INSIGHT
THE INEVITABLE DECLINE OF SLOTS ?
The online slots market might appear to be booming but Gamevy CEO Paul Dolman-Darrall argues that it ’ s the operators ’ reach that ’ s growing , not the appeal of the games , and that overly focusing on a narrow , niche product and player base could see the market slip away rapidly
YOU WOULD BE FORGIVEN for thinking that everyone plays slots and nothing else . Look around ICE or G2E and the flashing lights and endless jingling music of slot games take up most of the floor space .
Yet , in terms of popularity , slots are a niche market . The Gambling Commission ’ s 2015 survey , Gambling Behaviour in Great Britain , showed that 7 % of the UK adult population play slots machines and 4 % play online . That compares with 46 % playing the National Lottery , 23 % playing scratch cards and 15 % playing other lotteries .
A valuable niche , though , surely ? Slots players are often the most valuable set of customers , with high repeat play numbers . Yet in Vegas – the home of ranked slots machines – slots revenues are dropping as Millennials increasingly turn away from the game . For the first time , the casinos are making less money from gambling than from their other activities .
It ’ s a view that often prompts disbelief from online operators . After all , revenues from online casino games are growing . What could be wrong with a rapidly expanding and profitable market ?
As more people across the world become comfortable gambling online , of course the revenues will grow . There is a niche group of players who love slots , and the older demographic will become more accustomed to spending online . But the growth hides the underlying truth : the appeal of slots as a genre is not growing , it ’ s merely the operators ’ reach that ’ s doing so .
The trouble with slots No one ’ s suggesting you kill off a game that appeals to a high-spending group of loyal customers but the industry ’ s obsession with the genre blinds it to other opportunities and risks under-investment in alternatives . In spite of enormous investment in brand licensing , hardware , software , art and technology , slots have changed little in terms of underlying mechanics .
The beeps and flashing lights have turned into more sophisticated animations , and the maths has become more complicated to accommodate free spins and other bonus features , but it remains a passive game that players , in a world where interactivity is king , can only watch .
On mobile , where players touch and swipe and tilt their phones , a slots game simply plays out , requiring nothing more than a single button press per spin . Whenever critics wish to stereotype the ‘ zombie ’ gambler , hypnotised into a state of unthinking win and loss , it is to slots machines that they turn .
I feel strongly about this because I am a gambler to my core . I will happily bet on anything : snow at Christmas , the Scottish referendum , and any sports match there is – including esports – roulette , blackjack and scratchcards .
In fact , I struggle to think of a game I won ’ t play … other than slots – a game so boring I would rather fill out my tax return . And , although no decent entrepreneur or product manager should use their own anecdotal experience as evidence , I know that I am not alone .
“ The beeps and flashing lights have turned into more sophisticated animations , but it remains a passive game that players , in a world where interactivity is king , can only watch ” iGB Affiliate Issue 66 DEC 2017 / JAN 2018
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