Public Gaming Magazine January/February 2016

// PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL // January/February 2016

important to us as we look to drive future growth and

improve our network integrity, as well as provide new and

innovative product o erings for our players. We see

convergence as an important part of the South Dakota

Lottery’s vision.”

Beason’s teams also look at convergence at the player level,

which spans social gaming, second-chance o erings and

freemium to premium conversion. “We must also develop

games across all platforms and

channels,”he said. “For instance,

if you play a lottery instant

game at home that’s based on a

freemium social model, you’re

very likely to go back into the

retail outlet and play that game

for real money. From a

technology standpoint, we

need to be able to support that.”

Convergence at the retailer

and lottery level, has centered

on WAPs in the gaming space,

which

have

the

same

mechanics as a multistate

game. “In the lottery world,

Powerball is a game in which

smaller states could generate

substantial

and

meaningful

jackpots,” said Beason. The same phenomenon is now

happening at casinos that are banding together to o er

larger jackpots via WAPs. “So, we’re looking at doing

multistate WAPs across casino properties, using the same

types of technologies and features that we use in lottery and

applying them to gaming.”

SEEING INTO THE FUTURE

Convergence across all levels of the gaming experience

begs the question of what new technologies are on the

horizon, and Beason is quick to say that in the short term,

we’ll be seeing more in the realms of personalized,

location-based advertising.“This is to engagemore players as

theymove through the channels or venues like restaurants or

casinos, cross-promoting products and services based on

their proximity.”

Millennials will become more engaged as gaming

entertainmentdeepenscommunity-based, lounge-environment

and skill-based play as well. “Millennials are used to

convenience, but they also appreciate head-to-head

competition,” said Beason. “This World of Warcraft generation

needs games that challenge them and take them to new

levels of achievement.” That includes tie-ins like TV game

shows, where winners in one vertical can become contestants

and win experiential prizes in another.

“Virtual reality will be on hyper-drive in 2016,” said Beason.

“Being able to watch our

“MONOPOLY Millionaires’ Club”

game show in a virtual

environment, play the game at

home for a chance to enter and

go to Las Vegas for real, all while

you’re wearing your virtual

reality headset, is going to be

huge across all of our genres.

Imagine playing an internet slot

game like Iron Man or

MONOPOLY, and the bonus

round happens and you’re

actually walking along the

MONOPOLY board game as you

try to win your bonus round.”

Beason predicts that the

industry is going to see that

lottery, gaming and interactive

verticals will want to present

their content through these new

technologies, and his iLab is key to development of these

kinds of capabilities across Scienti c Games’ global business.

“It’s a very exciting time,” he said. “We demoed the virtual

reality capabilities at the North American Association of State

and Provincial Lotteries 2015 conference and people were

really amazed by it.”

One thing he believes is certain: Convergence is a

never-ending story, as megatrends and insights continue to

evolve and bring new technologies to life—all based on the

changing needs of well-connected, tech-savvy consumer.

■

The MONOPOLY name and logo, MONOPOLY MILLIONAIRES’CLUB, the distinctive design of the game

board, the four corner squares, the MR. MONOPOLY name and character, as well as each of the

distinctive elements of the board and playing pieces are trademarks of Hasbro for its property trading

Entertainment Co.

Scienti c Games

and

CONNEXUS

are marks owned in the U.S. and elsewhere by Scienti c Games

Rights Reserved.

// PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL // January/February 2016

*Source: 2014 Scienti c Games cross jurisdictional, motivation-based

player segmentation study for Lottery and Gaming.