Slot machines can offer so many different experiences on the casino floor, but GameCo is standing out by making skilled games with no slot element at all. With a pure skill-based experience, their games are attempting to attract a new demographic, and CEO Blaine Graboyes joined our Becky Liggero Fontana to explain what they have to offer.
GameCo already has several games out in the field, and Graboyes was happy to talk about them. “We have games out now at Caesars Linq property, MGM Grand, Park MGM and Atlantis Casino Resort Spa up in Reno. And we have two games that are out, one is called Nothing but Net 2, and the other is called All-Star Hoops. Both basketball themed games, but with different gameplay.”
What’s important to note is that GameCo isn’t merely putting out slot machines with a skill element; they’re leaning entirely on the skill portion of the experience. “They’re both video game gambling games,” he said. “So it is not a slot machine in any way. You’re playing a real video game for real money on the casino floor. And both of them are highly skill based as well, so skilled players are going to make more money than regular players on the floor. But importantly, the house still has the advantage.”
Graboyes brings a lot of relevant experience to the gambling industry, and knew how to translate that into profitable machines for the casino floor. “I actually came up with the idea for GameCo while I was working with the esports industry, and this is our casino esports solution, we call it Multiplayer Arena,” he explained. “Casinos have been really interested in esports, but there’s no way for them to make money doing it. They’re just hosting events in their conference center. But now we’re giving them a way to have esports directly on the casino floor. And what it does is it takes our single-player games and it makes them multiplayer in two different ways. One is what we call competition mode: Up to 8 players can compete head-to-head, the winner takes the pot, the house takes a rake. Or, up to 32 players can play in bracketed tournaments. So now casinos can run esports tournaments directly on their casino floor. It’s a huge opportunity for the industry to capitalize on the growth and excitement of esports.”
GameCo has been successful so far in developing partnerships and growing as a company, and Graboyes strategy has been to keep an open door. “GameCo is now 50 people, 40 of which are here in our Las Vegas office right by the airport,” he said. “And there, we develop or products. So that’s our hardware, our software, and also what we call our game developer network. One thing that we do at GameCo that’s really unique, is we allow third-party game developers a way to make games on our platform, and then we bring them into the regulated casino market. And so we’re running all of that, along with compliance and finance from our office here in Las Vegas.”
