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What is Midas Treasure?
CEO Peter Kesitilwe recently told iGB he hopes the first Africa Safer Gambling Week will be the beginning of a new era of collaboration that boosts player protection efforts.
“We want Africa Safer Gambling Week to create a platform for ongoing cooperation,” he said.
“The campaign may run for a week, but responsible gambling must be practised throughout the year.”
What is Midas Treasure?
For Curwen, tackling the problem therefore means changing the risk-reward equation behind game creation. If creators can develop and test ideas more quickly and at significantly lower cost, an unsuccessful experiment becomes less consequential – and taking a chance on something genuinely different becomes easier to justify.
“Technology changes the equation,” he says. “If we can make development faster and significantly more cost-efficient, creators can afford to experiment again.
“I’ve said before that I think we’re moving towards the end of the traditional reskin model. Players don’t need another 100 versions of effectively the same game.”
About Midas Treasure
“Publicly traded valuations are a reflection of the current interest rate environment,” Chad Beynon, lead gaming analyst for Macquarie, told iGB. “Whether it’s a long-term financial model on a growth company, you’re going to discount that back at a higher rate, or if it’s just a standard four-wall business, the cash flows in a higher interest rate environment are worth less.”
According to data from Yahoo Finance, the resort and casino sector is -41% over the last five years, and the overall gambling sector, which includes major sportsbooks and online operators, is +7%; the benchmark S&P 500 index, by comparison, is +71% during that span.
Two blockbuster developments in the casino space earlier this year seemed to indicate an increasingly bullish bet on the sector, including Fertitta Entertainment’s acquisition of Caesars Entertainment in May. The other is a subsequent takeover offer of MGM Resorts from its largest shareholder, Barry Diller’s People Inc. But a negative shift in market conditions could affect both deals.
