Las Vegas-based developer and publisher Playstudios have today announced the hiring of a new COO, in the form of Playtika veteran Mickey Sonnino.
According to Playstudios, aside from the usual requirements in this new role Mickey will also have operational responsibility for studios across the world. Including the Middle East, Americas, Asia and Europe, all incredibly important markets for the mobile game industry as a whole. With Sonnino’s existing global experience cited as key to this worldwide focus.
Founder and CEO of Playstudios, Andrew Pascal, commented on the new hire “Mickey Sonnino’s breadth and depth of experience in both gaming and consumer marketing will bolster our company’s operating performance and further establish Playstudios as an innovator in the gaming industry. Her background and sensibilities make her ideally suited to further advance our unique position as the leaders in rewarded play.”
Varied catalogue
Although the studio boasts many casino games, it also has a number of more traditional mobile games such as Tetris in its catalogue. However, the main selling-point of Playstudios’ titles has been their PlayAWARDS platform, which brings a form of consumer loyalty scheme to the mobile world. The studio has previously seen major growth and revenue, with their partnerships with major companies such as MGM fuelling the success of their scheme.
Mickey Sonnino commented on the importance of the PlayAWARDS program to the company’s success “The playAWARDS platform is an innovative player retention tool for the gaming industry and offers Rewards Partners access to a highly motivated and unusually focused audience of players who in turn can enjoy rewards from some of the world’s best-known brands. Gaming lies at the intersection of entertainment and media, and I believePlaystudios is uniquely positioned to exploit its unique position and rapidly growing potential. I am excited to contribute and help guide the company during this dynamic stage in its evolution.”
Whilst PlayAWARDS is likely the most complete of its kind, whilst consumer loyalty schemes are not at all unusual, their use in mobile is a relatively recent innovation. One which Playstudios looks set to try and capitalise on by adding a variety of glitzy rewards to attract players.
