to-casinos/}
Additionally, millennials want social environments where they can engage in conversation and gaming with other players rather of spending their time alone in front of a computer. At the very least, they want their games to be more engaging casino.org.
Significant Shifts Are Already Seen, and There Will Be More
The CEO of MGM Resorts International, James Murren, said that “the slot floors that you see today are not going to be in existence 10 years from now.”
Many casinos have been cutting down on the quantity of slot machines rather than adding more in an effort to make more room for well-liked table games as well as brand-new eateries and lounges casino.org. The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas, for instance, had over 1,500 slot machines when it first opened in 2011 but has since increased the number of table games from 77 to over 120. {www.casino.org/blog/the-casino-floor-of-tomorrow-attracting-millennials-to-casinos/}
Alternatively, when casinos do introduce new slots, they are quite different from the ones your parents and grandparents used to play casino.org. There will be fewer of the traditional machines that have been around for a long time, and many more that might easily be mistaken for something else at first sight if you didn’t already know it was a slot machine.
The Future’s Slot Machines
Future slot machines will resemble video games more than the newest ones. A chair on a few of the new machines will even rock, a la mechanical bull rides at an arcade casino.org. A growing number of enormous machines with rising jackpots, animated touchscreens, and video snippets of well-known TV series, performers, and movie characters may be found. Furthermore, enormous leaderboards with the names of the top competitors should be there if state authorities accept the option to incorporate slot machines with an expanded element of ability.
The CEO of the cutting-edge gaming firm Gamblit Gaming, situated in California, Eric Meyerhofer, sees the casino floor of the future as a “modern-day arcade for adults.” Waiting for approval to submit games to casinos, Gamblit Gaming has already created games that should function in that kind of environment. The animated adventure game “Police Pooches vs. Zombie Cats: In Time” is one instance. Gamers fight the zombie cats across several historical eras with the assistance of the police dogs. {www.casino.org/blog/the-casino-floor-of-tomorrow-attracting-millennials-to-casinos/}
Meyerhofer thinks there would likely be a knock-on effect not only domestically but also abroad if arcade-style machines with a skill component start to appear widely in casinos, with Nevada and New Jersey setting the example casino.org.
Gaming at Casinos Will Grow More Social
Meyerhofer also anticipates significant alterations to be made to the lounges in future casinos. There will be more gaming tables with flat touchscreens in casino lounges where patrons may set down their drinks. There would be enormous TV boards and a bar around the tables. These modifications are in line with the current trend, which is to integrate food service establishments, bars, and lounges within the casino floor to facilitate the merging of gaming and non-gambling activities.
Meyerhofer is referring to lounges that have already opened at a few casinos. The Encore Players Club at the Wynn Las Vegas is one example. They have all the standard table games available, along with sports betting. Alternatively, if they would like, gamers may test their luck at an interactive table that offers a variety of different games using either play money or real money. Other choices include playing shuffleboard and pool, or just hanging out in the lounge with friends, enjoying a drink, watching TV, or taking advantage of the free live DJ entertainment.
Wynn Las Vegas’ Encore Players Lounge
The Encore Players Lounge at Wynn Las Vegas has pool, shuffleboard, and interactive tables. Do casinos have this kind of future? (Source: weeklytravel.com)
Since this is the kind of facility that young people love, casinos in other regions of the nation are now realizing that investing in lounges that mix gaming and non-gambling activities in one space can be lucrative. In 2015, Resorts Casino in Atlantic City invested $400,000 to construct a brand-new iGaming lounge off the main casino floor casino.org. The majority of those who visit the lounge are younger than thirty. In addition to socializing, ordering drinks, and unwinding on a sofa, people may play a number of games here for free or with real money on a large touchscreen or on a mobile device.
Future casinos will include a lot more social games, predicts Steve Marshall, Senior Vice President of The Fine Point Group, a Las Vegas casino consulting organization. Additionally, server-based games—in which players press a button to choose from a variety of options—will proliferate as slot game producers focus more on developing games whose themes and names appeal to millennials. Players will have greater control over the game they want to play and if they want to compete with other players, although the cabinet or gaming station won’t necessarily alter physically.
Smaller Casinos: An Additional Emerging Trend
The newest casinos that are constructed are probably going to be modest, and this pattern is probably going to continue. The newest casinos are far more likely to be boutique establishments rather than massive establishments like the MGM Grand in Las Vegas casino.org. For instance, the Cromwell, which opened in 2014 to take Bill’s Gambling Hall on the Vegas Strip, is proving to be very well-liked by millennials.
Bill’s gaming establishment
Bill, good bye, and let’s go on. VitalVegas.com is the source.August 2014 saw the opening of SLS Las Vegas, another relatively new casino on the Strip, which took over the location of the long-gone Sahara Hotel and Casino. The casino floor and the rest of the new resort are quite different from one another. The SLS casino floor is even smaller, at around 60,000 square feet, with approximately 800 slot machines but more over 70 table games. In contrast, the Sahara’s 80,000 square foot casino included about 1,070 slot and video poker machines but only about 56 table games.The thoughtfully organized overlap between gaming and other activities is another significant distinction. Storefronts and eateries give way to a casino floor that twists and turns. Table games are available on-site in one of the clubs and restaurant lounges, and the casino sportsbook has connections to a burger joint and a beer garden.
What the Experts Say: Are Certain Casinos Going Too Far? How Much Change Is Needed?
Casinos are realizing that, on the one hand, they need to change both the structure of the casino floor and the selection of games in order to stay competitive as a whole new generation of players becomes accessible. However, despite the potential importance, these attempts to make casinos more millennial-friendly might backfire casino.org. Currently, only 7% of the revenues made by most casinos comes from millennials. Casino administrators must exercise caution to avoid making drastic changes to the gaming floor in such a way that the older player base, who still provide the majority of the revenue for the casinos, becomes disenchanted. {www.casino.org/blog/the-casino-floor-of-tomorrow-attracting-millennials-to-casinos/}
For this reason, specialists discussing this subject during the East Coast Gaming Congress, which was held May 25–26, 2016 at Harrah’s Resort in Atlantic City, all agreed on the need of not concentrating just on one subset of prospective players. The CEO of GameCo, Blaine Graboyes, made the observation that casinos should cater to gamers of all ages as well as millennials. Casinos must appeal to a wide range of players, according to Brad Friedmutter, founder of the Friedmutter Group, which manages the architecture, design, and branding for many hotel and gaming projects globally.
The panelists also suggested that casinos use caution when adding new games to their lineup of already-existing ones. Rather, the emphasis ought to be more on integrating the newest technologies into games that already exist.
It may be preferable to introduce additional games in a method that allows for a temporary adjustment if things don’t work out as planned casino.org. As a result, rented games make up 30% of the casino floor at Hard Rock Casinos, for instance. These casinos may retain the new games that are profitable and swap out the ones that aren’t thanks to this strategy.
Finally, games that provide an experience that is comparable to, but distinct from, the internet and video games that young players are used to may provide the greatest outcomes.
Not Everything Will Change on the Casino Floor
In conclusion, it is certain that casinos are evolving with the times. The casinos of the future will not resemble the casinos of the last several decades or even those of today in terms of appearance or amenities. However, do not anticipate a whole difference in them. Many of the slot games that have grown to be well-known favorites of innumerable players, regardless of age, as well as the same well-liked table games that casinos have been providing for years will still be available.
The Senior Vice President of Product Development at Scientific Games, Philip Gelber, predicts that classic slot games will likely not go away very soon. Many individuals still like these games and have been playing them for years.
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