Light & Wonder acquires Playzido to increase iGaming capabilities; posts revenue up 26% in Q1

Light & Wonder, the gaming products and services provider formerly known as Scientific Games Corporation, announced Tuesday that the company has significantly increased the scope of its iGaming content capabilities with the acquisition of Playzido, a dynamic content creation platform provider and game supplier.

The deal comes as Light & Wonder reported consolidated revenue of $572 million in Q1, up 26% year-on-year, partly credited to the strong gaming momentum in the North American market. Additionally, the company managed to reduce its net loss to $67 million, slightly lower than the $88 million from the year before.

The debt reduction follows the recent sale of its lottery and sports betting businesses, which generated $5.6 billion in gross cash proceeds, and allowed the company to significantly reduce its outstanding debt, from $8.9 billion to $4 billion, while paving the way for a return on investments for shareholders, totaling $140 million. 

Looking forward, Light & Wonder believes that Playzido will accelerate the pace at which L&W can partner with game studios and operators across the globe to co-create new and exclusive content for players. This is thanks to Playzido's proprietary Remote Gaming Server (RGS) -described as "one of the best" in the iGaming industry for rapid custom game development- and their "open and agile" platform.

Light & Wonder's rebranding announcement earlier this year

This acquisition will provide a faster route to market for creative studios who do not own their own development platform, who can now utilize Playzido's advanced technology to rapidly develop content and take advantage of L&W's OpenGaming aggregation platform to distribute more games than ever before across L&W's operator network.

Dylan Slaney, CEO of iGaming at Light & Wonder, iGaming, said: "The Playzido deal is a perfect example of an acquisition that dovetails with our global strategy, demonstrating yet again our commitment to make targeted value-enhancing investments designed to advance our cross-platform content capabilities.

"Playzido's platform is one of the best in the industry and we are delighted to be able to harness that technology to help studios and operators globally to develop and distribute game content that will continue to resonate with players. Light & Wonder is the go-to partner for game development and distribution globally, delivering the perfect combination of technology, network, and services," he added.

Stuart Banks, Playzido's CEO, commented: "It is the perfect moment to become part of the Light & Wonder family, with the distribution power of OpenGaming, and their regulatory expertise, we can look to accelerate quickly by bringing on board more studios than ever before. The synergies behind the acquisition are clear and we will now turn our attention to extending our reach across markets across the world."

Light & Wonder CEO Barry Cottle

Additionally, Light & Wonder announced Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations grew to $202 million in Q1, or to $322 million when discontinued operations are included. According to Light & Wonder President & CEO Barry Cottle, the business kicked off 2022 with "strong momentum" across businesses and a number of significant achievements, including the sale of the Lottery Business, which allows to de-lever and maximize cash.

"We are delivering on our promises to create great content cross-platform while expanding in high-growth digital markets and enabling a seamless player experience. With a reconstituted balance sheet, sustainable double-digit growth, and strong cash generation, we now have the ability to significantly enhance shareholder value through a disciplined approach to capital allocation,” Cottle stated. 

The new report and latest deal by Light & Wonder follow recent high-profile iGaming acquisitions of slot developer Lightning Box, premium live casino provider Authentic Gaming and European slot developer ELK Studios.