As the moderator of the panel entitled “Putting the Game in Gambling: Opportunities for Game Developers in the Real Money Gambling World” at Casual Connect Europe 2015, Jamison Selby led the way in exploring the potential business possibilities presented by the intersection of the two worlds of gamers and gambling.
Jamison Selby is Vice-President of Games at b Spot in Los Angeles, where he oversees all aspects of game development and acquisition. b Spot is a real money gaming network licensed and regulated in multiple states across the U. S. Jamison came to video games some years ago after working in television production. He was offered a chance to work on redesigning the hit TV show, Deal or No Deal, as a pay-to-play stage show in Las Vegas, where the entire audience could play the game. He describes, “It was a unique challenge, dropping me into a chaotically creative mix of game, television and casino people. I’ve worked at the intersection of video games and real money gambling ever since.”
His career in television included working on such shows as The Weakest Link and Entertainment Tonight. This opened the door for a stint as Head Writer at a game company focused on a very creative batch of DVD trivia games. Here they made games showcasing trivia from movies, TV, music and even Trivial Pursuit Featuring the Simpsons. This brought him his first taste of what he considers the most fun part of working in the games industry: creating something new, watching it come to life and seeing other people playing it.
Creating Something New
He was inspired to pursue a career in the games industry by opportunity and a desire for creative challenge. His past career experience has been useful in his present position because it taught him the value of creative risk and allowed him to become practiced in turning ideas into reality many times over.
Now Jamison welcomes being involved in work that is always creative and challenging. He says, “I’m part of an industry that is growing and changing nearly minute by minute. New things pop up constantly. Attacking that every day is a rush and I love it.” And he insists, “I hope my proudest moment is always yet to come. I never want to look back and plant a flag in the past.”
But he admits operating at the intersection of video games and gambling carries many challenges: creative, legal, business, regulatory and many more. He reveals, “You overcome them by assembling the right team, the best team united with one goal. That’s how you get it done.”
If Jamison were not in the games industry, he believes he would be teaching philosophy in an obscure college or exploring Mars. In fact, exploring Mars was something he dreamt of as a child. But these days, when he is not working, his most important activity is spending time with his family. He says, “We read, we play games, and we run around acting silly. That’s my primary hobby right now.”
Is It Fun?
As one who grew up in the arcade era and has been gaming all his life, Jamison has definite opinions about what constitutes outstanding games. He has a long list of favorite, including Wasteland, Baldur’s Gate and Morrowind. These days he is playing Dragon’s Age: Inquisition.
When evaluating a game, the most important question he asks is “Is it fun?” He claims, “Everything else, all the metrics, everything starts with that simple question. Will you play it again? Fun has magic to it. If a game captures that spark, much is possible.”
Finding Success With a Game
He finds the most popular game genres vary with the demographic and platform. Casual arcade games dominate the app stores, but launching a game in that genre is no guarantee of success. He suggests picking the genre you are best at and then finding the audience that loves it.
Patenting is something Jamison considers very important, at least in his segment of the games industry. He points out that patents can be misused, but they also can create the potential value that allows investors to undertake new projects and assume additional risk.
Game distribution is an area that has changed dramatically with the rise of app stores and the explosion of digital distribution. Jamison handles distribution challenges by carefully analyzing all data and constantly fine-tuning. He recommends exploring new channels, locking on to what is working and then making it better. And he insists, “Never get trapped relying on past performance as an indicator of future results.”
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