For decades now, game shows have proven their worth for television studios as an ever-evolving revenue driver and content filler for networks worldwide, writes Victor Arias, Vice President of Latin America for Pragmatic Play.
Their ability to stay relevant and move with the times has made them a true pillar of the entertainment community. Across every continent, whether primetime or daytime, you’ll find a vast array of game shows tailored to every demographic and every language.
As a format, it’s an unadulterated success and there’s no sign of the genre falling away anytime soon, even in an age where on-demand content is prevalent and we supposedly have less free time than ever before.
It’s broken through into our own sector too. Branded content first became rife in slots, with major licenses being picked up by a variety of suppliers, but with its proven credentials as a true engager of a global audience, it’s hard to say it has fulfilled its potential.
A game show’s ability to immerse its audience from the sofa into the studio is unrivalled; especially for the Latin American culture, where people enjoy watching this kind of presenter-hosted formats, and the interaction they allow despite happening through a screen.
Delivering moments of tension at a cadence that few other entertainment formats can, coupled with slick production values and a universal, shared ambition to change a contestant’s life, it’s a formula that has something which we, as an industry, can tap into more.
Potential at its purest level
As mentioned, slots have already started to tap into these audiences, but while they can engage with game show fans on a branding front, it’s surely live casino that can realize the format’s potential at its purest level.
Live Casino has come a long way from the days when we simply lifted the casino floor onto the desktop screen. It’s starting to develop its own content, its own genres and is bringing significant and increasing value to operators worldwide, particularly with the recent requirement for alternate content in the face of a challenging sportsbook calendar.
Players want to be lifted from their sofas into a different world. With first-class entertainment provided by professional hosts and real-time wins, live casino does just that. But we can’t stand still to compete effectively with other entertainment channels. It’s important to take from obvious use cases of entertainment that have proven retention over time, and that’s why we’re set to roll out a suite of live casino titles all inspired by game shows.
The first of these is Mega Wheel. Inspired by the much-loved wheel of fortune concept, players will take on the house by backing a 54-sided wheel offering up to 40 times your stake on the riskiest bets.
Engagement and interaction
We’ve seen the success of the likes of Big 6 in countries not so far from us, like the US, and this takes that one big step closer to the game show feel. The launch of Mega Wheel brings the Latin American audience to a place of gaming like no other before- allowing for engagement and interaction, which is something that this particular culture demands when it comes to entertainment.
With state-of-the-art broadcasting and filming equipment complemented by a set that wouldn’t look out of place on TV, players will feel the buzz of live gaming that simply can’t be replicated in other verticals. It’s that human element that we want to deliver to our audience to keep them engaged and drive brand loyalty for operator partners the world around.
Mega Wheel will spearhead our look to the future of live casino gaming. It demonstrates in such a simple, understandable format of how casino gaming can look to alternative entertainment for content inspiration. Innovation doesn’t always have to mean something brand new and unproven. It can just as much mean something adapted to a new format or evolved to a new environment.
We know Live Casino, and no one can argue the size of the game show market. Now it’s our job at Pragmatic’s LatAm Hub to bring them together in a way that can attract new players for generations to come, and to deliver this kind of premium entertainment to Latin America.
