PAC-MAN to Break Onto the Casino Floor in New Skill-based Gambling Game

Posted on: September 29, 2017, 01:00h. 

Last updated on: September 29, 2017, 10:21h.

Casino.org Staff Writer Read More

Expertise: Commercial Gaming.

PAC-MAN, everyone’s favorite insatiably dot-munching, eternally haunted pop culture icon, is finally making its his way to the casino floor, courtesy of a tie up between skill-gaming pioneers Gamblit and Japan’s Bandai Namco, which owns the rights to the legendary arcade game character.

Gamblit’s skill-based real-money retro gambling game “PAC-MAN Battle Casino” will make its global debut at the Global Gaming Expo (G2E), which hits the Sands Expo in Las Vegas from October 3 – 5.

From there, it will be rolled out to casinos in early 2018 via Gamblit’s Model G multi-player platform in the latest bid to woo millennials with the joys of skill-based gambling.

PAC-MAN Battle Casino pits two to four players for against each other to play for cash prizes, while employing a similar financial and mathematical model to traditional slots.

Unlike slots, however, Gamblit games are designed to be sociable and more in tune with the games the millennial generation likes to play.

Iconic Arcade Game

The game is based closely on PAC-MAN Battle Royale, developed by Bandai Namco in 2011, rather than the original, which was released in 1980 (when no millennials were yet born) and became an instant classic. The PAC-MAN character has been developed into more than 30 officially licensed spin-offs since its debut.

“Like so many people, PAC-MAN was the first arcade game I ever played,” said Darion Lowenstein, Chief Marketing Officer, Gamblit Gaming.

“…PAC-MAN has been a huge part of our culture and has grown to become so much more than just an arcade game. With PAC-MAN Battle Casino, we’re adding another level of excitement to the classic PAC-MAN experience by bringing fans into the modern arcade: the casino,” he added.

Variable Payouts

Both Nevada and New Jersey changed their gaming laws to permit the introduction of skill-gaming in their casinos. Previously, everybody who played a gambling machine had to have exactly the same odds of winning, by law.

But skill-gaming machines employ “variable payouts,” which give more adept players a better chance to win.

Gamblit debuted its Model G platform at Caesars Planet Hollywood in March and it has since been adopted by a host of casinos across the US.

While its early days for the casino skill-gaming experiment, Gamblit says the platform has been proved to “lower the average consumer age down by 20 years in most jurisdictions it has been trialled in.”