New social games soon from Playsino
News on 22 Jul 2012
News on 22 Jul 2012
Social gaming software developer Playsino out of Santa Monica, California is gearing up for a push in the sector, creating its own free-to-play casino games for mobile and social platforms and starting out with a new game titled Solitaire and Prizes.
The company has also launched its own publishing network, encouraging social gaming developers to join with the promise of publication, production and promotional support, along with advice on monetising, reports the publication VentureBeat.
For a company that was only launched this year, it’s an ambitious project, but Playsino Publishing chief John Maffei is confident that his company’s tight focus on the sector and solid funding will produce results for everyone involved, creating access to gamers who are specifically interested in casino style action.
Maffei could be on the right track; according to the research firm Kontagents social casino game players now account for 13 percent of all of the players on Facebook, compared to just 8 percent in 2011 and 6 percent in 2010.
The analytics firm says that social casino games have higher-than-average revenue per user: at least 40 percent greater than a typical casual social game.
VentureBeat reports that Playsino has a wealth of business experience at the helm. It is headed by chief executive Brock Pierce, who is also a managing director of the Clearstone Global Gaming Fund. He has started, bought or invested in more than 30 game companies and secured more than $200 million in investments, helping startups pioneer business models built around virtual goods and microtransactions.
Pierce is also CEO of Titan Gaming, and founded ZAM Network, a gaming media property with 15 million hardcore PC gamers. He sold that to Tencent in January this year and founded GamesTV, a joint venture with Shanghai Media Group.
Rivals include Double Down Interactive, owned by slot machine giant IGT, social game giant Zynga, and a number of other social casino game startups.
“The difference is we are 100 percent focused on the social casino game market,” Maffei notes.
Playsino has raised $1.5 million in funding from IDM Venture Capital, a Singapore-based venture capital firm, Pacific Capital Group, Siemer Ventures, and a number of angel investors.
