Grand Theft Auto Online Casino Boosts Player Spending by 24 Percent
It was a long wait for the devoted players of Grand Theft Auto Online (GTA), but the game’s casino, the Diamond Casino & Resort, is proving to be a big hit with the virtual denizens of San Andreas. The Diamond Casino & Resort in Los Santos is proving a big hit for Take-Two, despite being unavailable in more than 50 countries.
Take-Two Interactive, parent of publisher Rockstar Games, said during its recent Q2 earnings call that the casino had boosted recurrent consumer spending in the game by 23 percent to a new record.
The Diamond Casino is a virtual casino in the Hollywood-like neighborhood of Vinewood in the fictional city of Los Santos, in the fictional state of San Andreas — loosely based on Los Angeles and California, respectively. The casino launched in July, five years after the debut of the game. Throughout that time, a sign saying “opening soon” had been suspended over the building, which had been inaccessible to players.
To put that into perspective, it’s taken longer for Rockstar to build its casino than it has for Wynn Resorts to build the Encore Boston Harbor from the ground up at a cost of $2.5 billion. And Wynn Resorts had to decontaminate an abandoned chemical plant before it could lay a single stone.
When it finally arrived, The Diamond came complete with new missions, new cars, and other goodies — and, of course, a playable casino floor filled with three-card poker, blackjack, slot machines, and more. Players can’t gamble or cash out real money. But they are able to use hard cash to buy in-game currency that can then be converted into chips, which means the Diamond operates a lot like a social casino game.
