The past two years have been a challenging time for the gaming industry in Canada. In addition to the constant opening and closing of casinos that accompanied the surges and lulls of the virus, other regulations have drastically changed how we do business: from capacity limits on gaming floors, to social distancing requirements limiting the number of machines that can be turned on at a time, to the changes in the directional flow for patrons, just to name a few.
Painting arrows on floors, using plexiglass dividers and adopting the “every other machine on” emerged as efficient short-term solutions that helped keep gaming floors open and compliant as regulations ebbed and flowed across the country. But everyone in the industry knows that these solutions are not sustainable in the long-term, and that we are facing an adapt-or-die moment that will define the future of our industry for years to come.
This may seem like a grim scenario, but it doesn’t have to be. Canada’s gaming industry is poised to thrive in this changing context as long as it does what it always has: putting player experience and safety at the centre of their plans for a post-COVID world.
This means asking ourselves tough questions. Will the “cram them in” placement of gaming machines make sense for our customers moving forward? Or will offering an acceptable level of social distancing be the norm? Can we adapt our gaming floor designs using existing products? Or should we innovate in the creating of new products that allow us to imagine the casino floors of the future?
Some casinos in Canada are ahead of the curve in answering these questions. These casinos are using innovative thinking and lessons learned from the past two years to reimagine gaming floor design. A recent conversation with a customer from one of these casinos revealed one of the ways in which they are adapting and innovating in this changing context. Upon seeing their order, I called them to ask if something was wrong:, “There seems to be an unusually large number of carousels on this order. Is this correct?” I asked. And her response was clear: “You bet there is!”.
As she explained, the addition of carousels on the gaming floor adds to the level of player comfort and safety while reducing the risk of “every other machine on” should restrictions ever resurface. It also helps solve an issue that according to her, had been identified even before COVID emerged: a desire for players to have a bit more space between them.
The re-emergence of carousels isn’t the only way our industry is adapting to current trends in order to make casino floors more comfortable and safer for players. For years, the industry standard for slot base width was of 28 inches. This remained unchanged for decades—until now. Today, as slot machine manufacturers continuing to increase the overall size of the cabinet, slot base manufacturers are having to adapt in order to avoid players from coming even closer together. Recent slot base design has increased the slot base width to 32 inches from the standard 28 inches. Adding this innovative design to a gaming floor, is another way our industry can adapt to changing trends and allow for additional space between cabinets, providing greater social distancing for the player.
These are important changes, but aren’t the only ones we will have to make. Even as we emerge past the largest disruption in the history of gaming, new challenges continue to emerge: the increasing popularity of online gaming and the legalization of sports betting will continue disrupting the industry. Supply chain issues, HR challenges, increased logistics costs, and new product delivery delays, are also disrupting factors that we will all have to adapt to. But the past two years have taught us that our industry is resilient, and that those of us willing to innovate and adapt will continue to survive and thrive in this context—as long as we never forget that our players’ comfort and safety is the key to our success.
