AGS has always been committed to supporting tribal gaming, specifically with its Class II games. At this year’s Indian Gaming Association Tradeshow & Convention, a new frontier for AGS was broached with online gaming.
“We’ve consistently talked about this year after year,” said AGS Vice President of Interactive Zoe Ebling at IGA. “And the exciting thing is we’re starting to see some early development that tribes are moving into the digital space.
“AGS is a Class II business. That’s where our groups are from and we’ve always been committed to supporting tribes with their ever-evolving businesses. As part of that, we’ve decided to create Class II digital content, so that we can be part of the evolving landscape and support our partners in their next adventure.”
Ebling said AGS plans to bring 20 digital game titles to market in 2026. The titles are based on what’s working on gaming floors and projecting how they will work online. Some of the games include Shamrock Fortunes, Straight Cash, and Rakin’ Bacon.
Stepper content, the classic sevens and bars core games that appeal to high-value target players, will also make their debut online.
“We see that players want to know how they win, and they want to have good game math and good payout opportunity,” Ebling said. “When you look at our Class II and how well we’ve done in the classic reel space, especially concatenation, an adjacent vertical to that, the win-what-you-see mechanic, we plan on bringing the games we know that are doing well, that will appeal to the high-value player.
“We think the approach we have to the content that we’re bringing makes us a great partner for the tribes venturing into this.”
Ebling admits that online gaming for tribal gaming has challenges. There are questions about who is going to be in the space and what form legislation will take. With that uncertainty, he surmises there are questions about what companies will fit demand and how they will adapt.
“For Class II online to be really meaningful to the industry, we need to understand how to get online, what the actual process is from not having a digital business to running an app that players are betting on games,” Ebling noted. “That understanding of how to get there, there’s a big knowledge gap there. But there’s also a content gap. Only a handful of providers have really committed to building digital products, and most of those folks that are in the arena, they actually also have their own cam business, which is that framework that customers need to get online.”
Some providers also might take the position that if you use their system, you only get their games.
“We’ve seen this play out across Europe and the U.S. and we know that we’re going to need platforms that can support multiple game providers and game types,” Ebling said. “AGS has really stepped forward and said, we’re going to commit to this vertical. We’re going to bring content, but we’re also going to help from an expertise standpoint and work with tribes to educate them on how to enter this in a meaningful way.”
Ebling said AGS’s advantage is that the company has experience in the intersection of land-based and digital content. Notably in New Jersey, AGS has experience proved it is adept at both gaming issues.
“It’s not as hard as you’d think,” Ebling said. “First, you have to have both sides, you’ve got to have a digital and you’ve got to have a fan base, but then actually introducing players to the other side. There are some turnkey easy initiatives of how you can expose people to that.
“And what we have found is that players that play both sides, their lifetime value increases like 100x. It’s one of the best measures for retention or re-engagement.
“We see this in the digital like we see this in Class III. We see this in high lottery. There are some states that have print-off tickets, and some states have digital lottery businesses. And the states that have digital lottery businesses, they’re leading incremental business for their overall growth. There’s so much opportunity. It’s a lot easier than you think, but you’ve got to get started in order (to meet demand).”
