RealNetworks’ GameHouse division continued making a splash in the social gaming arena today, announcing the acquisition of social casino company Slingo Inc. for $15.6 million.
Slingo is an immensely popular online game with billions of plays over its 17-year-old history. Interestingly enough, Slingo set up a partnership with Zynga in March 2012, which helped bring Slingo to Facebook. But just last week, Zynga Slingo announced it was shutting down on August 27. That game was amassing 4.5 million plays each month on Facebook.
This deal comes on the same day GameHouse debuted what it calls the “first-ever” real-money sweepstakes in a social casino game called The Golden Dreams Sweepstakes. Coincidentally, Slingo has put on several real-money sweepstakes in the past.
It’s worth noting how RealNetworks is making a serious play into the social casino space while Zynga, a kingpin in this space for years, continues to struggle and said last week that it is no longer pursuing online gambling in the U.S.
Previously on GeekWire: JawFish games going all-in with real-time, fast-paced poker tournament app … The largest social poker tournament is happening online and in a casino simultaneously
