Kevin Bachus, senior vice president of entertainment and game strategy at Dave & Buster’s tells Simon Liddle about the strengths of redemption
Where are you seeing the biggest growth areas in terms of amusements - is it redemption?
Redemption is currently the largest part of our amusement mix by a large, large margin, and it does continue to grow. At some point we’re going to see that growth slow, simply because as we approach 100 per cent it becomes harder and harder to continue to grow, but as of now it is large and growing.
What do you attribute the popularity of redemption to?
I think there are a few things. The first is that clearly if you think about the kind of entertainment promise that we deliver to our guests versus what they’re able to have in their own home or using their cell phones or tablets, redemption is a clear differentiator. As a result, people who seek an out-of-home entertainment experience are looking for something that they can get from their consoles, cell phones or tablets. Redemption is clearly a big piece of that.
Secondly, more importantly, is the tangible reward that one gets for performance. When you go and play a game and that game gives you the opportunity to win prizes, but, even more immediately, gives you a tangible reward in the form of paper tickets, that has a very strong, lasting impact on the guest.
The third thing is, to some extent, status. The tickets that people win are in of itself a huge photo opportunity. You see on Facebook and on other websites pictures of people posing with all the tickets they have won. They walk around our midway with a couple of bags full of tickets and other players go “wow, they must be a really great player. I wonder what did they do to win so much?”
It’s complex and it’s varied but it really all adds up.
Read the full article in the July issue of InterGame
