VersusGame will share revenue with players who get friends to wager on event outcomes

venturebeat.com:

GamesBeat Summit 2022 returns with its largest event for leaders in gaming on April 26-28th. Reserve your spot here!

We all like to predict what will happen next in a game or other event. VersusGame was created to enable fans to place wagers on micro events like which of two musicians will rank higher in the charts by the end of the week.

And today the company is starting a novel referral program for players who invite 10 friends to join VersusGame. For a full year, VersusGame will share 5% of your friends’ winnings. And that amount doesn’t come out of your friends’ winnings. It comes out of VersusGame’s proceeds, which normally is about 12.5% of the total from each player. John Vitti, CEO of VersusGame, said in an interview with GamesBeat that this kind of novel referral program is a loss leader aimed at giving people a real stake in the success of the platform and their friends. It’s not considered gambling in around 40 states as the games are considered skill-based, as opposed to games of chance.

“The whole genesis is to put real money in real people’s pockets,” said Vitti. “It’s more fun to play with friends. It will help platform bring in friends in a way that is meaningful to the players. We will put our money where our mouth is.”

San Francisco-based VersusGame has raised $12 million, and it has investors among celebrity athletes like NBA star Kevin Durant as well as investors Mark Pincus, Reid Hoffman, and Peter Thiel. And Vitti hinted that later this summer VersusGame will have a TV show on a big network.

“We consume so much content and we become experts at it, and so we find ways to predict what will happen next in everything we do,” he said. “Our mission is that your knowledge should be rewarded. We’re a tribal