Why we exist
Most affiliate sites covering online pokies in New Zealand rank operators in commission order. The casino that pays the highest revenue share lands at the top of the page, and the language around the ranking is reverse-engineered to justify it. We don't run the site that way. Our ranking is decided by a public 100-point rubric, applied identically across every operator, and the score is fixed before any commercial conversation takes place. That means we say plainly when a licensing jurisdiction is weaker than another, when a withdrawal cap is structured to keep balances on the operator's books, and when a bonus is mathematically predatory rather than generous. If that loses us a partnership, it loses us a partnership.
Who we are
SoftRock NZ is a small editorial team based in Wellington, led by Noah Smith, a gambling-industry analyst with over a decade of experience covering NZ-facing online operators. Every editorial page on this site carries a byline and a last-reviewed date. Our standards — sourcing, testing cadence, correction policy — are spelled out in our methodology, which doubles as our rubric. If a page on this site isn't bylined and dated, it isn't editorial.
How we make money
SoftRock NZ is reader-supported. We earn an affiliate commission when a reader signs up at a recommended casino via one of our links. The commission rate varies between operators — some pay a flat fee, others a percentage of net revenue, some a hybrid. None of that determines our ranking. Ranking is the output of the methodology, and the methodology is the gate; commission is the result of the ranking, not the cause of it. We disclose the affiliate relationship on every casino card, in the footer of every page, and again at the top of every review. If we ever decided to take paid placement, we'd say so on the card itself in bold. We don't, and we won't, but the disclosure rule stands either way.
What we won't do
- Take paid placement that affects ranking. Operators cannot buy a higher position, a softer review, or a removal of a negative.
- Hide affiliate relationships. Every commercial link is labelled. Every page that benefits from one says so.
- Recommend operators without an active licence. No licence — Curaçao, MGA, Gibraltar or otherwise — and the site doesn't make our list, regardless of bonus or commission.
- Run aggressive retargeting or browser-push opt-ins. No interstitials chasing you across the web, no "allow notifications" pop-ups on first visit, no email drip the moment you click a link.
- Withhold honest negatives about operators we work with. If an operator we earn from has a slow-withdrawal pattern, an opaque KYC process, or a bonus clause we think is unfair, we say so on the review page. The affiliate relationship doesn't buy silence.
Contact us
Editorial enquiries, corrections and tip-offs are welcome. General editorial: see the contact page. Press requests: press@softrock.co.nz. Operator complaints and tip-offs about poor casino behaviour: tipoff@softrock.co.nz. We read every message; we follow up on every verified report.
Last reviewed: 16 June 2026 · Author: Noah Smith · How we rate