Zynga acquires casino games studio Rising Tide

Zynga has acquired US-based casino games developer Rising Tide Games.

The developer was founded in 2014 by ex-Zynga and Playtika execs Maytal Olsha, Stuart Zoble, Andrew Sega and Peter Franco. It has offices in Austin, Texas and New York. The company is currently working on social slots game Black Diamond Casino.

The move is part of Zynga’s plans to expand its offerings in the social casino gaming space. In 2013, the company acquired Spooky Cool Labs, which has developed Hit It Rich! Slots.

Zynga said its social slots franchise bookings grew 274 per cent between Q2 2014 and Q2 2015, and 32 per cent during Q2 2015. It plans to developer further titles in the genre.

“I am excited for Rising Tide Games to join forces with Zynga,” said Rising Tide co-CEO Maytal Olsha.

“I look forward to once again partnering with Mark, the talented Spooky Cool team and the Zynga Austin Studio to create authentic and truly social free-to-play games. Together, with our amazing Rising Tide Games family, I believe we can deliver fun, unique social slots experiences to players around the world in the growing social casino gaming space.”