Recently the controlling interest in Playtika Ltd., the Israeli social
and casual game development company behind the Facebook games Slotomania and
Farkle Pro, has reportedly been acquired by Caesars Entertainment
Corporation for approximately $90 million USD.
Playtika was founded in
late 2010 and since then has garnered around 9 million users.
Playtika's games, Slotomania and Farkle Pro, are modeled after a slot
machine and ancient dice game, respectively. However, unlike Caesars
Entertainment's real life casino games, Slotomania and Farkle Pro are free
to play with a "virtual currency" transaction option.
Caesars Entertainment has stated that "[w]e have made a strategic
investment in Playtika and look forward to working with their strong,
experienced management team in developing free-to-play social games globally."
From this, it would seem that Caesars Entertainment wants to build an online brand and obtain expertise in managing an online gaming property, possibly with an eye to creating synergy between its offline properties and its new online brand. Additionally, this would likely serve Caesars Entertainment well if any of the current Federal or State-specific proposals to legalize online gambling are successful.
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