1 Thing to Innovate the Casino Genre

Social "hangout areas" are presented as the single most promising way to innovate the casino and slots genre, a December 2020 GameRefinery blog post by Altti Fromholdt of the Game Growth Dev team. The central argument is that non-gameplay social spaces, already proven in other genres, could add depth to casino games that currently rely heavily on collection mechanics.

The author points to existing examples of hangout areas in NBA2K19's The Neighborhood, PUBG, Fortnite, Roblox, and several Chinese titles including QQ Dancer, Audition Online, Aotu World, and QQ Speed. China is highlighted as a useful source of inspiration, since trends there often reach Western games later. Within casino, POP! Slots Live Vegas Casino has already attempted something similar, though the concept could be expanded considerably.

Slotomania is used as a reference point because its collection meta has already been proven successful in one of the top slot games, suggesting the genre is ready for a further layer of engagement. The proposed hangout area would let players enter different casinos to play various games, customize their hairstyle at a barbershop, socialize with guild members, or buy clothing from stores. The author notes that imagination and development resources are the main limits.

The concept is also framed as a natural fit with collection systems and with promotional collaboration events like those in Tennis Clash, where decorative items and skins are tied to partnerships. A decoration layer could extend this further. The post is an opinion-driven design idea rather than a data study, drawing on GameRefinery's game deconstructions and market research tools, and it concludes that considerable room for innovation remains in the casino genre.