• Skill-based games are of more interest to MIllennials • Online gaming and eSports are booming The gambling industry is evolving and adapting. Millennials come from a generation looking for constant contact and instant gratification according to some studies, they just ‘don’t have the time’ to sit on a gaming floor enjoying the lights and sounds of the slots like generations before them. This new generation is more likely to engage in cocktail hours and live entertainment before table games and that is why an entirely new category of slot machines that engage players more like a video game are being installed across the country. These slot machines offering first-person shooter, arcade classics, and more are definitively skill-based and will allow players to expect a return based on their performance. |
What is the real reason? Gambling doesn’t seem to stroke the pleasure centers of Millennial brains quite like it did for generations past. Though it isn’t conclusive whether this is an evolutionary or a conditioned response, possibly due to the smartphone and social media era, the generation shift is undeniable.
This is where online gaming and eSports jump in at full force, bringing with it the instant gratification desired by so many.
eSports (electronic sports) hands players broad access to live streams and social media updates, as well as allows players to become part of a greater team, sometimes international. The flexibility to play wherever and whenever with an Internet connection and game winners being based on player skill rather than chance, have many Millennials hooked.
The more interactive and skill based the gaming is, the more appeal it brings and thus we see interactive table-top games and video game based slots making their debuts. We already see many Midwest casinos adapting to the online gaming platform and we predict that more mobile apps along with eSporting style events and side betting of these types of games will increase in the coming years