RocketFrog brings in Myspace founder for social casino launch
Social casino founded by former Excapsa tech chief and clubWPT platform developer to build industry profile using daily, sponsored tournaments.
RocketFrog, a new social casino founded by veterans of UltimateBet and the Ultimate Blackjack Tour, has gone live on Facebook, with Myspace co-founder Tom Anderson as a special advisor to the brand, aiming to build a presence in the market ahead of potential US egaming legislation.
The newly launched site offers slots, roulette, blackjack and several variants of poker, aiming to drive revenues through brand engagement rather than virtual currency transactions in order to build its profile.
The company was founded by CEO Brett Calapp, CMO Matt Osborn and CTO Uri Kozai in 2010. Calapp was previously CEO and co-founder of Centaurus Games, a subscription-based gaming site that was acquired by PartyGaming in 2010. Party subsequently launched its subscription-based clubWPT.com poker site on the platform.
Kozai was head of technology for Excapsa software at the time of its flotation and during the period that it owned UltimateBet, the poker site whose live events were connected to the Ultimate Blackjack Tour, of which Calapp was previously president and CIO.
It has also hired the services of Myspace co-founder Tom Anderson as a special advisor to the board, and discussing the site’s potential with TechCrunch Anderson said that few operators have “really pushed incentive-based gaming on the Facebook platform.
“RocketFrog is also giving advertisers what they always want but can’t seem to get “ an immersive and deep experience that actually features their brand “ banners alone aren’t enough,” Anderson explained.
TechCrunch reports that RocketFrog will run daily tournaments in different products, each backed by a different sponsor, with the chance to win goods supplied by the advertisers, who will be allowed to take over the branding of the site for a day “ a strategy used by Gamesys to acquire new customers on the MSN homepage and eBay in the past.
This will allow RocketFrog to bypass the problem of low player volume, as it will be able to run competitions with as low as 80 players.