Golden Nugget Atlantic City has partnered up with Everi, which is a developer of online slot games. The deal will see seven of Everi’s real money slots added to the game library at the Golden Nugget online casino.
The Golden Nugget online casino is now integrated with the Everi Remote Game Serve (RGS), which will give access to more slots games that are expected to be added in the near future.
Golden Nugget has a unique perspective in the amount of time and effort the company engages with its online casino product. The deal with Everi is consistent with that effort and shows that GN will continue to improve its online casino to draw in more players.
In October the Golden Nugget NJ online casino had a revenue stream of $16.6 million, which is more than the land-based casino in Atlantic City and a 71% increase over October 2018. It is the first time an online casino has taken in more than its land-based property. The total revenue for the Golden Nugget NJ online casino is now over $400 since it launched in 2013.
The revenue numbers for Golden Nugget are the most for any New Jersey online casino even though it trails other casinos in other areas. The Golden Nugget has the third-smallest casino property and retail sportsbook in the Garden State.
The Golden Nugget has shied away from other aspects of its casino operations in order to focus on its online casino product. The company does not offer online poker and the Golden Nugget online sportsbook has the second-lowest revenue in the state.
The Golden Nugget will have to maintain growth to stay in the top spot in New Jersey, as Resorts Casino is closing in fast and posted a record $10 million in revenue for October. The Golden Nugget still has a pretty big lead over the competition, but that lead is shrinking. From the fourth quarter of 2018 to the first quarter of 2019, Resorts doubled its online casino revenue. The growth has not been as big in the first and second quarters of this year, but it is still bigger than that of the Golden Nugget. If both Resorts and Golden Nugget continue on their revenue pace, they will be even by the middle of next year.
It seems the main goal of the Golden Nugget and its partnership with Everi is to attempt to get more live slots players to play the game online. Considering the Golden Nugget has no online poker and its online sportsbook is not as popular, there are not as many ways to cross-sell products between players online. This may be an issue to stay ahead of the game.
Everi has manufactured physical slot machines since 2012 and is an industry leader in that department. It is only recently that the company has ventured out to use third-party distributors to get their product to the market. The RGS was introduced by Everi late last year in order to deal with the firm’s iGaming partners. Everi is only licensed to offer its product in New Jersey but will look to venture out to the international market as well as other states in the US where gaming is legal.
Everi’s game library includes 30 RGS titles, seven of which are exclusive to the Golden Nugget. However, the company expects to expand the library to over 50 titles by the end of 2019.
Quite a few of the Everi online slots games are based on the company’s physical machines. These are referred to as “steppers”. The press release that announced the Golden Nugget partnership pointed to one such game in Triple Threat, which is one of Everi’s most popular titles.
So, why bring steppers from the casino floor to the online world? Physical slots do not always have the same quality of graphics and animation as the more modern online slot games offer. A lot of the attraction has to do with the actual spinning reels and retro aspect of the physical games, which is hard to translate to online slots. Still, both Everi and the Golden Nugget know that stepper slots attract a different audience than video slots. The video slots may have better graphics, but they can also be more complex due to optional paylines, bonus games and other features.
According to the Everi website: “Our distinct, compelling titles are the result of our deep understanding of the classic reels slot player and our measured approach in game design, creating themes with simple game play, enticing upside, familiar mechanics and clear pay tables.”