The Veltmeijer Group are arcade game pioneers and Europe’s market-leading innovators in the Family Entertainment Centre industry. The Veltmeijer Group umbrella encompasses three brands: Gamestate, used for its stand-alone FECs that it operates without a business partner, Gametown, used for its operations in partnership with Center Parcs, and Gamecity, used when the group operates within a holiday park other than Center Parcs.
In April 2021, Veltmeijer signed an exclusive three-year agreement with Embed, a leading worldwide supplier of point-of-sale and revenue management systems, to open new amusement centres across Europe. Thanks to Embed’s cashless business solution, the company benefits from real-time visibility and control across its entire operation.
We last spoke to Veltmeijer Group in April 2021, when Roger Tubée, joint CEO, talked about the challenges presented by COVID-19 and outlined some of the ways that the business has adapted in reaction to the pandemic. Despite a turbulent few years for the attractions industry, the Veltmeijer Group continued its growth, opening stores and entering into new partnerships.
Last month, as attractions professionals from across the continent assembled in London for IAAPA Expo Europe 2022, blooloop caught up with Tubée once more, alongside Veltmeijer Group’s Leroy Dijkstra, concept operations manager, to find out what new developments are on the horizon for the organisation. Meeting at Embed’s booth on the trade show floor, we also learned more about the transformative technology that is helping Veltmeijer Group to meet its goals.
Veltmeijer Group expands Gamestate brand across Europe
Even though operations were restricted during 2020 and 2021 due to COVID lockdowns, Veltmeijer Group was able to open nine new locations across Europe between February 2020 and March 2021. This includes Gamecity Praha in Hamleys, the largest toy store in Europe, in the Czech Republic. The company also opened a Gamestate at Mall of the Netherlands in Westfield, the Netherlands.
“During that period, we were still able to expand the company,” says Tubée. “Although the lockdowns limited us, we still had some opportunities to expand and to make improvements in running our operations.”
Having weathered the storm, the group is now well-positioned to keep expanding and has several developments in the pipeline. The most recent of these is a new Gamestate venue that opened this month in a revitalised shopping mall in Berlin.
“That will be our biggest Gamestate yet, in terms of square metres. It’s exciting for us because it’s the biggest, and also because it is in Germany. It’s our second one in Germany, following the Gamestate that opened last November in the Westfield Centre in Oberhausen.
“Everyone is looking at the German market now. For a long time, for the amusement sector and especially redemption, besides arcade-style attractions inside theme parks, there was not much there. But now we are opening our second location in the country. So, we think we are opening up that market for ourselves but also for our suppliers.
“In October, we are also opening a location in Poland, in the Westfield Wroclavia. That’s exciting because it’s a new country. It’s also another currency, another culture.”
Proving the appeal of the Gamestate model
This opportunity, Tubée adds, came from the company’s initial cooperation with Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield at Westfield Mall of the Netherlands.
“We finished that in the lockdown, and then out of that came our Westfield Centro location, in Oberhausen, Germany. And then out of that came our partnership with Westfield Wroclavia. For the future, there are a few more Westfield locations planned in different countries over Europe as well.”
This expansion has also helped Veltmeijer Group to communicate its vision to a wider audience as well, dispersing preconceptions, says Dijkstra.
“Now the authorities can see that this is not a casino, it has nothing to do with gambling. They see it’s all about the games – it’s like an arcade from the 80s or 90s, with games of skill. We have 12 Gamestate locations and three of them are in big capital cities in Europe. With that package of locations, we can go to all the bigger cities and show how our model works.
“I think that was the biggest opportunity from last year, and that makes our expansion even more possible.”
The group is also careful to study closely the laws and legislations that apply in each new location, Tubée says:
“We must adapt to the different countries. Different locations have different approaches, and we as an operator adapt to that approach. We don’t conquer it; we don’t question it. We just adapt to it. And that makes it possible to start an operation there and be on very good terms with local governments.”
Staying ahead of the competition
As a company that is going from strength to strength and continuing to build, innovation is key. For Dijkstra, it is important that the company adopts the latest technology and keeps up with the latest trends to stay ahead of the competition.
“We definitely keep up with all the new games and new developments. We have our own development team, so we are always looking for new additions, like VR. Most of the time, we are the first ones in Europe to have the newest titles in our locations. A lot of our fans really love that. Also, we introduce new machines every year, at every location.”
However, part of Veltmeijer’s success, says Tubée, is in understanding which trends suit its arcade businesses, rather than bringing in new technology just for technology’s sake.
“We try to adapt to new technologies, like VR, but the challenge we have is that we are an arcade. So that means that each game should be operated by the customer, by the guests themselves. There are some machines, not only VR but also other concepts, that need an operator for the game. So, that is something where we are still figuring out which way to go.”
Choosing the right technology for Veltmeijer Group
This innovation continues behind the scenes as well, with Veltmeijer Group making sure that its arcades run on the latest technology, for a frictionless guest experience.
The group has partnered with Embed since it opened the first Gamestate in the Netherlands, in 2013. Since then, it has opened a further eight Gamestate locations with Embed systems in the Netherlands, as well as in its new locations in other European countries. In 2019, it also started to bring the Embed system into its holiday park operations.
