Two New Games For Playsino
December 23,2012 : PLAYSINO LAUNCHES SOCIAL GAMING POKER PRODUCT
Poker and a Middle Eastern card game feature in two new games from social gaming developer
California and Ukraine-based social gaming developer Playsino has launched two games under the Playsino Publishing Network, featuring poker and a Middle Eastern card game in its initial offerings.
Five-O Poker, a particularly creative take on poker, and Yalla Tarneeb, a popular Middle Eastern card game were developed in collaboration with Chiki Gaming out of Israel and Yallah Games, a company founded and run by entrepreneur, game and Internet industry expert, HRH Prince Fahad bin Faisal Al-Saud.
A Playsino company spokesman said that Five-O Poker is unique in that five poker hands are played simultaneously between two players, adding an extra, intriguing level of tactical thinking to an already strategic classic.
Yalla Tarneeb, a popular game throughout Arab countries, is a bid, trick and trump-based game.
"We're elated to be working with these two great companies and proud to have been chosen to publish their top games," said Doug Dyer, Playsino's vice president of product and publishing.
"These two games are the perfect kick-off for our publishing network and will do wonderfully as they benefit from, and add to, the liquidity between each other and amongst Playsino's current games."
Playsino's Publishing Network's program is designed to bring new and unique social casino products into the Playsino gaming ecosystem. The company's goal is to market and support games that are not run-of-the-mill casino fare as exemplified by both Five-O Poker and Yalla Tarneeb.
"The first few steps in establishing a solid social presence for Yallah Games includes our partnership with Playsino," said HRH Prince Fahad bin Faisal Al-Saud. "We offer a new and innovative gaming platform that is working with and targeting the growing online population in the Middle East."
Other games in the Playsino Publishing Network include Solitaire and Prizes, Playsino Poker and Bingo World, which was recently launched on iPad.
According to a recent Morgan Stanley report, "Social Gambling: Click Here to Play," social casino gaming is expected to grow from $1.7 billion today to $2.5 billion in annual revenues by 2015 — and could even go as high as $7 billion — helping to drive growth for real money gambling in addition to the virtual currency world.
Unlike most social games, social casino games have a high customer retention rate, according to Morgan Stanley's blue paper.
Earlier this year , Playsino secured $1.5 million in venture capital from a number of investors, and went on to acquire Popover Games Inc. and Foghorn Games in October 2012.
Financial details of the transaction weren't disclosed at the time, but the deal included cross-platform Popover Poker, a number of other social casino games and most of Popover's employees. Foghorn is a joint developer of Popover's social casino game Bingo Around the World.
