Lewis-Smith: “Delivering our vision of enriching players’ lives with real human interactions in our games”
Live Play Mobile, a new social gaming platform developer that combines live TV formats with mobile games, has become the first publisher to launch a 24-hour-a-day, live-hosted social casino game with its debut title, Live Play Bingo. Disrupting the $7.7 billion social casino market* with an initial focus on the Bingo category — the fastest growing segment within social casino — they are positioned to address the US$20 billion+ casual games market in the future with their highly scalable model.
Founded by mobile games executive and online gaming veteran Stuart Lewis-Smith and digital entertainment and gaming executive Geremie Camara, Live Play Mobile has already raised US$2.4 million via a seed round. The company is on a mission to create a positive, enriching space for millions of people to meet, connect and bond as they play mobile games together.
“We are building a fresh new category by combining the best of social, live-streaming and linear TV experiences whilst simultaneously delivering our vision of enriching players’ lives with real human interactions in our games,” said Stuart Lewis-Smith, CEO and founder, Live Play Mobile. “Our early traction has proven the model and platform capabilities, which positions us well for additional first-party game production and enables various other third-party live experiences for our partners.”
Live Play Bingo is a hybrid between a social bingo app and a live TV game show exclusively on mobile devices, with real human hosts who call the bingo numbers, announce winners and provide round-the-clock, real-time entertainment. Broadcasting from Hollywood and London studios, on-screen talent includes #1 slots YouTuber Brian Christopher and Kelly Miyahara (Jeopardy! Clue Crew). With over 25 hosts on staff, the company is already an established leader in live mobile video entertainment.
Over the 12 months ending Q2 2021, the mobile games market grew by +22%** with the social casino category growing at +28% as players turned to their phones for entertainment content during COVID-19. Additionally, US consumers now spend more time using apps on smartphones and tablets than they spend consuming live TV***. Through its unique blend of social games enhanced with daily content and live-hosted broadcasts, Live Play Mobile brings millions of players the social interaction they crave directly to the device where they spend the most amount of time.
Early engagement metrics are encouraging with 43 minutes of video consumed in Live Play Bingo per player per day – approximately 50% higher than the average social casino game. Monetization is also strong with Average Revenue Per Daily Active User’s (ARPDAU’s) comparable to the highest-performing apps in the category and DAUs growing +400% in 2021.
Live Play Bingo is free to play and available to download on iOS and Android now.
