Gaming device maker American Gaming Systems (AGS) has acquired social gaming developer RocketPlay.
Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but AGS CEO David Lopez called the acquisition “a huge win for us.” RocketPlay, which has offices in San Francisco and Tel Aviv, are the folks behind Lucky Play Casino, and Lopez said the acquisition “enables AGS to enter this fast-growing market segment.”
AGS primarily supplies its products to US tribal casinos and recently made waves via its $461m purchase of Amaya Gaming’s Cadillac Jack gaming device operation. Lopez said adding a social gaming asset was part of AGS’ strategy to “amass compelling content and technologies that we can leverage across various platforms.”
RocketPlay CEO Mani Honigstein said the addition of AGS content would “significantly enhance our games. We’re already working on integrating select content, and are extremely excited about the opportunity to join the AGS team.”
There’s no question that social gaming – particularly social casino gaming – can be a lucrative revenue stream for those developers lucky enough to have a hit title, although a few select providers dominate the current market, with hordes of smaller developers fighting over the scraps.
Still, better a small piece than no piece of an ever larger pie. Two different research reports recently attempted to quantify social gaming’s market potential, with Research Beam projecting the market will be worth $18b by 2020 on a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.25%. Market Research International believes the social gaming market will enjoy CAGR of 19.63% between 2014-2019.
