How Playstudios combines Vegas casinos, games and player rewards | Mickey Sonnino
Connect with top gaming leaders in Los Angeles at GamesBeat Summit 2023 this May 22-23. Register here.
A decade ago, social casino games exploded as free-to-play social casino games, where you could buy virtual chips but couldn’t cash out winnings. But Playstudios showed up in 2011 with a different kind of business model, where players earned loyalty points in the social casino games that could be redeemed for real-life rewards from a variety of hotel, entertainment and leisure brands.
The social mobile games worked out so well that the company grew to 10 studios and 750 people. CEO Andrew Pascal was able to take the Las Vegas company public at a valuation of $1.1 billion in early 2021. Since that time, the company’s value has dipped during the downturn, but it’s still valued at $502 million.
In that sense, the company has fared a lot better than many other social casino game companies. And Playstudios is operating 13 games, including Tetris, and it continues to add brands (121 at last count) to its rewards program for its 12 million monthly active users. Partners include MGM Resorts International, Wolfgang Puck, Norwegian Cruise Line, Resorts World and many others. The company acquired WonderBlocks to launch a blockchain-based loyalty platform, dubbed PlayBlocks, in partnership with Forte. Playstudios’ investors include Activision Blizzard and MGM Resorts International.
Pascal recently hired Mickey Sonnino, a veteran executive from Playtika, as chief operating officer. And I interviewed her recently. Here’s an edited transcript of our interview.
GamesBeat Summit 2023
Join the GamesBeat community in Los Angeles this May 22-23. You’ll hear from the brightest minds within the gaming industry to share their updates on the
Read more on venturebeat.com
