SciPlay Corp., the social games unit of supplier Scientific Games Corp., announced that it has acquired Kuokoi Games, a Finland-based developer and operator of casual mobile games. The Kuokoi team will take over the organic build of a new casual game concept, a key step in SciPlay’s expansion in the casual genre and revenue diversification strategy to drive long-term growth and shareholder value.
Kuokoi, located in Oulu, Finland, brings an experienced and talented team that developed the hit title Om Nom Run, which has been downloaded over 30 million times. Kuroki’s casual mobile games are built on their proprietary technology platform that includes modular game feature components and real-time multi-player engines that can be used across games.
The combination of Kuroki’s technology platform and SciPlay’s data-driven engine will be the foundation of SciPlay’s drive to further expand in the $20 billion-plus casual gaming genre, according to the company.
“The strengths of the Kuokoi team mesh perfectly with SciPlay’s strengths, and we’re excited to welcome them to our company,” said Josh Wilson, chief executive officer of SciPlay. “This is another step in the evolution of SciPlay as we continue to invest in future growth opportunities and build out our development pipeline. Together, we can build impactful evergreen games in the casual genre, furthering our product and revenue diversification strategy.”
This is SciPlay’s third acquisition. The company acquired Spice Rack and its popular bingo game Bingo Showdown in 2017, more than tripling the games revenue. In addition, the company acquired Come2Play in 2020, which currently is in soft launch with Solitaire Pets Adventure. SciPlay will utilize the same model to bring Kuokoi into its portfolio.
“Our studio was founded on our passion to make casual mash-up games that blend successful attributes of multiple genres, appealing to broad audiences through engaging game play and deep meta storylines,” said Antti Kananen, chief executive officer of Kuokoi. “We are thrilled to be joining SciPlay to take our games to the next level by taking advantage of their product and analytical rigor, user acquisition expertise and market scale.”
The Kuokoi Finland office joins existing SciPlay offices including Cedar Falls, Iowa, Austin, Texas, Tel Aviv, Israel, and Kiev, Ukraine.
The transaction closed effective July 2, 2021 and does not materially impact the company’s liquidity position, which is over $400 million with no debt on the balance sheet. Financial details of the transaction are not being disclosed.
