Mahjongg Dimensions
Arkadium's Facebook game monetized by GSN.
WALTHAM, MA and SEATTLE – July 20, 2010 – Today at Casual Connect Seattle 2010, GSN (Game Show Network) and Arkadium, a premier game solutions developer for the casual, social and advergaming markets, announced that the two companies have partnered to launch a new monetization option for Arkadium’s Mahjongg Dimensions Facebook application. The skill-based version of the game, developed by GSN, will soon be available in the existing Facebook application, and will be added to both GSN Cash Games and the WorldWinner partner network.
GSN, which has long offered players a destination for tournament-based online games, is leading innovation to bring the cash games platform to Facebook and enable players to withdraw real winnings. With over 1 million monthly active users* on Facebook, the Mahjongg Dimensions application (co-developed by MobScience and Arkadium) has already rivaled the popularity of the original online version. GSN’s new cash gaming adaptation of the game will create a new level of competition for Facebook players. Users will be able to connect to their friends online and build communities of competition as they challenge one another for cash and prizes.
“This announcement further illustrates Arkadium’s continued expansion of monetization features for the company’s growing portfolio of games,” said Kenny Rosenblatt, CEO of Arkadium. “We’ve already experienced much success with in-game micro transactions and cross platform game sales and with the help of GSN, we’re excited to bring an added incentive for friendly competition across social platforms.”
“Many companies have had great success driving traffic to their Facebook games, but difficulty monetizing that traffic is still very much a moving target,” said Mark Cullinane, SVP, Business Development and Digital Distribution of GSN Digital. “For this reason, GSN is bringing its highly successful monetization platform to our partners on Facebook. With Arkadium’s Mahjongg Dimensions application, we plan to deliver a fun, high quality casual game, where users can up the stakes of competitions by challenging their friends for cash prizes.”
GSN’s leading monetization platform has long powered tournaments in online communities with partners such as MSN, AOL and Pogo. Now, as the casual games industry shifts accessibility to where the players are there is a significant surge of traffic to their games on Facebook. Just as with traditional destination site partners, publishers can also generate revenue from their engaged Facebook audience with GSN.
Mahjongg Dimensions is available at http://apps.facebook.com/mahjongg-dimensions/. Fans can follow GSN Digital on Twitter ( http://twitter.com/GSNOodles) or friend GSN on Facebook ( www.facebook.com/GSNOodles). GSN’s WorldWinner can be found on Twitter ( https://twitter.com/WORLDWINNERcom), Facebook
( http://www.facebook.com/WorldWinner) and YouTube ( http://www.youtube.com/user/WORLDWINNERdotCOM).
*MAUs as of July 20th, 2010
About GSN
GSN is a multimedia entertainment company that offers original and classic game programming and competition entertainment via its 73-million subscriber television network and online game sites. GSN’s cross-platform content gives viewers and participants the opportunity to win cash and prizes, whether through GSN’s popular TV game shows, GSN.com’s free casual games or its WorldWinner competitive cash tournaments. GSN is distributed throughout the U.S., Caribbean and Canada by all major cable operators, satellite providers and telcos. GSN and its subsidiary, WorldWinner.com, Inc., are owned by DIRECTV and Sony Pictures Entertainment. For further information, visit GSN’s press website at corp.gsn.com.
About Arkadium
Arkadium is a premier game solutions developer for the casual , social and advergaming markets. The company’s growing archive of Flash-based and custom game solutions currently reach millions of people through some of the most popular online destinations and corporate branded sites on the Internet. Their recent hit Facebook games include Mahjongg Dimensions, Solitaire Heaven and Writer’s Blox. For more information visit: http://www.arkadium.com.
Media Contacts:
Cindy Johnson
GSN Digital
781.250.8797
cjohnson@gsn.com
Chantal LeBoulch
Greenough Communications
617.275.6527
cleboulch@greenoughcom.com
Michael Volpatt
Arkadium
415-994-8864
Michael@larkinvolpatt.com