Big Fish Games Acquires Leading Multi-player Casual Game Site,
Ion Thunder
Casual Games Market Continues to see Explosive Growth
SEATTLE, April 19 /PRNewswire/ --
Big Fish Games, Inc.,
(http://www.bigfishgames.com/) a top 5 casual games Website(1), today announced
they have acquired the multi-player community based games site IonThunder.com.
Ion Thunder (considered one of the "stickiest" game sites in the world with
average visitor time spent eclipsing the 40 hours per month mark(2)), offers
free games, chat, lotteries, prizes and more. Ion Thunder will expand Big Fish
Games' current downloadable games sales business with an advertisement and
subscription supported offering. The customer demographic of both Big Fish
Games and Ion Thunder are at the heart of the rapidly growing segment of casual
game players. Unlike traditional "(hard) core" game players, this segment is
primarily over age 40 and predominantly female. The casual game market is
expected to grow to over $760 million by 2007(3) and Big Fish Games recently
announced a 400% increase in sales over the 2004 period in their downloadable
games business.
"Big Fish Games' acquisition of Ion Thunder is a smart move," said Andrew
Wright, CEO of Muskoka Media, and former Vice President of RealNetworks'
RealArcade Business. "It brings together a leading downloadable games
destination with an undiscovered but compelling community gaming destination
and firmly positions Big Fish Games as a significant player in the broader
casual games market."
Ion Thunder's community based, multi-player games will offer Big Fish Games
users a new type of game playing experience beyond their current online,
downloadable, and tournament game offerings. Ion Thunder games include over 40
bingo, card, puzzle, and casino games that are all free to play and supported
by a wide range of advertising placements. Players win tokens that can be used
to buy lottery tickets to win real cash and prizes. Ion Thunder will be
integrated into the Big Fish Games' network under the brand Atlantis Games and
will be found at atlantis.bigfishgames.com.
"Ion Thunder is a truly remarkable phenomenon where its players practically
live on the site," said Paul Thelen, CEO of Big Fish Games. "When our
marketing expertise and existing customer base of over 15 million users are
spread to this incredibly addictive offering, we believe this site will rapidly
become a top game site in the world."
About Big Fish Games
Big Fish Games, Inc., a developer and distributor of casual, family friendly
games, offers consumers a "New Game Every Day" and one of the best game
catalogs on the Internet. BigFishGames.com makes acquiring downloadable games
and playing games online a safe, easy and reliable experience. Big Fish
Games, Inc. is a Washington State corporation that can be visited at
http://www.bigfishgames.com/.
(1) Source: Alexa Internet, an Amazon.com Company
(2) Source: Comscore Media Metrics, Deutsche Bank Security estimates --
5/03
(3) Source: IDC, an Company of the International Data Group
DATASOURCE: Big Fish Games, Inc.
CONTACT: Paul Thelen of Big Fish Games, Inc., +1-206-213-5753, ext. 127
Web site: http://www.bigfishgames.com/