Rational Group, an Amaya Gaming subsidiary and managing company of the PokerStars and Full Tilt online gambling brands, has appointed former Zynga executive Lloyd Melnick as director of social gaming.
Melnick will be tasked with building and leading social casino and free-to-play initiatives, with a focus on the PokerStars and Full Tilt brands.
Melnick will join Rational Group from Zynga, where he most recently served as a senior director of the social gaming firm’s ‘Zynga Social Casino’ operation.
Having first joined the company in June 2013, he also held the role of senior director of Zynga’s ‘Hit It Rich! Casino Slots’.
Prior to his time with Zynga, Melnick held various senior roles with Spooky Cool Labs, FineOneNine Games and the Walt Disney Company.
“The opportunity was irresistible because of Rational’s focus on the player. It has grown to be the leading real-money gaming poker product because of a laser focus on making their players happy,” Melnick said according to the RecentPoker.com website.
“This customer-centric philosophy has not yet been tried in the social space and I find it incredibly compelling.”
The appointment of Melnick comes after Rational Group this week confirmed a number of other senior management changes.
Israel Rosenthal has been named as Rational’s new chief operating officer, while Gino Appiotti will take on the role of chief marketing officer.
The changes were undertaken following a management review of the operation.
Meanwhile, Rational Group has struck a multi-year deal for table games supplier Games Marketing to supply content to PokerStars and Full Tilt.
Under the deal, the two brands will have access to various titles from Games Marketing, beginning with the roll-out of ‘Double Ball Roulette’ and ‘Heads-Up Hold’em’.
Sam Hobcraft, director of casino for PokerStars and Full Tilt, said: “Games Marketing has a proven track record of providing great table games and we’re very pleased to have them on board.
“We want to stand out from the crowd and will do so by offering strong content with fresh ideas that establish points of difference between us and our competitors, as well as entertaining our players.”
source : www.igamingbusiness.com
