International Gaming Technology (IGT) is doubling down on big announcements today.
In separate press releases the company announced massive revenue gains spurred by the success of the Double Down Casino; and the formation of the world’s first cross-platform poker tournament.
DoubleDown Casino Drives Revenue Gains
DoubleDown Casino is currently Facebook’s highest earning social casino game and was a major force behind IGT’s 9% revenue gain over last year’s earnings.
Over the course of the last fiscal quarter, DoubleDown spearheaded a whopping 105% increase in social revenue for the company. Last year at this time the company had only pulled in around $30 million from social games. For 2013, that number is more like $61.4 million.
Along with increased revenues, DoubleDown is also seeing a steadily growing number of visitors. As of this writing they’re clocking in around 1.69 million daily active users who generate an average of $.40 revenue per user/per day.
All that activity is enough to push Zynga Poker out of the top earning spot for Facebook-based social casinos.
In an interview with EGR Magazine, IGT CEO Patti Hart spelled out the scale of DoubleDown’s growth:
We are generating monetisation rates at DoubleDown that, frankly, are the envy of the industry, nearly double that of our nearest competitor.
IGT’s other interactive revenues were up 26% over the previous year.
Cross-Platform Poker Tournament
The other big story out of IGT this week was the announcement of the Game King Championship Tournament, the first-ever cross-platform poker tournament. Players can enter the tournament for free and participate from a PC, mobile device and, if they’re winning, in person at the Casino del Sol in Tuscon, Arizona.
Bringing the excitement of tournament-play poker via a social gaming app is a pretty forward thinking strategy and is definitely on the cutting edge of casino marketing. As IGT Interactive Group Executive Vice President, Robert Melendes said:
he Game King Video Poker Championship done in partnership with Casino Del Sol is a perfect example of how the convergence of mobile and social gaming impacts the casino gaming industry.
More than 110,000 players have already participated and qualifiers are ongoing until July, 29.
Getting in on the Action
CAP readers who want to get in on DoubleDown’s explosive growth can register for their affiliate program through the CAP Network.
Where do you think the success of the Double Down Social Casino is heading? Does it have the potential to be a force in international real-money gambling? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.