Area gamemaker Shoutz partners with Pitbull for mobile arcade
May 31, 2016 | Bobby Burch
Area tech firm Shoutz Inc. has launched a mobile gaming subsidiary that’s working with celebrity recording artist Pitbull.
Overland Park-based Shoutz Inc. recently announced the founding of GameRail, which partnered with Pitbull to offer a variety of casino-style games in both English and Spanish. The PitBull Arcade — which features the artist’s image — offers slots, arcade games and instant-win games.
Shoutz and GameRail hope to capitalize on the quickly growing mobile and social gaming category. Shoutz CEO Jim Mueller said that social gaming generated more than $4 billion revenue in the U.S. in 2015 and more than 85 million average annual users.
Mueller said Gamerail plans to target the 120 million adults in the United States who play the lottery.
“Mobile and social gaming is one of the highest-growth categories on the web today,” Mueller said in a release. “With GameRail, we are pioneering the social-lottery gaming sector by offering a collection of free-to-play interactive game themes.”
GameRail is a cross-device gaming platform, meaning it can be accessed via smartphone, tablet or computer web browser. The company plans to release an app in late 2016. In total, GameRail will feature 50 free games such as lottery, slots, card games, bingo and more.
GameRail generates revenue from in-game purchases and the sale of advertising. It also allows players to redeem tokens for gift cards to various retailers.
Formerly an Austin-based firm, Shoutz furthered its local footprint after it acquired Leawood-based Front Flip in 2015. Front Flip — which has more than 1 million downloads of its customer loyalty app — offers its users gifts and rewards to participating businesses. Shoutz develops mobile gaming with consumer engagement and loyalty programs within the retail, media and entertainment industries.
2016 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Greitens’ budget cuts ding Missouri, KC entrepreneurship efforts
A series of state budget cuts by Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens will directly impact Kansas City entrepreneurship. The sweeping $146.4 million rollback of the Show Me State’s budget will cut funds from both the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s Free Enterprise Center and Missouri Technology Corporation. Greitens’ plan will cut about $3.3 million from the enterprise…
Rick Usher: How coffee shop culture fuels KC’s startup ecosystem
Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in this commentary are the author’s alone. Coffee shops play a significant role in the growing success of Kansas City’s startup community. Back in September, Startland News readers offered their top picks for best coffee shops for meetings and I’m taking off on that topic now to dig deeper into the…
LaunchKC grants contest to offer $100K grand prize in 2017
Kansas City’s popular grants competition LaunchKC has raised the stakes for applicants in 2017. Instead of allocating $500,000 via 10 equally-sized grants, LaunchKC will dish out eight awards of $50,000 and one $100,000 grand prize. In 2016, LaunchKC drew more than 400 tech startup applicants for the second year in a row. Applications open on…
Three tips to landing in the Techstars KC accelerator
Techstars new local accelerator is on the lookout for ten tech companies to join the Kansas City accelerator’s inaugural class. In an effort to cull suitable applicants, Techstars KC managing director Lesa Mitchell recently shared some of the top traits the program is looking for in companies. “The Techstars team in Kansas City is…