Focus on Everi: Bringing innovative new designs and concepts to the casino floor

August 19, 2022 12:00 PM
  • John G. Brokopp, CDC Gaming Reports
August 19, 2022 12:00 PM
  • John G. Brokopp, CDC Gaming Reports

Everi, the recognized leader in the high-denomination mechanical reel segment, wasn’t about to fall prey to resting on its laurels in the intense competitive environment of gaming industry research, development, and manufacture.

Rather than allow its award-winning Player Classic cabinet to be admired as a trophy on the mantle, the company has surged forward with the release of the next generation of mechanical reel cabinet, Player Classic Signature.

Expanding and broadening its horizons in the video slot space is another Everi initiative, with innovative titles such as Money Line and Cha-Ching! created for the Empire Flex video reel portrait cabinet, and ongoing game development for the Empire Arena, Flex Fusion, and Empire DCX product lines.

Everi’s business dynamic has not gone unnoticed in the industry. The company reported record second quarter 2022 results for the period ending June 30, 2022, fueled by a 13 percent increase in games segment revenue, a 40 percent increase in sales of gaming machines, and a seven percent increase in its total installed games base to a record 17,464 units compared to the second quarter of 2021. All these metrics reflect elements of confidence and trust that the company has worked diligently to cultivate.

Everi’s success is driven by its mission “to lead the gaming industry through the power of people, imagination, and technology”, a statement that leadership takes very much to heart and conveys to the entire team.

“We’ve come a long way from a few years ago,” said Dean Ehrlich, Everi’s executive vice president and games business leader. “For us to be where we are today took a tremendous amount of tenacity and perseverance, in addition to a solid product roadmap that covers the major categories in both standard and premium products.”

The new Player Classic Signature cabinet, inspired by the award-winning king of high-denomination reel cabinets, Player Classic, was introduced at the 2021 Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas.

It builds upon what makes the original so successful: wider, more powerful, and more intelligent spinning reels; an integrated 21-inch monitor positioned above the reels creating more player messaging and pay table display; and a larger, higher 28-inch top box monitor to enhance marketing strategies.

“Player Classic Signature has been well received since its launch in late March this year,” Ehrlich said. “We have had great success with the high-denomination mechanical player as Player Classic continues to rank as a top cabinet year-after-year and Everi titles consistently are a majority of the top 25 themes in the high denomination mechanical segment.

“When you have a hot hand, you build on it. Our goal was to improve the overall functionality of Player Classic while also enhancing the experience for the player. We continue to create engaging play dynamics by appealing to the certain player who knows exactly what they want from a classic stepper game.”

Player Classic Signature debuted with three distinct game families, each consisting of two themes: Gems Deluxe Series, Jackpot Power Series, and Extra Spin Series.

“In my opinion, you either grow or go backwards quickly,” Ehrlich maintains. “The job of a designer is to find out what the player is going to want as their interest and expectations evolve. That said, being on the forefront of a trend is an incredible challenge; that of creating a truly better and unique entertainment experience.

“We have been able to significantly grow the business the last couple of years. At the same time, we haven’t forgotten where we came from. Our evolution is built upon our legacy of success and giving more value to players by creating different and memorable experiences for them.”

Everi’s forward movement for increased market share includes the competitive video slot space as well. Two new original, imaginative, and innovative themes, Cha-Ching! and Money Line, have been released on the company’s Empire Flex portrait cabinet and are already making some waves.

“With Cha-Ching!, we have incorporated innovative play elements used in a simplistic, but different way,” Ehrlich said. “We put a new twist on what’s traditionally the bonus component by making the bonus the base game.

“The player sees a screenful of boxes with different wager values ranging from nominal to very large, depending on how the game is configured. There’s even a pop-up feature on the screen that asks the player ‘Are You Sure?’ if the size of the wager they are choosing to make is what they really want.”

When Cha-Ching! players initiate a play, they select a box on the screen and make a bet as small as fifty cents or as large as $25, $50, $75, or even $99. Not every box is a winner, but each one holds the chance for the player to win credits, additional boxes, or coins that fill bags at the top to win one of three bonus games: Pop Bonus, Whoosh Bonus, and Blast Bonus.

The appeal and innovative concepts revolve around the incredibly large bet range and interactive player volatility. Cha-Ching! is being placed on casino floors now.

“Everi wants to create games that resonate with players and build upon the trust we have with our casino partners,” Ehrlich said. “We’re always looking to take it to the next level, by investing in and expanding upon our research and development efforts.”

“We will always remain laser focused on our product plan, which includes not only game design, but also new cabinet introductions. We want to give our casino customers a reason to continue to partner with us as we not only come up with new concepts, but also solidly support our existing platforms as well.”

Money Line is another innovative video slot introduced by Everi. The object for players is to line up symbols with multipliers. The appeal is to trigger the “wheel feature” and free spins bonus. The game comes in player selectable multi-denominational formats ranging from 1 ¢ to $5.

Other video releases include two new game families on the premium banked product Flex Fusion – Cashnado and Smokin’ Hot Stuff Wicked Wheel Fire & Ice.

The Discovery Channel theme Shark Week Feeding Frenzy and Outlander, which is based on the widely successful television series, are both currently available on the Empire DCX premium cabinet. TournEvent Everiway, the next iteration of Everi’s award-winning TournEvent platform, boasts new features : TournEvent Classic, TournEvent Now, TournEvent Winners Circle, TournEvent Cross Play, and TournEvent Concierge.

“These features include giving casino guests the option of playing in an event anytime they wish with our sit-and-go TournEvent Now promotions,” Ehrlich noted, “as well as customizing events to be daily, weekly, or even monthly, which is a significant switch from our prior slot tournament strategy which would put an entire bank of games in out-of- revenue mode all at one time.”

By virtue of its very company mantra, being content with all that has been accomplished and standing still equates to moving backwards. Marching forward into the future, growing market share with innovative product development, is the driving force.

“I love seeing what our development team can come up with, year in and year out.  It’s always a new adventure that continues to keep us inspired into the distant future!”