2. RAF KEUSTERMANS
Co-Founder, CEO Plumbee
Board Director International Social Games Association
Board Director Bonza Gaming (JV Unibet/Plumbee)
Independent Social Gaming Consultant 2010-2011
Global Marketing Director Playfish (EA) 2009-2010
Marketing Director EMEA Pogo.com (EA) 2008-2009
Head of Marketing Western Europe Unibet.com 2005-2008
Strategic Planner at BBDO, Grey and Publicis 1998-2005
www.plumbee.com
raf@plumbee.com
@raf_keustermans
3. • °July 2011, London – founded by 3 ex EA/Playfish execs.
• 55+ staff today
• Top-10 social casino company in revenue and audience
• RMG JV with Unibet – Bonza Gaming (on Fb and Mobile)
• Raised $16.8M - last round ($14M) Dec-13 led by Endemol
• Key products (free-to-play):
– Mirrorball Slots (Fb and mobile)
– Mirrorball Bingo, soft-launched on Fb April-14, includes Endemol
brands (Deal or No Deal bingo room)
4. Social Casino Status 2014
• Industry growing up fast, becoming mature
– $2B-$2.5B estimated revenue in 2013
– 60% market share owned by Top-5 (Caesars, IGT, Zynga,
GSN, Big Fish)
• Caesars Interactive social games revenue will hit $500M in 2014!
– On-going consolidation, M&A
– Facebook canvas hit plateau, huge growth mobile/tablets
– Production and marketing budgets going up
• $2M+ production budgets, $10M+ marketing budgets
• No longer ‘indie’ territory
– Tough environment for newcomers…
5. Social Casino M&A
2009: Gamesys (JackpotJoy) ‘acq-hired’ IWI (undisc)
2010: 888.com buys Mytopia for $48M
2010: Fremantle buys Ludia (undisc)
2011: Caesars buys Playtika (Slotomania) for $100M+
2012: IGT buys Double Down Interactive for $500M
2012: RockYou buys Ryzing (bingo, undisc)
2012: Aristocrat buys Product Madness (undisc)
2012: Novomatics buys Cervo Media (undisc)
2012: WMS buys Phantom EFX for $20M
2013: Caesars buys Buffalo Studios for $90M
2013: Caesars buys EA Montréal studio (WSOP, undisc)
2014: Caesars buys Pacific Interactive (House of Fun) for $96M
2014: GSN buys Bash Gaming (Bingo Bash) for $160M
2014: Bally buys DragonPlay for $100M
$1.2B+ in the last 4 years
6. M&A drivers
2 different corporate strategies
• Social casino as marketing tool for RMG business
– Brand awareness, customer acquisition
• Use a (branded) social casino game as a brand awareness driver, expand in new
markets, reach new audiences.
• Cheeky Bingo, Pokerstars Play
– Customer loyalty, CRM
• Use a social casino game to (re)connect with existing casino customers. Link with
loyalty system, drive footfall to the casino/resort.
• E.g. MGM with MyVegas
• Social casino as stand-alone growth engine, revenue driver
– Standalone business, social casino as a new division, a revenue
generator, new growth area.
– Not integrated with RMG business at all.
– Caesars, IGT, WMS strategy
7. The March To Mobile
• No more audience growth on web.
• Mobile > Web audience since mid-13.
8. Revenue follows audience
• Facebook (canvas) game revenue 2013: $4B
– Expected to grow to $5B in 2014
– Growth driven by increased monetization
• Mobile game revenue 2013 (all platforms): $15B+
– Expected to grow to $20B+ in 2014
– Growth driven by audience growth and improved
monetization, retention
9. The advent of the Mega Mobile Game
• $1B+ annual revenue on Mobile/Tablets (all platforms - iOS, Android, Amazon,
Microsoft)
– Puzzles & Dragons (GungHo) - $6-7M/day, mostly Asia
– Candy Crush (King) - $4M/day
– Clash of Clans (Supercell) - $4M/day
• $100M+ annual revenue on Mobile/Tablets
– Game of War (MachineZone) - $2M/day
– Hay Day (Supercell) - $1.5M/day
– Farm Heroes Saga (King) - $1M/day
– Boom Beach (Supercell) - $800K/day
– Big Fish Casino (Big Fish Games) - $300K/day
• For comparison: biggest Facebook (canvas) games
– DoubleDown Casino (IGT) - $500K/day
– Zynga Poker (Zynga) - $400K/day
– FarmVille 2 (Zynga) - $350K/day
– Slotomania (Caesars Interactive/Playtika) - $250K/day
10. RMG vs Social Casino
• Very different products, very different audiences!
