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Zynga should buy its way into real-money
> Poll results > by eGaming Review
3.8%
Percentage of EU’s total gambling spend accounted for by Belgium, Bulgaria and Greece Read this month’s cover story on p30
News that social gaming operator Zynga had made a verbal offer to acquire bwin.party-owned poker network Ongame last month sent ripples through the industry. Many had accepted that Zynga’s move into real-money was inevitable; in March, founder and CEO Mark Pincus described realmoney gambling as “the perfect ?t with virtual goods and social games”. But it has long been unclear as to what strategy it would take to bridge the two sectors. Last year Zynga was the ?rst to show an interest in acquiring social casino operator Double Down with the interest in a poker network such as Ongame highlighting its intentions to venture into regulated markets and away from its reliance on Facebook. Sources close to the matter last month con?rmed to eGaming Review that Zynga is at the front of a sixcompany queue to buy Ongame, and representatives from the Californiabased ?rm had ?own into Stockholm to discuss a potential deal. But is this kind of acquisition the right path for Zynga? The majority of eGR readers believed so, with 53% recently suggesting it should buy or partner with an online operator. Almost a third (28%) said Zynga should launch a real-money product, or products, on its own, while 14% said it should buy or partner with a land-based operator. The latter was rumoured earlier this year when talks between Zynga and Las Vegas-based Wynn resorts were widely reported. For now it seems Zynga will continue to pursue its web and mobile virtual currency strategy rather than partnering with a land-based casino; however, the urge to break into real-money gambling appears to be edging closer by the day.
10
Number of seconds you have to act on a hand in bet365’s new Sprint poker product See how it rated on p12
260,000
Number of active players on Ongame in 2005 – this has since been reduced to 4,000 (peak number of cash game players) in 2012
Turn to p38 for this month’s CEO interview with Patrik Selin
“We know on top of [the losses] you will lose the liquidity from bwin – my guess is that’s around 50%. Now you have a network with half the liquidity, and a high cost-base”
Patrik Selin, now former CEO of Bodog Europe, on previous employers Ongame
see interview p38
75%
Percentage of EU’s total gambling spend accounted for by the "Big five” (Italy, UK, Germany, France, Spain) Member States Turn to p20 for more H2 data
TOP PERFORMERS
FAMILY TREE
In May this year, PERFORM Group, which commercialises multimedia sports content across internet-enabled digital platforms, including on a number of large sports betting sites such as bet365, announced the proposed acquisition of sports data provider RunningBall for a maximum consideration of €120m. PERFORM has quite literally been one of the best performing gamingrelated shares on the Lon don stock exchange since it floated in April last year seeing its share price rise 50% in just over 12 months.
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