Architect Paul Steelman gets green light to develop skill-based casino games

Las Vegas-based Paul Steelman, who has designed casinos from the Strip to Vietnam and Macau, told commissioners he is venturing into skill-based game design with a subsidiary to his architectural firm called Competition Interactive LLC.

Steelman, whose company has been in operation for 30 years, has 250 employees worldwide, 150 in Southern Nevada. Ten workers have been dedicated to Competition Interactive.

Gaming Commission Chairman Tony Alamo told Steelman regulators would keep an eye on the company because it operates in countries that don’t have restrictions as rigorous as Nevada’s.

“We felt comfortable that he would do his due diligence,” Alamo said after the meeting. “He knows that it’s not the trouble we get into but the trouble that other people get us into that concerns us.”

In a Feb. 8 state Gaming Control Board meeting, members, who voted unanimously to recommend approval of the licensing, suggested that his company develop regulatory compliance procedures to head off potential problems within the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act since Steelman works with partners in countries where regulators have seen problems in the past, specifically Vietnam and Russia. Board members emphasized they found no problems in Steelman’s background check.

Competition Interactive drew rave reviews at last year’s Global Gaming Expo where it showed its first game, “Running Rich Racing,” which will likely to be the company’s first game for field testing and licensing.

The game is a skill-based road-racing game with a wagering component. Gaming regulators last year approved skill-based gaming.