Gaming equipment and content supplier Aristocrat Leisure Ltd says it is restructuring its social casino unit Big Fish Games, with the halt of new game development.
“Having thoroughly assessed all options to maximise shareholder value”, the company said it would concentrate “solely” on maintaining its “continued, efficient and profitable operation” of existing gaming titles, “with no new game development and significantly reduced investment in the Big Fish portfolio,” according to a filing on Thursday to the Australian Securities Exchange.
In the same filing, Aristocrat confirmed it had completed the sale of its social gaming subsidiary Plarium Global Ltd to Modern Times Group in a deal first announced in November 2024. The transaction is anticipated to yield a gain on sale in the 2025 financial year, stated Aristocrat.
The disposal of Plarium followed a strategic review of the firm’s casual and mid-core gaming assets, initiated in May 2024, according to the firm.
The proceeds from the sale will be utilised “in line with Aristocrat’s long-term growth strategy,” with further details on capital management set to be disclosed at the company’s annual general meeting on February 20, said the company.
In line with the changes, Aristocrat said it would retire the Pixel United reporting segment and the associated corporate team structure.
From the company’s first-half results reporting, covering the six months to March 31, 2025, Product Madness will replace the Pixel United reporting segment. It will incorporate both Product Madness – Aristocrat’s core social slots business – and Big Fish.
Superna Kalle, Aristocrat’s chief strategy officer, will assume executive leadership of the Product Madness segment, in addition to her current responsibilities for strategy and corporate development, as well as overseeing enterprise capabilities, such as transformation and data.
Aristocrat’s chief executive officer and managing director, Trevor Croker, was quoted in prepared remarks as saying: “With the completion of the strategic review of our casual and mid-core gaming assets, Aristocrat is well placed to accelerate our refreshed growth strategy.”
He added: “We are deepening management focus and targeting investment behind our core strengths in regulated gaming and gaming-themed content, to unlock new and adjacent opportunities across global markets.”
Mr Croker stated: “The outcomes of the review reflect Aristocrat’s ongoing focus on driving shareholder value, with the benefit of clear choices and a commitment to growth.”
Following Plarium’s sale, Aristocrat will update its full-year 2025 financial modelling, which was initially disclosed in November 2024. An updated outlook will be provided as part of the CEO’s business update and outlook comments on February 20’s upcoming annual general meeting.
In November last year, the Australia-listed slot machine maker reported revenue of just over AUD6.60 billion for its financial year to September 30, up 4.9 percent from the prior-year period.
