[toc]Station Casinos is getting into the mobile and social casino game business thanks to a new partnership with GAN (formerly GameAccount Network) which will bring StationPlay to Nevada. This is the second partnership for GAN in the Silver State.
Station play joins growing casino-owned social games market
StationPlay joins a market which is already headlined by the MGM-operated MyVegas and market leader Caesars Casino. Both sites utilize the brick and mortar customer loyalty programs of their respective casinos so players on the social games can earn rewards credits which can be used on property.
Stations will employ a similar business structures where points earned on the games can be synced up with the player’s Boarding Pass, the Stations loyalty program.
“StationPlay will allow us to provide another great benefit to our Boarding Pass members by allowing them the ability to earn Boarding Pass points through a custom, free-play social gaming experience while at home or on the go,” Station Casinos executive vice president of innovation and administration Staci Alonso StationPlay will allow us to provide another great benefit to our Boarding Pass members by allowing them the ability to earn Boarding Pass points through a custom, free-play social gaming experience while at home or on the go,” Station Casinos executive vice president of innovation and administration Staci Alonso commented.”>said when the new site was announced.
The social gaming industry continues to boom and these sites help the casinos stay in touch with customers even when they are not on property.
GAN already partners with Stratosphere on social casino
GAN first entered the Nevada market in 2015 when it partnered with American Casino Entertainment Partners (ACEP), which owns four Nevada properties, including Stratosphere.
The GAN portfolio includes a giant library of themed slot games thanks to partnerships with Konami, Scientific Games, IGT, and Bally to name a few. In addition to hundreds of slot games, GAN also provides table games like backgammon, blackjack, solitaire, and a variety of bingo games.
Social games industry continues to boom
A 2015 report from Transparency Market Research ballparked the social games industry at $5.4 billion in 2012 and projected it could be worth as much as $17.4 billion in 2019.
Stations is a bit late to the game in terms of market saturation, but online casino does seem to be one industry where the liquidity of the customer base does allow for multiple competitors.
The Stations properties previously dipped their toe in the online gaming waters when it launched Ultimate Poker in 2013. The group was the first player to the Nevada regulated online poker market, but ended up folding after 19 months of operation. Now the only major real money online poker operator in the Silver State is Caesars Entertainment’s WSOP.com.
Caesars Interactive Entertainment (CIE) recently sold off the social games wing of the company, Playtika, for an astonishing $4 billion. The company continues to run Caesars Casino, a Playtika offering, on Facebook. The game has over 6 million likes.
Image credit: Rosa Say / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
