Since its inception, the Acres brand has been synonymous with technological innovation and disruption—many of the advancements that have become commonplace in casinos around the world can be traced back to the Acres lineage, and its latest achievement, the Foundation casino management system, has established itself as a much-needed challenger to conventional business models.
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Foundation is its versatility and ability to expand and adapt. That malleability is attributed mainly to its ability to take in real-time data, which, when deployed, can collect up to 1,000 times more data than traditional systems, according to the company.
“The casino systems we have today are closed,” says Acres Founder John Acres. “They’re proprietary. The system supplier refuses to allow you to share your own data with third-party vendors. With Foundation, just about all the data is shareable. And we think that revenues will rise because of that.”
Of course, no modern casino technology platform would be complete without ample consideration for cashless play, and Foundation’s Cashless Casino has established itself as a leading solution in what has become an increasingly competitive field.
According to the company, Cashless Casino can be deployed end-to-end in 15 weeks or less from the date of order—operators need only a payment processor and a mobile app to get started. The technology is compatible with any slot or table game, even those still connected to older management systems.
All things considered, the platform won the Gold Medal for Best Interactive Product during the 2022 GGB Gaming & Technology Awards.
“When an operator is choosing cashless, they’re essentially limited to their existing provider,” says Acres COO Noah Acres. “Or we provide another way they can go with us—and our system just works a lot faster, and it’s a lot more flexible than what any legacy CMS can provide.”
Aside from cashless, Foundation also has robust loyalty and bonus capabilities, and this is again made possible by the rich stream of data that the system is designed to funnel straight from the player.
Tap N Win is one of the bonus features made available through Foundation, allowing operators to send bonuses directly to where players carry their app. Then, as the name suggests, players simply have to tap their device to reveal their selected prize. Operators have a full range of customization options for the bonuses, including the type of prize, how it is unlocked and how it can be redeemed.
Double Jackpot Time is the featured prize of Tap N Win, and offers players a glimpse into the future by unlocking a live bonus period during which all wins from the selected slot machine are doubled, all while displaying a simultaneous animation sequence on both the machine and the player’s device. The length of bonus time, as well as other features, can be determined by the operator based on player data.
“The data is free to the casino to use in any way they want,” says John Acres. “There are all kinds of third parties out there with lots of capability for analytics and decision-making that are unable to couple to the existing CMS systems in ways that can bring brand new capabilities, brand new profits to casinos if they can utilize this data. We’re providing the bridge through which they can access that casino data, as well as the building block upon which they can build cashless functionality.”
By and large, the gaming industry is reluctant to change, especially when it comes to technology. User experience is paramount, and now that systems like Foundation have reduced a lot of the friction that accompanies early adoption, operators can align themselves with the likes of Netflix, Starbucks and Amazon—other titans of industry that went all-in on data collection and management.
“The combined revenues of Facebook, Google and Netflix are 48,000 times bigger than 20 years ago—gaming industry revenues have increased by a factor of 2, just barely keeping pace with inflation,” says John Acres.
“Why is the rest of the world exploding while we’re thrilled to death to have a 20 percent increase in one year? It’s because of personalization, mobile interactions and social connectivity. These are all facets the gaming industry has ignored.”
With decades of experience and a river of player data flowing forth, look for Foundation and Acres to catapult casinos in the next generation of gaming.
