GGRAsia – Social games biz SciPlay acquires Finland’s Koukoi Games

Social games biz SciPlay acquires Finland’s Koukoi Games

Jul 08, 2021 Newsdesk iGaming, Latest News, World

SciPlay Corp, a unit of Scientific Games Corp that develops and publishes digital games on mobile and web platforms, has acquired Koukoi Games Oy, a Finland-based developer and operator of casual mobile games.

The consideration in the deal was not disclosed by SciPlay in its Wednesday statement announcing the news of the acquisition.

SciPlay did say: “The transaction closed effective July 2, 2021 and does not materially impact the company’s liquidity position, which is over US$400 million with no debt on the balance sheet.”

Josh Wilson, chief executive of SciPlay, said in comments cited in the release: “The strengths of the Koukoi team mesh perfectly with SciPlay’s strengths and we’re excited to welcome them to our company.”

According to the announcement, Koukoi’s casual mobile games are built on their proprietary technology platform that includes modular game feature components and real-time multiplayer engines that can be used across games.

Koukoi, located in Oulu, Finland, developed the game title “Om Nom Run”, which SciPlay says has been subject to more than 30 million downloads.

“The combination of Koukoi’s technology platform and SciPlay’s data driven ‘engine’ will be the foundation of SciPlay’s drive to further expand in the US$20-billion plus casual gaming genre,” stated SciPlay.

This is SciPlay’s third acquisition. The first, in 2017, was Spice Rack Media Inc, including its popular bingo game “Bingo Showdown”, which was said to have more than tripled SciPlay’s revenue from games.

In 2020, SciPlay – which has a United States listing separate from the Scientific Games parent – acquired games developer Come2Play Ltd. The latter brand’s “Solitaire Pets Adventure” is in a soft-launch phase, stated SciPlay in its Wednesday release.

SciPlay’s social casino games feature slots-style game play and some table games-style product. Its casual games blend slots-style or bingo game play with adventure game features.

In a late-June announcement, Scientific Games said it planned to divest itself of its lottery and sports betting businesses, as part of a company-wide strategic review.

“At the conclusion of this process, the new company will consist of leading gaming, iGaming and SciPlay businesses, all of which have great momentum and will collectively deliver great value,” the parent firm’s chief executive, Barry Cottle, was cited as saying.