Video Games & Casinos, A Match Made In Heaven?
eSports and gambling is not a new venture. It’s been around, in some form or another, since 1972 when Pong was introduced. Whether it’s a friendly bet against your friend on a game of FIFA, or betting on skins over at Lounge. Perhaps even using Bitcoin while playing CS:GO on a leet.gg server against others looking to frag for dollars.
But physically, in a casino?
This is uncharted territory and it’s coming to life soon. GameCo Inc., a New York- based startup (with an office in Las Vegas, of course!) has built out physical ‘slot’ machines, with a variety of gameplay types. Including proprietary algorithms similar to that of a normal slot machine. With an $8.25 million Series A that just closed, GameCo is attempting to open up the first Video Game Casino.
DJ’s and entertainers with residencies for years at a time. But is that the same clientele putting money into the newest Wheel of Fortune themed slot machine? Probably not, so a void must be geared towards that younger demographic.
An FPS game similar to Call of Duty would be popular among friends and roommates who are used to playing it on the couch every night. Or maybe they’d enjoy a quick game of football with four shots to score a touchdown in the red-zone to double their money. They could always take it back to childhood and play their favorite Mario level, except this time they have the ability to win $100 instead of getting the controller stolen by their older sibling.
If you put aside the scandals about the unregulated gambling scene between Valve, and the iBUYPOWER insider betting a-la Pete Rose in the MLB, Las Vegas has regulations and the gambling legal code down pat. You can guarantee when a Las Vegas establishment introduces a video game casino, it will have the I’s dotted and T’s crossed before a dollar goes into a machine.
That’s not all the casino’s have up their sleeves. There is a chance that many gamers don’t want to leave their house when they have everything they need: a fast internet connection, ample competition, and enough friends online to fill their social needs. How would the casino’s entice them to physically enter their establishments?
Well, there is another service Casino’s surely have made a killing on in the past: their Sportsbook.