Games News

International Game Technology's social gaming division DoubleDown Casino has released what it claims to be the industry’s first Social Casino Index, designed to give the sector deeper insights into player behaviour and player profiles across the US.

Investment firm MGT Capital Investments has finalised a deal to acquire Avcom Inc, a New York-based developer focused on mobile social casino products which operates under the Mobile Vegas brand.

iGaming operators have invested heavily over the past few years in entering the social casino space and launching onto mobile, but the Mr Green-backed Social Thrills is focused on launching Facebook-first and with a team of just 15. Considering the company’s past success in building up a business from scratch, can this approach work for social casino too?

Mediabistro has announced that its Social Gambling & Gaming Summit will be taking place next month in Las Vegas, with the event focussing on the intersection of casino-style social games, mobile gaming, virtual goods, and the bridge between mainstream social gambling and gaming.

Seattle-based social gaming operator Big Fish has launched its latest slot game on its hugely successful Big Fish Casino app, with Rollin’ Rich now live on the offering.

IGT chief executive Patti Hart has revealed that the company’s CFO John Vandemore was handed control of the company’s DoubleDown Casino product in order to lead the social offering through what she described as a “new chapter” of increased investment designed to accelerate the app’s growth.  

Social casino studio FlowPlay has expanded into the B2B sector with the launch of a white label solution to allow developers, iGaming operators and land-based casinos to roll out gambling-style apps on Facebook, iOS or Android.

Gaming platform provider Mediatech Solutions has acquired the GameShaper+ social gaming platform developed by the now-defunct Enteraction for an undisclosed sum, with Enteraction managing director Andy Rogers also joining the Madrid-based business.

US video games publisher Electronic Arts has launched two new mobile social casino games in partnership with Hasbro.

Rob Glaser, interim CEO of online media distribution and services provider RealNetworks, said Wednesday that he expects future social casino launches to help return the company to growth, but admitted that the business has “a lot more work to do” to achieve these aims after third quarter gaming revenue fell 24 per cent.