Slots on Facebook, new entry: Mirrorball Slots, a Plumbee-Quickspin partnership

BosjeR

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London social game studio Plumbee comes out of stealth, launches Mirrorball Slots on Facebook and announces $2.8M funding from Idinvest Partners.

London, UK – 22 March 2012 - Plumbee, a specialist social casino game studio founded by former EA Playfish execs, launched its first game on Facebook today. Mirrorball Slots is a AAA social casino game with truly global appeal and a strong emphasis on high production values and rich, story-led gameplay.

Winning team
The Plumbee founders all worked together at EA Playfish: CEO Raf Keustermans served as Global Marketing Director, COO Gerald Tan was a Producer and CTO Jodi Moran headed up the tech team as Senior Director of Technology.
Plumbee currently has an international team of 20 in its East London office, among them engineers, artists, community managers and marketers with industry expertise from companies like EA Playfish, Pogo.com, Nokia, Betfair, Bodog, Codemasters and Unibet. The company is also in the process of building an in-house mobile development team. Additionally, the ambitious startup has assembled an Advisory Board with some big names from the worlds of social gaming and online gambling: two former Playfish studio GMs: John Earner and Dan Fiden and former online gambling execs Ben Fried and Anton Bell (partners at gambling consulting firm Gaming Edge Associates and former Betfair execs).
Plumbee's CEO Raf Keustermans said: “I am thrilled to be working with a myriad of talented and passionate experts. With a world class team and the backing of numerous solid partners, I am convinced that Plumbee is in a great position to gun for a leadership position in the social casino arena.”

$2.8M funding
Plumbee raised $2.8M from Paris-based Idinvest Partners. Guillaume Lautour, Partner at Idinvest: "We are strong believers in social games and specifically the remarkable growth in the social casino vertical has caught our attention. We're very excited to back the Plumbee team, with its extensive experience and proven track record in both social games and online gambling."

Quickspin AB partnership
Plumbee signed a long-term strategic partnership with Swedish specialist casino games developer Quickspin AB from Stockholm. Quickspin, founded by former veterans from NetEnt and Unibet will deliver content and consultancy to Plumbee.
Daniel Lindberg, CEO Quickspin: “We're incredibly excited about our partnership with Plumbee and the opportunity to deliver world-class video slots to a new Facebook audience. We strongly believe that combining best of breed casino and best of breed social will create a fun and compelling experience for Facebook players.”

Mirrorball Slots
Plumbee’s first game is Mirrorball Slots, which is currently in open Beta on Facebook. For launch, Mirrorball Slots features three unique new slot games, all with fairytale themes: Rapunzel's Tower, Goldilocks and the Wild Bears and The Magic Mirror. More slots will be added soon, with Big Bad Wolf next in line, and additional themes will be introduced in the future. Additional social features, including Medals, Social Currency and Progressive Jackpots will be added in the coming days and weeks. More info:
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For more information on Quickspin AB, see: www.quickspin.com
Mirrorball is a registered trademark of Plumbee Ltd. Facebook is a registered trademark of Facebook, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
 
Hi guys,

I've been a forum member for quite a while, have not been very active lately on the boards though. I'm personally involved with both Quickspin and Plumbee, and since I've seen many interesting discussions on this forum regarding casino and slots specifically, I'm very interested to hear if any of you have ever played any Facebook slots before and to hear some feedback on the slots that are available so far in the Mirrorball Slots application.

With Quickspin we will be launching these games with online operators later this year, but for now they are only available to play 'for fun' on Facebook.

I don't want to come across as 'spam' though, so please let me know if this is not appropriate to post :)

BR,
Joachim
 
I tried the Goldilocks slots and liked it alot. Wish it was available on 'real' play.

I don't usually play slots on FB, mainly because I like real money play and I just can't wrap my head around playing for play money. Besides, I can play casino slots online in fun mode.

But I did like the game.
 
Thanks anniemac!

I hear what you're saying, I was the same as in that it did not make sense to me to play slots without money. But when playing them more I felt similar emotions regarding 'losing', 'winning' and 'almost winning' as with real money play because you're also dealing with limited funds. Granted the emotions are less since it's not real money, but the basics are still there.

Unfortunately you're not based in Europe, otherwise you'd be able to play the games in a few months with the online operators there :)
 
Nice to have someone from Plumbee involved around the forum BosjeR :thumbsup: I saw you guys mentioned in a PR the other day as it happens.

