Edison, New Jersey-based game Majesco, maker of the popular Zumba Fitness franchise, has acquired social casino game developer Orid Media and online gambling operator Pariplay as part of its new push into the growing online gambling market.
According to worldwide market analysis, in 2012 consumers spent more than $9 billion on apps for their mobile devices, tablets, and computers. According to Apple, more than $6 billion of that was spent on games.
Majesco senior vice president and chief financial officer, Michael Vesey, said of the gaming market:
“The biggest difference with this is a different revenue model. A lot of the games you play online are freemiums. You play some of it for free and people who really enjoy the game spend money within it. In the retail model, a customer spends $30 or $40 one time and then your relationship with them is over until they want a new game.”
Last June, NJ.com reflects in a new report, both Microsoft and Sony announced their foray into the next generation of consoles, joining Nintendo’s WiiU. However, some in the industry argue that consoles have lost their luster among the casual gamer.
This has been the case for Majesco as the revenue generated from games sold on Nintendo’s Wii and Microsoft’s Xbox 360 dropped by $20 million in the second quarter this year, compared to last year.
Vesey hopes that the company’s entry into the online gambling space will present an area of opportunity for them:
“We’re going to register for a license and if someone was licensed in New Jersey and operated a casino, we could provide content services to them. The big players in the casino business and lottery business, you could try to muscle it out with them and take their position. The other way to go about it is that now they’re facing this transition for internet gaming, they need partners with expertise. That’s where we see possibilities.”
According to the head of TechSavvy Global, a video game consulting firm, Scott Steinberg does see possibilities and areas of opportunity for Majesco. Steinberg says that the average amount of revenue generated per user is many times that of someone who just buys a game. The size of the investment for Majesco in this venture is only a fraction of what it would cost to develop another console game.
Join the Conversation