Gamblification has been something of a buzz word in the gaming industry for a while now. For those who’ve been around the sector for any length of time, you’ll know it’s the kind of innovation that gets people truly excited. The process of melding gambling with arcade-style games to create new real-money gambling games has obvious potential, both for the gambling industry, and for spicing things up as far as online gaming in general is concerned.
One of the most recent examples of this trend is Pacman, which saw a real-money play version rolled out across casino resorts, allowing multiple players to wager against each other for real money. As with Pacman, many of these new gamblified games are based on themes from arcade games of the 80s and 90s, giving them a strong demographic appeal out the gate.
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But will these games have the desired effect, in terms of reaching out to a whole new generation of players, or will they alienate audiences that are not yet ready to gamble while playing arcade games, online or off?
How Gamblification Is Supposed To Help Casinos
Gamblification is often spoken about as the next big thing, and casinos and gambling providers, especially PartyCasino Gaming are really excited about this new wave. The idea is that by creating gambling games out of arcade classics, casinos, especially casinos with proprietary software technology can get round the first hurdle of any gambling game: engagement.
If you think about roulette, or a basic slot machine, it takes a bit of work to create an engaging game that feels different to anything else that’s out there. But if you take a game based on Space Invaders, or Super Mario Bros., you’ve already got a solid premise for a game that is going to be a lot more engaging for players.
It’s similar to online slots – the games which licence themes from TV and film franchises are invariably more popular, and casinos expect the same to bear out across gamblified arcade classics.
There’s also the engagement factor in creating any challenging game. Rather than a slot where you press and cross your fingers, gamblified games introduce a skill factor, which can give games more ‘sticky’ appeal. And anything that keeps players coming back for more, time after time, can only be a good thing for those who are in the business of promoting these games.
A Natural Next Step For Audience And Game
So will things go to plan with gamblified games? There’s already good evidence to suggest such titles are reaching out to their target markets, and providing players with a more enjoyable, more enjoyable game – all while gambling for real money prizes. In many ways, these games feel like a natural evolutionary step for players and for the games concerned, and it’s in the expression of this combination that games developers can come into their own.
Gamers want a challenge, so for your average gaming fan, a basic AWP-style fruit machine isn’t going to hold the attention for long. But introduce a skill element, levels, difficult challenges, just like in any other video game, and you’ve created a much more interesting proposition – especially for repeat play.
At the same time, a generation (or two) of gamers have now grown up, secured jobs and a steady income, and are looking for a bit of fun online. We know these demographics are already attracted to gaming, and to online gambling, and in the gamblification process these audiences will be more directly targeted in future.
Are Players Ready For Gamblification?
People are now more familiar than ever with transacting online and on their mobiles. In-app purchases and even buying apps has trained tech-savvy consumers to be at ease with making transactions across multiple devices, so any concerns about the transactional side of the equation can now be put to bed. The question then becomes whether players are actually ready to gamble while gaming online, and whether this alienates players, or encourages them to play for longer.
At the same time, many of those who were avid gamers in their youth are now moving on to gambling. This is where aligning entertaining games with opportunities to gamble comes into play – it’s meeting the needs of this specific segment of gamers, a demographic who are more than likely to enjoy old-style arcade games that remind them of their youth.
So will these gamblified games attract a new generation of players to online casinos? We’ll have to wait and see. But for the time being at least, the signs are positive that these games could be having the desired effect.
