Big Fish Launches Free-to-Play Games on Its Global PC and Mac App Store

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Big Fish, the leading global marketplace to discover and enjoy casual games, is rapidly expanding its free-to-play (F2P) business by offering free-to-play games as in-browser games or as PC/Mac downloads to its more than 14 million monthly visitors. Played either socially or as a single-player experience, these new Big Fish F2P games will complement the company's current catalog of 3000 premium casual games (games you download, buy and own) that are offered in 10 different languages to customers in 150 countries. Big Fish's first F2P offering on its PC and Mac app store is Big Fish Casino, one of the top 10 grossing games on the iPhone and iPad year-to-date in 2012 (Source: AppAnnie).

“F2P games are increasingly popular with gamers who have been introduced to digital games over the past few years via the rapid growth of social and mobile platforms. It is a natural extension to both our PC/Mac app store and to our mobile publishing business”

"F2P games are increasingly popular with gamers who have been introduced to digital games over the past few years via the rapid growth of social and mobile platforms. It is a natural extension to both our PC/Mac app store and to our mobile publishing business," said Paul Thelen, Founder and CEO of Big Fish.

Big Fish expects its F2P business to grow much like its mobile business, which doubled offerings over the past year and currently includes more than 200 unique mobile games, enabling Big Fish to emerge as a top 10 grossing game publisher on iOS. F2P games add to Big Fish's premium casual catalog that is available on PC/Mac, mobile and the cross-platform cloud service, Big Fish Unlimited. The company's F2P growth is driven by:

Its massive direct-to-consumer relationship, which has been built over the past 10 years and has distributed more than 2 Billion PC and Mac games directly to a total global audience of more than 70 Million casual gamers. This reach puts Big Fish way ahead of other game companies that do not have a meaningful direct relationship with their customers.
High-quality F2P content created by the company's network of more than 550 developers and the company's own in-house studios.
Big Fish's dominance in hidden object adventure games, which allows it to successfully extend the hidden object mechanic from a linear play experience to a continuous play experience.

In the next year, Big Fish will launch several new top-tier F2P games on its PC and Mac app store each month. The company is forward investing in products, developer partners and employees to transform its F2P initiative from an emerging business to a hyper-growth business in 2013 to complement its continued investments and growth in its premium casual games business.

About Big Fish

Founded in 2002, Big Fish (http://www.bigfishgames.com) is the most trusted global leader in casual games, and is dedicated to bringing engaging entertainment to everyone, anywhere, on any device. Through its proprietary, data-driven platform, millions of consumers seeking engaging entertainment easily discover and play PC and mobile games created by Big Fish’s network of more than 500 development partners and its in-house Big Fish Games Studios. The company offers a growing catalog of more than 3000 unique PC and mobile games, along with a universal cloud gaming service, Big Fish Unlimited. Big Fish’s games are playable on a wide variety of devices across 10 languages and by players from 150 countries. The company is headquartered in Seattle, WA, with regional offices in Oakland, CA; Cork, Ireland; Vancouver, Canada; and Luxembourg.