Sony’s Game Show Network Sells GSN Games Division for $1 Billion

By Jon Lafayette
( Broadcasting & Cable )
published

Scopely buys free-to-play mobile games including ‘Solitaire TriPeaks’ and ‘Bingo Bash’

Bingo Bash GSN Games

Sony Pictures Entertainment said it agreed to sell GSN Games, a division of Game Show Network, for $1 billion.

The buyers, Scopely, a privately held video game company, is acquiring free-to-play mobile games and online games including Solitaire TriPeaks and Bingo Bash.

“GSN Games has been a great business for Sony the last 14 years, and we are proud of the experiences the team continues to deliver for players around the world,” said Ravi Ahuja, chairman, global television studios and Sony Pictures Entertainment corporate development. “In meeting the Scopely team, we knew we found the right organization to support and accelerate the business. We are confident they will take GSN Games to new heights and SPE is pleased to be a minority shareholder in Scopely as a result of this transaction.”

Sony will be paid half in cash and the remainder in preferred equity, giving Sony a stake on Scopely. 

GSN expanded into online games in 2007. Bingo Bash was launched in 2011 and acquired by GSN Games in 2014. Bingo Bash has been played by more than 70 million people, with players spending more than 60,000 years in the game.

Jon Lafayette
Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.