Zynga files Nevada suitability application
Operator expects approval process to take around 12-18 months; described by chief revenue officer as long-term project.
Zynga has filed an application for a Preliminary Finding of Suitability from the Nevada Gaming Control Board, the company has announced.
In a statement released this morning, chief revenue officer Barry Cottle explained that the filing was part of the company’s strategy of pursuing real-money gambling (RMG) opportunities, and expected the process to take between 12 and 18 months to complete.
“As we’ve said previously, the broader U.S. market is an opportunity that’s further out on the horizon based on legislative developments, but we are preparing for a regulated market,” Cottle explained. “We’ve also recently partnered with bwin.party to bring the highest quality real money gaming experiences to our UK players in the first half of 2013.”
Zynga chief executive Mark Pincus has previously hinted at partnering with a US land-based operator, directly name-checking Wynn Resorts Ltd as a potential partner at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecomms Conference in March this year.
At the time he said that the operator was in talks with “all of the players that you would suspect,” adding:
“We have incredible respect and admiration for brands and groups like the Wynn … I would expect that you’ll see a lot of these players kind of figure out their go-to-market partnerships for sure before the end of this year.”
While Zynga’s plans for the US market are in their infancy, the company is set to launch a UK-facing real money gambling offering in the first half of 2013. Following the revelation that the company had opened a tender process to select an egaming partner, Pincus confirmed plans to enter the sector during the company’s earnings call for the three months ending 30 June.
After a difficult few months which saw a number of management staff depart the business, culminating in the news that three of the operator’s development studios would be shut down, 5% of the workforce was to be made redundant and a number of games were being “sunset,” the company announced that it was to partner with bwin.party to launch its real money offering for the UK market.
Under the terms of the agreement both companies will partner to launch a full suite of gambling products including poker and a portfolio of more than 180 casino games including slots, roulette and blackjack. Zynga’s poker offering will join bwin.party’s poker network, while the companies will work together to develop a FarmVille-branded slot game.
After an executive reshuffle following the departure of CFO David Wehner to Facebook, newly-appointed chief revenue officer Barry Cottle was confirmed as overseeing the project, with former 888 executive Maytal Ginzburg Olsha taking on the day-to-day management as chief operating officer of new markets.