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Penn Entertainment has announced the debut of a new online casino game, Multiplayer Blackjack, via its Hollywood Casino platform in New Jersey.
The new game leans into the communal aspect of blackjack, offering a variety of features to make the game more interactive, Penn Vice President of Operations Jason Birney said in a statement.
By nature, blackjack is a communal game and this new multiplayer option was built to replicate the feeling of sitting at a live casino table. Multiplayer Blackjack is another fun and engaging iCasino game developed by our incredibly accomplished PENN Game Studios team.
Penn VP of Operations Jason Birney
While Multiplayer Blackjack is only available through New Jersey’s Hollywood Casino, Penn noted it will roll out the game to more states in the future. This should aid PENN in its efforts to build on the Hollywood Casino brand after the letdown from its partnership with Barstool.
How Multiplayer Blackjack fits into Penn’s post-Barstool plan
Coming off what was a tumultuous relationship with Barstool Sports (they bought it from founder Dave Portnoy, then sold it back to him in what many industry experts view as a blunder), Penn is likely looking for ways to boost its profile and move as far away from its Barstool days as it can.
One of the ways to do that is to expand the company’s presence in the online casino market. Multiplayer Blackjack is a small step in that direction, as new titles help online casinos keep existing customers and draw in new ones, too.
Hailing the game is a “first-of-its-kind” for Hollywood Casino, Multiplayer Blackjack allows users to create private tables, join public tables, and wager side bets on hands. Additionally, the game allows up to 999 players to watch tables and place bets on other players’ hands.
And while the game is admittedly just one step into Penn’s Barstool-less future, it’s an important one. That Multiplayer Blackjack is an original game developed by Penn Game Studios indicates the company may have the in-house chops to expand its online gaming presence through its own divisions instead of acquisitions. Of course, acquisitions could be in Penn’s future, but, for now, the company has likely had its fill of buying big gaming companies.
Penn online casinos are producing positive numbers
In Penn’s Q3 earnings call earlier this month, it highlighted that revenue from the company’s Hollywood Casino online casino platforms was excellent. Three key metrics were up significantly over Q3 2023:
- Monthly active users rose 233%.
- Gross gaming revenue was up 53%.
- Net gaming revenue increased 63%.
Additionally, Penn noted that it will launch its first standalone iGaming app for the Pennsylvania online casino market in Q1 of 2025.
