Written by

Kayode Kehinde

Kayode is a professional iGaming content writer and slots lover with extensive experience covering casino reviews, sportsbook platforms, top betting apps, among other emerging digital gambling products. He is known for creating sharp engaging iGaming content which readers absolutely love to read. He has a strong background in SEO, regulatory insights, and freelance coaching.

Something new is occurring in the U.S. iGaming marketplace that could have been predicted by the established gaming categories of this industry. Crash games, an emerging category which was virtually non-existent in American online casinos just 3 years ago, is now regularly found on casino lobbies, featured prominently as part of player acquisition marketing campaigns, and included in operator roadmaps and other communications with a growing presence. Crash games originated from the crypto-casino community, attracted a loyal base of customers who were primarily under-30 year old (and to some extent, under-educated), and has made the successful transition into the regulated U.S. marketplace with strong momentum.

What Crash Games Are and How They Work

One of the major attractions of crash games is how simple the mechanics are compared to most other formats of casino games. As players are able to see the Multiplier rise (at times very quickly) and climb from its initial value of 1x at any point before the multiplier crashes players may cash out and secure their winnings. On the other hand if they remain in play during the time the multiplier crashes, the player loses their entire bet. That’s all there is to the game. No reels, cards, rules etc. Players’ perceived skills lie in the timing of their decisions: understanding the curve; resisting the urge to stay longer as to achieve higher multipliers; and know when to walk away. Although the point of the multiplier crashing is based on a provably fair random number generator (meaning regardless of what patterns you have found, no one can accurately predict when the multiplier will crash), players perceive strategy in this type of game that does not exist with Slots and it has a great deal of influence over a Player’s level of Engagement.

Crash Games were first developed within crypto gambling communities around 2014-2016 and provable fairness was a significant factor in these environments due to the lack of trust players had toward their operators. Bustabit was one of the early titles created using this format. Aviator created by Spribe, became the flagship title and introduced Crash Games to a Global Audience beginning around 2019.

The Titles Leading the Format’s US Expansion

Why Younger Players Are Driving Adoption

Demographic data from crash games on online platforms has been among the most interesting findings in recent U.S. studies examining iGaming (internet gaming). Crash games are attracting a younger player population that skews heavily toward those aged 21-35 years old. Those same 21-35 year olds represent less than half of all slots players, while slots tend to attract an older player base. Identifying why these differences exist will help us better understand how young adults choose to gamble. Several reasons contribute to the attraction:

• The format is familiar: Crash games use mechanisms similar to those used in financial trading and in-game sports betting. Both types of formats have large populations of young adult users. Therefore, when playing a crash game, the decision making process feels like second nature rather than un-familiar.
• Session length: Rounds in a crash game typically last for two minutes or less. As such, players may be able to play a meaningful portion of a round during breaks in their daily routine rather than being required to commit to longer sessions.
• Social / Spectator aspect: In addition to watching themselves compete, Aviator and many other competitors allow players to view the bets placed by other players and the cash-out decisions made by other players. It’s hard not to be drawn into the excitement of seeing another player riding a 50X multiplier … or crash and burn.

How Crash Games Compare to Slots on Key Metrics

The Trajectory From Here

Crash games are never going to be able to dislodge slots as the number one game in U.S. online gaming. Slots have too many embedded systems, a too large of a player base and way too many titles for any type of crash game to take their place. However, crash games do not have to dislodge slots to be important, all they have to do is attract enough people that were not attracted to the current product line-up so that there is a larger potential customer base for both types of products.

There are already some indicators that this is happening. On sites where crash games have been introduced, it has been shown that the demographics of new customers entering these site are quite different than those of other new users of the site. There are also differences in session lengths and other user behavior when compared to traditional forms of casino games. It appears that crash games are attracting audiences which traditionally would not use the site or engage in gambling activity on-line through casino style games.

This is not just a niche issue. As the first wave of online casino expansion begins to slow down and mature, U.S. iGaming operators will be looking for a new growth area. A form of entertainment that can bring in real new customers (as opposed to cannibalizing existing customers) could be very attractive. At the same time, crash games have entered the scene at a time when it may be most advantageous for them to do so. If over the course of the next 1-2 years data shows that crash games can deliver on this promise then the timing may be perfect.