– Gambling thrill vs me-time/entertainment
– Social players optimize their gameplay for time (not cash)
– Key driver for spending real money = buy more time in the
game
• Will social casino die when US allows RMG? Not likely.
– Lots of players from UK, Italy, Sweden, … play social casino.
– No drop in social players from Nevada, New Jersey since
markets opened.
12. RMG on Facebook
• UK only so far.
• 1st app launched Aug-12: Gamesys (Slots Friendzy,
later Bingo Friendzy was added)
• After that:
– Dec-12: 888 with Magic888 (casino) and Bingo Appy
– Feb-13: Bonza Gaming with Bonza Slots
– July-13: PaddyPower social RMG betting app soft-launched
(full commercial launch May-14)
– Jan-14: Zynga Poker RMG soft-launch (still in Beta)
13. Some negative press initially (Daily Mail) in 2012…
But once it became clear that Facebook RMG apps where
not targeting or attracting under-age players, and where
ran by responsible, professional operators, tabloids calmed
down.
14. • Real-money social gaming startup, °Sept 2012
• 50/50 joint-venture Plumbee and Unibet
– Investment $7M to date
• UK-only for now, AGCC-licensed.
• Stand-alone business with its own offices in London and
Guernsey (Channel Islands)
• Team of 16 today: engineers, product, marketing, finance,
analytics, customer support…
15. • Products:
– Bonza Slots launched February 2013 on Facebook (canvas) - 3rd RMG
app on Facebook, after Gamesys and 888
– Bonza Casino launched Dec-13 on Facebook (canvas) – slots + table
games, more ‘premium’ positioning (vs more playful/casual for Slots)
– Bonza Slots soft-launched on iOS March 2014, launching on Android
soon
– Shared wallet/account between all apps on FB/Mobile
• Since launch: 200K+ app installs, 50K registrations, 20K
fans/likes
• #1 RMG app on Facebook in audience and revenue
19. Key learnings so far
• It’s hard! Not just porting existing product to FB.
– Success comes with months of tinkering, optimizing, A/B testing, …
– ‘Proper product development’ – not cheap + requires top talent
(engineers, UI/UX, product manager, analytics…)
• RMG ecosystem on FB still quite small, some trust/branding issues.
• Users are really ‘a blend’ between social gamers and RMG users,
which needs to be reflected in product, tone of voice, look & feel.
– More casual audience, ‘entertainment-seekers’
– Bonza only got real traction once it introduced ‘fun stuff’ for non-
paying users (Tournaments)
• Retention is stronger compared to ‘portal’ RMG.
– More, better communication channels: real-time notifications, better
targeting (more data)
• Monetization (ARPU and LTV) in line with casino vertical of multi-
product operators.
20. Funnel ‘Traditional online RMG’
Views, clicks: no engagement,
no fun (maybe some ‘pointless’
free-play)
Registered users: no
engagement, no fun, some
‘pointless’ free-play. Some up-
sell.
Paying users: full access to all
products, games
Don’t care
Don’t care/upsell
$$!
21. Funnel Social Casino
Views, clicks: full access to
product, try to engage from 1st
minute (e.g. tutorial) + drivers of
viral growth.
Engaged users: full access to
product, lots of free content and
features + viral growth.
Paying users: full access to all
products, games + extra
boosters/content/features,
more time/currency
Happy players + viral
growth!
Happy players + viral!
$$!
22. Funnel Social RMG
Views, clicks: offer some fun,
some access to product, games:
e.g. free-play (trial) + specific
features/content for free users
(Free Tournaments!)
Key driver for viral/organic
growth!
Registered users: as above + up-
sell to real-money product + key
driver for viral/organic growth!
Paying users: full access to all
products, games
Showcase fun, games +
viral growth
Happy players + upsell
+ viral growth
$$!
23.
24. Bonza Bonus Wheel
24
• Adds value to each
Tournament play
• Themes to go with
each wheel
