Review Fix Exclusive: Adam Sellke Talks eSports And Casinos

Review Fix chats with Evolve Labs Founder Adam Sellke, who discusses the possible impact of eSports on casino culture.The founder/ co-founder of several startups (Surtsey, Madoi, Ripshark, Tunebloom, Evolve Labs and more), Sellke has served in individual contributor and management roles at Merck, BBDO, Carlson Companies, UnitedHealth Group and Best Buy.

For more information on Evolve Labs, click here. 

Review Fix:  How would eSports work in a casino?

Adam Sellke: We’re currently seeing skill-based, first-person gambling games coming onto casino floors. For example, companies like GameCo are licensing games for deployment in Atlantic City later this year. That’s definitely a first step, but I’m not necessarily a big proponent of these machines. First off, they call them “VGMs” or video game gambling machines. I fundamentally disagree that eSports should be considered gambling. It seems to be more of a shoehorn solution where the industry is responding to the opportunity by trying to make eSports fit into what they know. Secondly, these game titles aren’t part of any bona fide eSports franchises. They don’t have the appeal that “real” eSports games have all over the world.

e-sports betting odds online

Also, companies like Ourgame are opening large 14,000 square foot, 200 seat arenas in places like Beijing and Las Vegas (William Hill is another for example in the UK, who have 2,375 of the c8,700 Licensed Betting Offices in that area, where you can learn about e-sports betting odds online). Presumably, these will enable a new level of head-to-head, skill-based competitions, playing true eSports titles. I haven’t seen how matchmaking would work, though. Perhaps a seat could be assessed various entry “fees”, where a higher entry fee would essentially correspond to tougher competition (similar to what you see in poker rooms). A potential downside to this might be that without rank verification, fees would be the only way to set or “regulate” skill-level matches. A shark vs minnow environment could ensue.  We have some interesting ideas on how to address skill-disparities, but we’re keeping that under wraps for now.

Review Fix:  Why should eSports be in a casino?

Sellke: I am not sure they should be… in my opinion, casino operators need to answer that question with more than “because we want them to be.” Most of these early examples aren’t that innovative and look a little uninspired.

What if the answer is they shouldn’t be? What should casinos do to still participate in this shift in entertainment?

I personally think they should because casinos should be about grown-up entertainment. And competitive eSports for money should be only allowed amongst grown-ups (or pros). What form that entertainment takes is yet to be determined. We have some ideas that we’re not yet seeing out there, so it’s a very exciting time for us.

Review Fix: What’s wrong with the casino industry and how could eSports help “fix” things?

Sellke: Like a lot of big incumbents, I am concerned that the casino industry has become complacent, or worse, lazy. That’s death. Fixing it starts with acknowledging a problem… and then committing to solve it. Solving it will mean things have to change! 

Esports is a watershed moment for the casino industry, but the industry will have to step out of its comfort zone in order to make it work for them.

Review Fix:  What games do you think would work best in a casino?

Sellke: All you gotta do is look at your top MOBAs and other competitive titles. If it’s fun for free, it’s even more so for money.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13801 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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