If you went to an all-you-can-eat buffet and the only thing they had was steak, then you’d be slightly disappointed, right? Well, I imagine that would definitely be the case if you were a vegan or a vegetarian. While it might sound like a contrived point, the point is that variety is often the spice of life, to use a predictable soundbite. 

If you are at a buffet, casino gaming, clothes shopping, or browsing a phone shop, whatever it may be, there are dozens of examples, but the importance of choice is something that shouldn’t be overlooked.

For those who have been accessing online casinos for the last decade, you’ll be fully aware of just how much variety is out there. In fact, it becomes second nature in many ways. You expect an online slots platform to have thousands of different options; it’s industry standard. This doesn’t mean that it’s quantity over quality; there’s a middle ground to be found, and that’s what we’re going to be taking a look at today.

The Rise Of Online Slots

Slot gaming has been the staple of casino gaming for over a century, but once online innovations started to grip the industry, it was a color TV moment. Gone were the days of predictable games and machines as far as the eye could see, which is still a design that many land-based casinos employ.

The history of slot machines is marked by multiple notable chapters, ranging from the rise of video slot games to the first-ever million-dollar jackpot machine. However, the changes that online slots ushered in are a line in the sand. You can clearly split slot gaming into pre-online and post-online gaming.

By the early part of the 21st century, multiple international brands were gearing up. They had their slot game designers working overtime to churn out ideas that could keep up with the exponential demand they were seeing in the online marketplace. Online slots, of course, deal with many of the same themes, ideas, and jackpots as conventional sites. However, given that slot gamers could not play online, be it on their mobile devices or desktops, the additional convenience wasn’t enough.

Online slots had to establish itself as a part of the casino gaming world that was able to spearhead the new, global 24/7 version of casino gaming that was rapidly emerging online.

What Constitutes Variety?

It depends on the gamer you speak to. For some, it may be variety within their chosen theme, so it could be a few dozen slot games based on ancient mythology, such as Greek or Norse. For others, the more general term of variety would speak to the range of games available, dozens of genres, niche ideas, and a range of jackpot games, 3D games, and all the variants of slot gaming that are out there that encompass alternative payment options such as cryptocurrency and blockchain.

Again, some slot gamers prefer quality over quantity, so throwing the kitchen sink at ideas and just having a catalogue of games doesn’t always mean that you’ll generate the highest number of customers; that’s not how the industry works.

For some, some ideas are best left untouched. Iconic film and TV shows have partnered with slot gaming developers over the years, often with mixed results.

Once a film proves to be a hit, it becomes hypercommodified. Jurassic Park, first released over 30 years ago, has spawned numerous slot games, video games, and remakes, some of which are fairly recent.

If this saturation has taught us anything, it is that constantly coming out with the same conveyor belt of ideas can be tedious, and it’s the freshness and innovation of creative ideas that often carry the greatest risk but also yield the best results when executed correctly. It’s the same in slot gaming as it is in all other fields of entertainment, and if there’s not enough variety, then gamers will tune out pretty quickly.

Keeping Ideas Modern

Those slot gaming platforms that do not consistently put in an effort to keep their ideas fresh and relevant risk losing ground to their competition. In a multi-billion-dollar industry where new competitors emerge all the time, it’s not a business model that is likely to yield results or generate longevity.

Variety not only keeps customers on their toes, but when leveraged correctly, it can be a highly effective form of marketing. Slot sites that are continually updating their gaming catalogue often send out e-mails and social media posts to get people to sign up and check out these new games.

It’s a collective move forward that ticks several boxes, and without variety, slot sites close off many potential avenues for bringing on new customers. Those who can find this balance, not overwhelming customers with new games, but doing enough to keep their sites fresh, stand the best chance of succeeding in an increasingly competitive iGaming market.