Amidst all of the recent drama surrounding Zynga Bingo and Bingo Blitz, you may have missed the release of a new bingo game on Facebook: Bingo by Ryzing. And it’s pretty good. Published as part of RockYou’s studio partners program, the game features standard, but fun, bingo play, but also manages to separate itself from other social bingo games with features like the ability to win real-world prizes. Gamezebo spoke to some of the minds at both RockYou and Ryzing to learn a little bit more about the relationship and what we can expect from the game in the future.
Amidst all of the recent drama surrounding Zynga Bingo and Bingo Blitz, you may have missed the release of a new bingo game on Facebook: Bingo by Ryzing. And it’s pretty good. Published as part of RockYou’s studio partners program, the game features standard, but fun, bingo play, but also manages to separate itself from other social bingo games with features like the ability to win real-world prizes. Gamezebo spoke to some of the minds at both RockYou and Ryzing to learn a little bit more about the relationship and what we can expect from the game in the future.
How did the partnership between RockYou and Ryzing initially come about?
Josh Grant, GM Studio Partners at RockYou -Our relationship with Ryzing is through RockYou Studio Partners. Studio Partners is RockYou’s third-party publishing arm. We offer a range of services to help developers expand the reach of their games and we’re always looking for innovative developers and partnerships that will be mutually beneficial for both involved. In the case of Bingo by Ryzing, RockYou had targeted bingo as a social game sub-genre of interest, and had been actively evaluating a number of games/developers when introduced to Ryzing. We were impressed with their experience and knowledge of the bingo genre and their data/metrics approach to running a live game, and knew we could be a great partner in growing distribution and monetization.
What made Bingo by Ryzing a good choice for RockYou’s studio partners program?
Josh Grant – We felt Bingo by Ryzing was a good partner fit because it is a fast-paced, high replay game, which we have found works well with a sophisticated ad model, as well as appealing to a user base that has traditionally been under supported on the Facebook platform. We can focus on driving the game’s distribution, ad monetization, marketing, economy game balance/optimization, and user acquisition, while the Ryzing team will focus on improving gameplay, customer service, prize fulfillment, game operations, and sweepstakes compliance.
What makes bingo games and Facebook such a good fit? Why do you think they’ve become so popular of late?
Manu Gambhir, CEO of Ryzing -Players play bingo for various reasons – socializing, entertainment, achieving goals, competition, and winning money so we provide features to cater to these different needs. We’ve built features to appeal to a variety of player interests. In particular, we’ve found that our social features of live chat, gifting, and voting for charities to receive donations have been very popular.
Do you have plans to release on other platforms, such as mobile devices or Google+?
Manu Gambhir– Currently users can access the game through Facebook and via http://bingo.ryzing.com/bingo.html. We are specifically focused on growing Bingo by Ryzing on Facebook and online prior to moving to other platforms.
What are your thoughts on the recent copycat concerns surrounding Bingo Blitz and Zynga Bingo?
Lisa Marino, CEO of RockYou – It’s no surprise that great IP gets copied – we’ve seen this in entertainment for decades – whether movies, TV, online or console games. We don’t believe it will change and, at RockYou, we are committed to innovation on the monetization mechanics of social gaming going forward. In essence RockYou is bringing the successful duel monetization of traditional media – like print publishers, cable networks, and the like – to social. We see great opportunity on the iterations we can do in social that tap into a broad distribution channel, interesting consumer loops, and traditional Madison Avenue ad spends.
What can fans of the game expect in the future? Any updates in the works?
Manu Gambhir – Our team will be focusing on improving the gameplay experience for players. We can’t share specifics at the moment, though.
What can we expect to see next out of the studio partners?
Josh Grant – At this time, Bingo by Ryzing is the only Studio Partner deal we are disclosing. We look forward to discussing additional third-party publishing deals soon.
Any final words for your fans?
Sara McPherson, Producer at RockYou – We’re pleased to provide our fans with the opportunity to win cash while playing a game they know and love. The element of real cash winnings adds even more excitement to gameplay and social features like in-game chat and wall posts, where players often post news about their cash winnings and congratulate their friends who win. Another twist that makes Bingo by Ryzing different is the ability to vote for different real-world charities to receive donations. We invite any bingo fans to come see how the winnings and the generosity in Bingo by Ryzing extend far beyond the Facebook platform and into real life.