I'm really interested in this whole social gambling concept and as an affiliate I have had a lot of discussions and read a lot about "social" gambling. But as a (seasoned!) player, playing a slot on Facebook doesn't interest me in the slightest so I've been holding off getting involved. I'm willing to be convnced - hopeful even - but as yet I've seen nothing to convince me why players would play slots for fun or for real on a social network. I can see that slots might attract some players from a curiosity angle or even a casual player but "value players" I'm not sure.

I've talked to a few people involved in these projects within our industry and I've only - so far - met people who think they can make a lot of money from it, never anyone that actually has. So where does a company like Plumbee make it's money? Is it in licensing the games to operators? Is having the game on Facebook just seen effectively as a marketing tool to get players to play it in the real casinos?

Also, the investment in this deal is a decent sum but isn't there a big risk attached to a business that is reliant on a 3rd party platform to a) host the application and b) provide 100% of the traffic? Or put another way, if Facebook closed it's door to Plumbee tomorow, would that significantly impact the model?

It's a very interesting subject despite my reservations which are probably largely borne out of ignorance.

Cheers,

Simmo!
 
I've also tried to get my head around this business model ever since Gigi Levy drew attention to it several years ago at a conference as a (then) developing trend.

Since then it has gathered a huge amount of momentum and expensive practical application, spilling over into the mobile sector as well.

But I still don't get it as a money-making machine and a return on the investment of literally hundreds of millions of dollars that are being thrown at it by major gambling companies.

Even Bwin.Party has said that after some initial scepticism it is now developing its own products for this sector....so clearly they see potential too.

I would appreciate a layman's explanation on how the concept of social networking is turned to commercial advantage beyond simply acquiring players for a traditional internet or land gambling operation.
 
Have you tried playing some Simmo? If you are hopeful to give it a chance, then the best advice I can give is to go out and force yourself to play some for a while, even if it's just 20 minutes per application :)

That's how I got into it... I was working at a European gambling operator before as head of casino where my original presumption was that people would not put real money in if they can't get real money out. But at the end of the day, we are in the entertainment industry, and people are looking to exchange money for fun/no-boredom over time. And when you like the gameplay of slots, without the need to win real money, then you can invest a moderate sum to have an entertaining time. I'm a heavy slots player myself, and I've transferred most of my 'slots-time' from gambling to social, but I do admit I'm biased! :-D

And companies out there in this space are profitable and some generate very big numbers (hence the $500M acquisition for the number 1 player in the market). It's a purely a micro transaction business model where monetization happens through the sales of coins. The large player-base multiplied by low ARPU still generates very big numbers. There's little value to cross sell to brick and mortar casinos, and only really makes sense if that offline casino would have the ownership and 'brand' over the application for it to make strategic and cross-sale sense. Hence Caesar's buying Playtika and creating the Caesar Casino FB application (which is doing very well!).

Cheers
 
I played a little about a year ago BosjeR when helping a friend out with an FB slots app and while it was a fun'ish way to spend an hour, it was no replacement for firing up an online casino in my eyes and I haven't gone back. But it was only a brief foray to be fair. Like when I tried mobile it just wasn't as much fun as the alternatives.

So I'm guessing, from what you say above re. micropayments, that people buy coins using Facebook credits (which I only learned about recently) and that's the primary revenue-generator? Is there also big money to be made from them voluntarily providing their personal data to allow targetted advertising (I'm not suggesting that you sell that data on btw)?

As an aside, I think part of my scepticism comes from the advice I once heard - "if you're getting something for free, then *you* are the product" which is why I never sign up to apps on Facebook (or any other social platform) and share my data or interests. But I know millions do.

Cheers,

Simmo!
 
My facebook bestie and her husband got hooked on these fb slots a long time ago. Probably around the same time I found them and allowed an application with slotomania. I don't take notice of software names so didn't even know who they were but I knw they were onto a good thing with this and facebook joining forces even back then.

I'm pretty sure in the ( over a year I have had an app with them ) they were one of the very first online fun money slots software available at the time of it kind..It was a fairly new concept at the time and they (both parties) were well advanced in next levels and paytablle and peeps and targeted getting peeps registered.
It was rather appealing to my (couple) friends who had previously argued about how much real (money) was being spent at the land pub pokies. Now they both just play those slots on fb but I liked the real thing better and nearly never play now but still get pestered with free spins/credits from them and others and can get many per day somedays from this 50ish aged couple. They are my highest scoring friends I have and they are mega rich. Don't exactly know what it means but they and a work colleauge ( late 40's send me gifts 3-4 times a day at least even though they know It's not real and don't have time for it but by God it's all got huge potential if they could shift into a real money version.

