For Everi Holdings’ Dean Ehrlich, the Global Gaming Expo was just like Christmas: four days of celebrating the season’s newest gaming technology and products.
But then again, almost every day at the office is like a holiday for the company’s executive vice president and games business leader.
“I love this company and this industry,” Ehrlich says. “And I can honestly say what I recommend for people to do is , when waking up on a given Monday morning, how do you feel about going into the office and starting your day ? If you feel miserable, go do something else because life is too short! Even though I’ve been through my share of acquisitions (mostly as the acquiree) and dealing with integrations, and synergies, I’ve never, ever said I don’t want to be doing this anymore. That to me speaks volumes about the people and the industry I’m fortunate to be a part of.”
Ehrlich was eager to introduce Everi’s newest products at G2E, notably because there are new cabinets and game themes coming out. Among the products featured:
- Player Classic Reserve, an enhanced version of Everi’s Player Classic Signature mechanical reel cabinet series, offers new features designed for the premium mechanical reel market.
- Dynasty Dynamic, a new premium banked product combines the feel of a three-reel mechanical with the advanced technology and entertaining gameplay of a portrait video cabinet.
- Dynasty Sol is a sleek, modern, portrait video reel cabinet optimized for a better gaming experience with unique design elements including a 49-inch 4K display, a large LCD button deck, integrated light bars, a custom candle, large video topper, and wireless charging for mobile devices.
- The Dynasty Sol Sync is a premium merchandise version of the Dynasty Sol cabinet with new premium banked product integration, exclusive LED signage, and vibrant wedges to deliver a cohesive presentation which draws attention from any angle.
“We’re focused on delivering to operators’ themes with longevity that appeal to various player segments to put on our cabinets,” Ehrlich says. Operators, he adds, are looking for the right content that they don’t have to replace after 90-120 days.
“For video, our content on our new cabinets will perform well initially,” he says. “The question is, after that initial time period, will performance level off to an acceptable threshold?
“It’s the biggest challenge the suppliers face is understanding product longevity. Did the particular theme find the secret sauce: will it have longevity to have that same player continuously return to that product?”
Ehrlich says that when an operator makes a purchase commitment, it’s incumbent upon suppliers to provide solid theme support to offset any longevity challenges, and the more cabinets supported, the greater the overall theme bandwidth needed to command multiple banks of each individual cabinet. If you hit it out of the park with a single theme, all the better.
Everi’s enhanced product development team plays a crucial role in developing the company’s cabinets and themes. Ehrlich says, Everi has also been much more aggressive with player research to understand whether our play elements are digestible and intuitive in a world of sensory overload.
Ehrlich is always on the quest to understand what makes a successful gaming product. He admits to spending too much time on casino floors, observing behaviors, talking to players, and playing a variety of games.
“The challenge is you have to play and observe in order to understand the games value proposition and the key players’ psychology,” he says. “And to make it more complex, the player is constantly evolving, and if they’re not on top of those trends, how can you expect to deliver the right product at the right time?”
“For those game designers that understand the trends and take calculated risks of what the player will want 15 months down the road will ultimately put the company in the best position to succeed from a product standpoint.”
