The Game Within The Game: Lucra Establishes B2B Presence with Blockbuster Dave and Buster’s Deal

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr 30, 2024--

Today, Lucra ( www.lucrasports.com ), the leading technology provider of gamification services, announces a new partnership with the largest operator of entertainment centers in the world, Dave & Buster’s, to provide customers with a fully immersive experience at venues nationwide.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240429412806/en/

The new strategic partnership integrates Lucra’s proprietary gamification software into the Dave & Buster’s app, allowing loyalty members to digitally compete with each other, earn rewards, and unlock exclusive perks while competing with friends at Dave & Buster’s – bringing together the sports arena and the arcade for an unparalleled, gamified experience.

“We’re thrilled to work with Lucra to bring this exciting new gaming platform to our customers,” said Simon Murray, SVP of Entertainment and Attractions at Dave and Buster’s. “This new partnership gives our loyalty members real-time, unrivaled gaming experiences, and reinforces our commitment to continuing to elevate our customer experience through innovative, cutting-edge technology.”

Lucra aims to disrupt traditional forms of competition, by providing a safe and trustworthy experience for people to challenge their friends, inside a platform or place they already know and love. Lucra’s approach will help to destigmatize cash-based competition by evolving it into a fun, friendly, and social experience.

After running a successful direct-to-consumer company for several years (growing it to 150K+ customers, 1M+ real-money contests, and $20M+ of handle), Lucra realized there was a bigger opportunity if it embedded its gamification tech directly into existing communities & established platforms.

Lucra offers two products that can be natively integrated into third-party platforms in as fast as two weeks. Handling 90% of the implementation work and 100% of the risk management, Lucra allows brands (big and small) to add gamification in 1/10th the time for 1/10th the cost.

Partners are able to customize the user interface to their choosing, allowing Lucra to power the game within the game from behind the scenes.

Lucra’s value prop to Partners is that we help:

(1) Attract: drive traffic to your platform or place
(2) Engage: keep customers longer inside your ecosystem
(3) Monetize: unlock revenue streams and offer rewards

We do so all while providing the rich analytics and insights from our performance dashboard, so Partners can better understand their customers, their preferences, and their spending habits.

Lucra is backed by some of the best sports and institutional investors (76 Capital, Raptor Group, Visible Ventures, AMBSE Ventures), and well-respected team owners and athletes (Marc Lasry, Dennis Wong, John Isner, Zach/Julie Ertz, Emmanuel Sanders, Khris Middleton, and more) and advised by the ex-WNBA commissioner (Donna Orender); Major League Pickleball Founder (Steve Kuhn); Stanford GSB Professor (Jonathan Levav); and Hollywood legend & The Last Dance Executive Producer (Mike Tollin).

For more information or to get in contact with the team, visit lucrasports.com

About Lucra
Lucra is the leading technology provider of gamification services. Their B2B technology facilitates cash, e-commerce, or cashless contests on partner platforms. Lucra's white-label Software Development Kit (SDK) provides partners with a comprehensive, turnkey solution to embed gamification technology directly into their platforms. This innovation offers features previously unavailable to enterprise Partners, including real-money, peer-to-peer contests within their platforms. For more information, visit lucrasports.com.

About Dave and Buster's
Founded in 1982 and headquartered in Coppell, Texas, Dave & Buster's Entertainment, Inc., is the owner and operator of 223 venues in North America that offer premier entertainment and dining experiences to guests through two distinct brands: Dave & Buster’s and Main Event. The Company has 164 Dave & Buster’s branded stores in 42 states, Puerto Rico, and Canada and offers guests the opportunity to "Eat Drink Play and Watch," all in one location. Each store offers a full menu of entrées and appetizers, a complete selection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, and an extensive assortment of entertainment attractions centered around playing games and watching live sports and other televised events. The Company also operates 59 Main Event branded stores in 20 states across the country, and offers state-of-the-art bowling, laser tag, hundreds of arcade games and virtual reality, making it the perfect place for families to connect and make memories. For more information about each brand, visit daveandbusters.com and mainevent.com.

(Graphic: Business Wire)

SYDNEY (AP) — The Australian and New Zealand governments announced Tuesday they were sending planes to evacuate their nationals from violence-scorched New Caledonia.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong confirmed Australia had received clearance from French authorities for two flights to evacuate citizens and other tourists from New Caledonia amid violent unrest that has beset the French Pacific archipelago where indigenous people have long sought independence from France.

“We continue to work on further flights,” Wong wrote on the social media platform X on Tuesday.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said 300 Australians were in New Caledonia.

New Zealand also announced it was sending a plane Tuesday to evacuate 50 of its nationals from Noumea, the Pacific island's capital, in the first in a series of proposed flights to bring its citizens home.

“New Zealanders in New Caledonia have faced a challenging few days — and bringing them home has been an urgent priority for the Government,” Peters said.

“In co-operation with France and Australia, we are working on subsequent flights in coming days.”

At least six people have died and hundreds more have been injured in New Caledonia after violence erupted last week following controversial electoral reforms passed in Paris.

Some 270 rioters had been arrested as of Tuesday, and a 6 p.m.-6 a.m. curfew was in effect.

France has sent in over a thousand security personnel, with hundreds more due to arrive Tuesday, as it tries to quell the unrest and restore control.

There have been decades of tensions between indigenous Kanaks seeking independence and descendants of colonizers who want to remain part of France.

The unrest erupted May 13 as the French legislature in Paris debated amending the French constitution to make changes to New Caledonia voter lists. The National Assembly in Paris approved a bill that would, among other changes, allow residents who have lived in New Caledonia for 10 years to cast ballots in provincial elections.

Opponents fear the measure will benefit pro-France politicians in New Caledonia and further marginalize Kanaks who once suffered from strict segregation policies and widespread discrimination.

France's President Emmanuel Macron, 2nd right, chairs a security and defence council at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Monday, May 20, 2024. French security forces are working to retake control of the highway to the international airport in violence-scorched New Caledonia, shuttered because of deadly unrest wracking the French Pacific archipelago where indigenous people have long sought independence from France. (Benoit Tessier, Pool via AP)

FILE - This handout photo provided by the French Army shows security force embarking a plane to New Caledonia at the Istres military base, southern France, on Thursday, May 16, 2024. Using backhoes to shove aside charred vehicles, French security forces worked Sunday, May 19, 2024, to retake control of the highway to the international airport in violence-scorched New Caledonia, shuttered because of deadly unrest wracking the French South Pacific island where indigenous people have long sought independence from France. (Etat Major des Armees via AP, File)

The French territory of New Caledonia has been rocked by deadly unrest, leading to a state of emergency imposed by Paris. (AP Graphic)

FILE - Smoke rises during protests in Noumea, New Caledonia, Wednesday May 15, 2024. Using backhoes to shove aside charred vehicles, French security forces worked Sunday, May 19, 2024, to retake control of the highway to the international airport in violence-scorched New Caledonia, shuttered because of deadly unrest wracking the French South Pacific island where indigenous people have long sought independence from France. (AP Photo/Nicolas Job, File)