Like Angry Birds, but for money
Millennials like going to Vegas. After all, indulgence looks awesome on Instagram. And the food is #gr8.
“There’s obviously a ton of experiences there, lots of things they can broadcast,” said MaryLeigh Bliss, chief content officer with YPulse, a youth marketing research firm.
“But gambling is a huge issue,” she said. “Right now the casino industry is literally throwing out there anything that they can to appeal to millennials and what they like.”
Says the American Gaming Association, millennials don’t seem to like traditional casino offerings, at least not as much as their parents, and the problem is especially acute at the slot machines where casinos are used to making a good chunk of their change.
“Financially, they’re not really willing to take big risks,” said Bliss of millennials. “Sixty-four percent say they have no investments, and only 17 percent say they invest in stocks. So when you’re thinking about gambling with their finances, this is not something they’re necessarily attracted to.”
There was the recession, and they have all that student debt. They also have iPhones, X-Box and Playstations. Ask a millennial about a classic game, and you’ll likely hear about one that takes quarters and is played in an arcade. Slot machines can seem on par with hoops and wheels or paper dolls. Instead, said Bliss, what they want is something more skill based — like the games they grew up with.
“Think like Angry Birds, but with money on the other end of it,” she said.
Said Gregg Giuffria, CEO of G2 Game design, a company that strives to make games where skill is merged with chance, “The technical term for it would be a bifurcating, morphing algorithm.”
In plain English, those are games that combine wagering and skill. And Giuffria says it’s not just millennials who want them, but also older visitors to casinos.
“We found out there’s a millennial in everyone,” he said. Shooting games were especially popular with 50- to 70-year-olds. “The battlefields and battle zones and tank games and flying games, oh my gosh, they absolutely love it.” When it comes to games, he said, everybody is young at heart.
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