IGT's DoubleDown revenues double
Social casino division posts $61.4m in quarterly revenues to drive IGT's 9% year-on-year revenue increase
International Game Technology’s (IGT) social gaming revenues increased by 105% in the quarter ended 30 June 2013 in a period that saw its DoubleDown Casino become the top-grossing socal casino game on Facebook.
The slot manufacturer and gaming software provider saw revenues from DoubleDown Interactive, acquired for US$500m in January 2012, increase year-on-year by 105% from $29.9m to $61.4m.
IGT reported DoubleDown Casino surpassed Zynga Poker as the highest-grossing social casino game on Facebook in the period, while average revenue per daily active user (ARPDAU) grew 60% to $0.40, with average daily active users (DAU) at 1.69 million.
“We are generating monetisation rates at DoubleDown that, frankly, are the envy of the industry, nearly double that of our nearest competitor,” chief executive Patti Hart said.
The results represented a significant increase from Q2 2013, in which the free-to-play online casino attracted revenues of $54m. Total revenues across IGT global business reached $579m in the quarter, up from $538.2m in Q3 2012, which was also helped by an increase in North American gaming and lottery machine sales.
IGT’s other interactive revenues excluding social gaming were up 26% year-on-year. It has signed up 15 new partners in the past 12 months, the most recent being Betsson which is set to introduce slots content from IGT across a number of its mobile and desktop sites.
Operating costs, however, increased by 3% which the company attributed to the hiring of additional employees for its expanding social gaming presence and advertising expenses for DoubleDown.
Hart called the firm’s social gaming growth “remarkable” and said further growth opportunities in new markets and the improvement of its mobile offering were in the pipeline.
“This performance is propelled by our best-in-class IGT content, along with a purposeful approach to player conversion and retention. And DoubleDown’s mobile platform has gained substantial traction, recently ranking as the top-grossing social casino app ever on iPad.”
IGT acquired DoubleDown Interactive for $500m in January 2012, which market research company Eilers Research ranks in third place by total revenues in the social casino market.