SciPlay, the social gaming division of Scientific Games, has expanded into the casual games sector through the acquisition of mobile developer Come2Play.Headquartered in Tel Aviv and founded in 2007 by Alon Barzilay, Come2Play offers a range of card titles such as Solitaire Pets Adventure and Backgammon Live among its games.
The terms of the deal have not been disclosed, though SciPlay noted that the transaction closed yesterday (22 June), and that the fee paid will not materially affect its liquidity position.
Under SciPlay’s leadership, the studio will now work on developing new casual games for the business.
SciPlay’s most recent acquisition came in 2017 when it took ownership of Bingo Showdown developer SpiceRack. The deal came before SciPlay was spun off from Scientific Games last year.
“Adding a new genre of evergreen casual games and an incredibly talented team to our portfolio immediately expands our market beyond social casino apps, and enables us to leverage our unique technology and strategies to drive player engagement and grow revenue,” SciPlay chief executive Josh Wilson explained.
“We believe that with our support and expertise in user acquisition, analytics and live ops, we will be able to drive new growth behind the Come2Play titles.”
Come2Play chief executive Barzilay added: “Our studio was founded on our passion to make games that really connect with our players, and we are thrilled to be joining SciPlay to take our games to the next level.
“By leveraging the expertise and support from the wider SciPlay team, we will amplify the reach of our games, including our ground-breaking Solitaire game, Solitaire Pets Adventure.”
The deal comes amid growing interest in casual games from studios traditionally focused on other social genres. Zynga acquired Turkish casual gaming specialist Peak Games in a $1.8bn deal earlier this month, while DoubleDown Interactive announced that same month that a key motivation behind a US initial public offering was to fund the business’ expansion into the genre.
