Newsbrief: GSN Games, the casual gaming arm of the Game Show Network, has snapped up San Francisco-based casual casino developer Idle Gaming. The studio is responsible for games such as Fresh Deck Poker, Slots of Fun, and Video Poker Tour. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
There have been a large number of similar acquisitions in recent times, both by established players in the casual games space and casino companies looking to expand into it.
In 2012, slot machine maker IGT bought Double Down Interactive; that year Big Fish also bought Self Aware Games, and was itself in turn bought by real-world gambling company Churchill Downs last year. Zynga, for its part, has picked up more than one casino game studio: DNA Games and Spooky Cool are examples.