Online media distribution and services provider RealNetworks said Wednesday that the company’s launch of new social casino products will help “revitalise” the business following a 24 per cent decline in its second quarter revenues.
Total revenues for the company fell to $49.9m for the second quarter ended June 30th, down 24 per cent versus the corresponding period last year, with games revenue declining 26 per cent to $12.9m.
The decline in revenues pushed the company to a net loss of $18.5m for the period, compared to a profit of $81m last year, which included gains of $117.9m from the sale of patent assets to Intel Corporation.
RealNetworks founder and interim CEO Rob Glaser said that its recent launch of a sweepstakes-based social casino app, GameHouse Casino Plus, was “a major step forward in our program to introduce compelling and innovative new products and services.”
The app went live on Facebook at the end of July, with RealNetworks describing the app as the first social casino game to use the sweepstakes model to offer cash prizes of up to $100,000.
“We think that Casino Plus, along with other new products that we will be rolling out this year, will set the stage to return RealNetworks to growth,” Glaser explained. “There is still much work to be done and it will take time, but we will continue to push forward towards the goal of sustainable growth and profitability.”
During the quarter, GameHouse also finalised the acquisition of social casino developer Slingo for a total consideration of $15.6m, but despite launching the sweepstakes-based real-money offering, has since cancelled the company’s content licensing deals with online gaming suppliers GTECH and Playtech.
For the third quarter, RealNetworks expects total revenues of between $47.0m to $50.0m, with all segments flat to declining sequentially and year-on-year.
RealNetworks added that it will look to achieve savings of $7m through moving to a new head office in Seattle, Washington.
Shares in RealNetworks Inc (NASDAQ:RNWK) closed yesterday at $7.36 per share in New York, down 0.54 per cent in trading.