PlayPhone to integrate DoubleDown Casino
IGT says deal with mobile social gaming network will help "entice millions of new subscribers"
Mobile social gaming network PlayPhone has announced it will integrate IGT’s DoubleDown Casino app onto its platform this summer.
PlayPhone has partnered with leading US carriers including Verizon and AT&T, and already hosts a number of social casino titles including Bingo Live! and Mafia Blackjack, both of which were developed in-house.
The deal further extends DoubleDown’s reach following deals with over 20 US land-based casinos, with parent company IGT claiming the app currently attracts more than 6m MAU.
IGT Interactive vice president of global marketing John Clelland said the supplier “looks for the widest possible distribution and the easiest-to-use technology to attract and retain customers”.
“PlayPhone’s carrier relationships, world-class social features and direct carrier payments will entice millions of new subscribers,” Clelland added.
PlayPhone CMO Anders Evju said the deal helps aid carriers and developers by bringing back revenue carriers have lost to app stores and by “multiplying and enriching the number of unique opportunities for the system to cross-promote individual games”.
Following its acquisition for a fee that could rise to US$500m in January 2012, DoubleDown has performed strongly, helping IGT post a 11% year-on-year rise in group revenues in the second quarter of 2013.
Revenues from DoubleDown alone rose 31% quarter-on-quarter to $54m, while DAU were up to 1.7m over the three-month period, a 16% advance on Q1.