Soon a lot of my f/b friends were sending me credits and free spins in the hope that I would gift them something back.. They accumulate if you don't play for a while and are there when you play again next time but also accumulate so you can bet larger and win larger.. It is visible on your homepage when someone has unlocked a new level if they choose to share.and then likely you will send some gift back.. So it's already spreading like wildfire. There are so many slots apps on the facebook now it's not funny anymore.. Like Simmo I do not like the idea of sharing my interests with millions of cookie collectors so I have only allowed Slotomania. I am a private person and would like to keep it that way as much as I can...
Myself and this other couple have been in constant contact for the last 29 years and often gone to land pokies for hours at a time together on holidays.. The hubby was spending too much real money so now they play these ones at home. Where as I still play for real at online casinos... When they first came out I was hoping they were in some online casinos but I havn't found any yet.



I, unlike my friends did not become hooked and myself are still only at level 6-7? with having unlocked a new level 6-7 times. These friends are on mega millions of fake winnings. They play them to their advantage where you earn coins to pay for more credits you have built from bonus credits and then you can be gifted credits or free spins from a friend and the more you spend the more levels of games you can play and wagering opens new games to you also. Their games so far that I have played are awesome. They have great annimation and lots of bonus games in their games and they seem to come up with more paying winlines more often, haha. You can also brag about a high score to your other friends who are application holders ( in your fb friends list ) and send them free spins or receive free spis or credits for that . I love all they games they are so vibrant and colourful and graphics are cool and so exciting to play to see what feature you get.

They are quiet popular with some friends in my contacts..
 
This vaguely reminds me of the Asian obsession (though there may be other cultures obsessed with it, that just from what I've read) with 'points' for playing video games. I believe points are even bought and sold (great money in it, I believe) and accounts have even been hacked to steal points.

And if these 'points' or 'levels' are actually worth anything, and must even be bought on Facespace... then isn't that gambling?

I'm sorry.... I don't quite understand it all.
 
I had a play on the Mirrorball slots today and have to say they are nicely done. I still wouldn't play them on Facebook but if they were in a casino then quite possibly I might (although you never quite know how good a game is until you've played it for a while).
 
Thanks Simmo!

And to reply to your questions earlier, selling of coins through Facebook credits is the main (and almost only) revenue driver. We (or most others) would not try to sell players with 'other' marketing besides incentives to spend time at Mirrorball Slots. Non-paying players can be as important as paying players if they invite many other players and keep the engagement of others going. There might be some offers of other applications being shown through banners below and above the application (as most applications do) but they are not intrusive.

Rapunzel's Tower should be live somewhere after the summer/end of the year with some online gambling operators, and Goldilocks should follow closely behind. Watch this space :)
 
Thanks Simmo!

And to reply to your questions earlier, selling of coins through Facebook credits is the main (and almost only) revenue driver. We (or most others) would not try to sell players with 'other' marketing besides incentives to spend time at Mirrorball Slots. Non-paying players can be as important as paying players if they invite many other players and keep the engagement of others going. There might be some offers of other applications being shown through banners below and above the application (as most applications do) but they are not intrusive.

Rapunzel's Tower should be live somewhere after the summer/end of the year with some online gambling operators, and Goldilocks should follow closely behind. Watch this space :)

I dug this old thread up as I enjoy my F/B games and have found that I spend less money at the casinos since discovering Mirrorball slots .

The new games have long been added plus challenges and I just love it.

What a shame , we can not win real money in the states but it is fun never less.

Laurie
 
I dug this old thread up as I enjoy my F/B games and have found that I spend less money at the casinos since discovering Mirrorball slots .

The new games have long been added plus challenges and I just love it.

What a shame , we can not win real money in the states but it is fun never less.

Laurie

You don't actually pay to play them though do you Laurie?
 
You don't actually pay to play them though do you Laurie?

Mate you would not believe the amount of money these places make it is just as good as running an online casino, one has to only look at some of these places Facebook pages to see 100's of complaints of spending real money and not winning so they want their money back (that's if you get to them before there deleted).

I have been reviewing quite a lot of these lately and one thing that seems to peeve me off is the mere fact that there is a lot of FB casino games that offer WMS and Aristocrat that will take real cash off those restricted countries who are not meant to be able to play these online for real or even play them for fun.

As an example you cannot even get an Aritocrat game for your iPhone in Australia and play it as much as you like but these FB games are all allowed to bleed you dry by offering virtual currency with those very same games :what:
 

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