Exclusive: Zynga opens real-money poker tender
GTECH G2 and Playtech confirmed to have submitted bids to provide social giant with cash poker platform.
Zynga has opened a tender for a real-money poker platform, with a number of leading egaming suppliers understood to be competing for the potentially lucrative contract, eGaming Review can exclusively reveal.
eGR has learned that the likes of GTECH G2 and Playtech are confirmed to have submitted bids to supply the platform, and that the process was opened before Zynga’s interest in acquiring the bwin.party-owned Ongame poker network emerged.
A senior source within one of the bidding companies confirmed the tender, but refused to reveal whether it was at an advanced stage, or which channels the deal would cover, though it is thought to cover online and mobile.
However, a separate source said that the vast majority of the industry’s leading suppliers have been in touch with Zynga regarding the tender. “They [Zynga] are likely to be a significant player, hence all are interested,” eGR‘s source explained. eGR understands that Intralot and Microgaming are also in the running.
Zynga declined to comment, when contacted by eGR.
It is unknown whether the potential acquisition of Ongame would see the tender cancelled, however it all but confirms Zynga’s plans to move beyond the Facebook platform and into real-money gambling after numerous hints from senior executives in the past few months.
Speaking at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference in San Francisco in March this year Zynga founder and CEO Mark Pincus (pictured) described real money gambling as a “natural fit” with virtual goods and social games, hinting at a partnership with a land-based operator, and adding that the company was in talks with “all of the players that you would suspect.”
This came after COO John Schappert’s admission that real-money gambling was “very interesting” following the announcement of the group’s full-year results for 2011, in which it revealed a US$404.3m loss for the period, prompting speculation that the company would step up its plans to expand beyond Facebook, despite contributing 12% of the social network’s revenues.
Zynga has already developed a leading presence on mobile devices, with Schappert revealing that the it operates the world’s largest mobile gaming network after daily active users rose 83% quarter-on-quarter, from 12m to 22m in its results for the three months ending 31 March 2012, going on to claim that Zynga Poker was the highest-grossing game on Android and iOS.
The company’s mobile offering was further strengthened by the launch of Zynga Slots, going live on mobile ahead of a desktop launch, expected to take place later this year.
Look out for the print and online launch of Social Casino Intelligence later this week. The first issue will feature a Power 25 ranking of social gaming’s 25 most powerful and influential operators.