Big Fish Games revenues reach $196m in H1
Social casino developer sees bookings from free-to-play games increase a massive 381% YoY to $63.5m
Churchill Downsâ $885m acquisition of Big Fish Games continues to pay dividends after the social casino developer generated revenues of $196.4m and EBITDA of $48.3m in the first half of the year. [private]
Big Fish saw bookings increase 40% year on year to $217.5m, driven by a 381% boost in free-to-play bookings which generated $63.5m following the launch of Gummy Drop in Q3.
Social casino bookings were up almost 50% to $97.6m, and offset a 25% decline in premium paid games to $56.5m attributed to the industry-wide shift from paid PC games to free to play mobile games.
âBig Fish Games was our largest growth catalyst for the quarter and further validates our strategy to enter the online and mobile games segment,â Bill Carstanjen, Churchill Downs CEO, said.
Churchill Downs also reported revenues from its TwinSpires.com real-money wagering site had increased 3% YoY in H1 to $106m, with EBITDA up 16% to $28m.
The Kentucky-based operator generated total revenues of $660.1m during the six-month period, with interactive revenues from Big Fish and Twin Spires accounting for 45% of the total.
And Churchill Downs looks set to grow its online footprint after signing a deal with the Oceans 11 Casino and the Crystal Casino in California to offer online poker to players in the state if and when legislation gets across the line.