More light has been shed on the potential sale of the social gaming division of UK-listed online gambling operator Bwin.party digital entertainment. Two days before the new year, Bwin.party announced it was having “active discussions regarding the sale” of its Win social gaming divison. On Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported that the prospective buyer was Rising Tide Games, a new social gaming startup co-founded by former 888 Holdings and Zynga exec Maytal Olsha.
The WSJ quoted two sources saying the deal to sell Win to the New York-based Rising Tide isn’t finalized and may not come to fruition. But the current terms would see Bwin.party transfer Win to Rising Tide in exchange for an undetermined ownership stake in Rising Tide.
Rising Tide was formed last year following Olsha’s departure from Zynga in September. Olsha had been lured to Zynga from 888 Holdings in order to handle Zynga’s real-money online gambling ambitions. But Zynga’s new CEO Don Mattrick didn’t see a future for Zynga beyond social games, leading Olsha to strike out on her own. Rising Tide has yet to release its first product but Olsha has previously stated that she hoped to see the first product roll off the assembly line in Q1 2015.
Win began life with great fanfare in 2012 following Bwin.party’s acquisition of Ukrainian developers Orneon and Velasco Services. Bwin.party is believed to have invested over €40m in building up Win but its products have yet to catch fire in the social gaming world. The company has reportedly laid off some of Win’s Tel Aviv-based staff and Bwin.party says it expects to book a €7m loss on its social gaming activities when 2014’s full-year earnings report is released. Bwin.party shares closed Friday’s trading down over 4% to 112.9p.
