GigaMedia to Launch Social Casino Games Suite

GigaMedia Ltd has announced the launch of a new set of casino games marking the company’s first step in a new growth strategy which targets the social casino gaming market.

CEO of GigaMedia, Collin Hwang, said “Social casino games is one of the fastest growing and most profitable segments of online games. With social casino games generating ARPUs nearly double those of social games, increased sector focus will play a key role in driving growth of our FunTown online game operations in 2013 and beyond.”

Hwang went on to say that the company plans on using its previous experience to build a “strong multi-platform offering.”

He says that he sees great growth prospects for the online games business in social casino games.

As a first step GigaMedia is carrying out closed beta testing in over 200 internet cafes across Taiwan on a suite of in-house developed casino games. The company has developed a mixtures of slots, poker and dice games and should be released commercially in about four weeks. The games have a number of social features built-in such as the ability to gift virtual items to friends and a hold group chats.