Zynga to license brands to lottery games
Exclusive deal will see the likes of FarmVille and Zynga Slingo brands on lottery games.
Scientific Games subsidiary MDI Entertainment has signed a multi-year agreement with Zynga which will see the lottery game supplier license several of the social giant’s brands to lottery operators.
The exclusive agreement provides MDI the global rights to provide lotteries with the ability to feature FarmVille, CityVille, Zynga Poker, Zynga Bingo, Zynga Slingo, Words with Friends and Draw Something in their instant win and virtual games.
Furthermore, MDI Entertainment’s lottery clients will have access to Zynga-branded ‘second chance’ interactive games and virtual prizes which players can redeem and use on Zynga’s online games.
Zynga Slingo itself represented the company’s first licensed partnership when an agreement was signed in February this year, going live on Facebook in the same month.
The deal is the latest development in Zynga’s efforts to diversify its revenues streams away from purely social gaming, and complements MDI’s existing licensing deals with US sports bodies NBA and MLS.
Last month Zynga appointed 888’s former senior vice president of corporate and regulated markets Maytal Ginsburg Olsha to head up its move into real-money gambling, after CEO Mark Pincus confirmed in July that the company was planning to make its first foray into real-money gambling in 2013, subject to licensing approval.