While this has been a long-term partnership, the benefits became even clearer during the pandemic, when guests were increasingly expecting cashless solutions. Embed’s smartTOUCH arcade debit game card readers, which are used by all Gamestate venues, are the benchmark in the FEC sector in terms of cashless payments for amusement games.
Making operations easier
On the plus points of cashless transactions for the visitor, Dijkstra says:
“Firstly, there are no coin jams! I worked for five years on the floor, and I noticed that when there is a jam, you can’t see any play history, and you can’t tell what is going on right now – is the person lying or telling the truth? With the kiosk, you can see the whole history. It’s so much more convenient. And now customers have a lot more trust in the system. It’s 100% clear.”
“There is a very high adoption of cashless transactions now,” adds Tubée. “Especially in the Netherlands but also in other European countries. People are used to paying with cashless tech, for instance in retail. So, they come into the arcade, and they go from their bank cards to their play cards. They are used to everything being digital.
“We do still take coins and notes, but together with Glory and Embed, we integrated those into the payment terminal. We integrated that machine, so if the customer wants to pay cash, we take cash. The employee can handle that Embed sale in just the same way as they would when someone is paying with their bank card. The customer gets their change and then the transaction is closed by the Embed system so it’s fully integrated.”
Cashless is key for smooth operations
It’s clear that cashless transactions can make the customer journey easier. But what are the benefits for the operators?
“I think the speed is key,” says Dijkstra. “It’s easier and quicker for the employees. There is also less risk, compared with handling cash. From the operational side, when you take the cash out of the game, that means that you don’t have to empty the game every night. Plus, you’re not dealing with coin jams all the time.”
Another reason why cashless is preferable for the operator is that using a digital system gives them access to valuable data, says Tubée.
“You get more data from the games. So, you can run your operation more efficiently based on which games are performing well in different locations.”
In addition to this, operators get customer data, which they can then use for marketing campaigns. For example, they can send incentives, which help to encourage repeat visitation and build loyalty.
“It’s not just the cashless kiosks and the play cards, it’s also the complete back office behind it,” he adds. “You get so much more than if you’re just running with cash.”
Powered by Embed
Veltmeijer Group partners with Embed for both its hardware and software solutions, including kiosks, smartTOUCH game card readers, game cards, point of sale stations, prize redemption system (PRIZES), and central games management software, connecting games across multiple venues. This is all integrated with Embed’s business software for clear business visibility, tracking, and reporting.
Having the smartTOUCH kiosks helped the business to adapt to the extra demands during the pandemic, allowing the venues to include a customised message that reads: “Please Clean This Game After Use”. Embed’s solutions help FECs to operate safely post-pandemic, allowing for touchless transactions.
“We had a lot of meetings on how to adapt when we first went into lockdown,” adds Dijkstra. “And one of the things that we were able to do with the Embed system was to move from having the play value in currency, for instance in euros, to using credits.
“Now that we operate in different countries with different currencies, this makes everything easier. It means that wherever you are in Europe, you can have your game card with your credit, and you can play wherever you want. If you play in Amsterdam, and the next day you go to the Czech Republic or to Poland, you can still play with the same game card, and that’s wonderful.”
Veltmeijer Group adopts new solutions
Then, in 2019, while attending IAAPA Expo in Orlando, Tubée discovered Embed’s Mobile Wallet solution. Speaking earlier this year about this award-winning technology, he said:
“We are excited to see the changes that the Mobile Wallet will bring to the business. With it, our guests will have cashless options to pay and play because it’s a virtual game card they can use on their phones. It’s easy and secure, and there is no doubt that the user data that we can derive from the Mobile Wallet will help us make better business decisions in real-time.
“We are already using a mix of Embed’s hardware and software solutions so we are confident that they will continue to empower us through our robust expansion plans across Europe.”
10 years of Gamestate & Embed
Next year, in 2023, Veltmeijer Group will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of Gamestate.
“We opened our first Gamestate venue in 2013,” says Tubée. “As well as a celebration of our first ten years, this will also mark a decade of our involvement with Embed.
“When we set up the first Gamestate, it was as a kind of laboratory. We were already amusement game operators; we had everything in-house to make that next step. We already had the holiday park business. With Gamestate we were then able to get into the city arcade business.
“This was also a kind of laboratory for the play card system. From that, we evolved into having eight arcades in the Netherlands, one in Belgium, one in Poland and two in Germany. And we’re still growing. In that evolution, we were also able to put our Gametown venues, with Center Parcs in Europe, onto the Embed system.”
“At first, we didn’t imagine that we would do that. But after using Embed in all these Gamestate locations, we began to understand all the data, and all the benefits that this system brings. So, at a certain point, we decided we could also bring this technology into the holiday park business. Now there are only a few Gametown locations left to update, and those will transition to the Embed system in the next year.
“That means that as well as being our 10th anniversary for Gamestate next year, it will also be the first year that all our Gamestate, Gametown and Gamecity locations will all be on the Embed card system. For us, it’s a long-term partnership and one that has evolved to continue supporting us as we grow.”
