SciPlay continues casual gaming expansion with Koukoi acquisition

New York-listed social casino operator SciPlay Corporation has further expanded into the casual gaming sector with the acquisition of Finland-based Koukoi Games.

The deal marks SciPlay’s third acquisition following Spice Rack in 2017 and Come2Play last year, with Oulu-based Koukoi known for having developed the Om Nom Run game, which has been downloaded over 30m times.

Leveraging Koukoi's technology platform, SciPlay will look to introduce a new casual game concept, Project X, which the company describes as a key step in its expansion into the casual game genre.

“The strengths of the Koukoi team mesh perfectly with SciPlay's strengths and we're excited to welcome them to our Company,” said SciPlay CEO Josh Wilson. “This is another step in the evolution of SciPlay as we continue to invest in future growth opportunities and build out our development pipeline.

“Together, we can build impactful evergreen games in the casual genre furthering our product and revenue diversification strategy.”

The financial details of the transaction have not been disclosed.

“Our studio was founded on our passion to make casual mash-up games that blend successful attributes of multiple genres, appealing to broad audiences through engaging gameplay and deep meta storylines,” said Koukoi CEO Antti Kananen.

“We are thrilled to be joining SciPlay to take our games to the next level by taking advantage of their product and analytical rigor, user acquisition expertise and market scale.”

Shares in Sciplay Corporation (NSQ:SCPL) closed 1.31 per cent lower at $15.77 per share in New York Thursday.