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In a December 2012 interview, Double Down Interactive CEO Greg Enell described a company trying to grow beyond Facebook without abandoning the platform that had helped make DoubleDown Casino a major social game. His account covered a shift from Flash to HTML5, an aggressive hiring plan, new mobile and international distribution efforts, and the uncertain possibility of real-money wagering. Those plans and figures are a snapshot of what Enell said at the time—not confirmation of what happened later.
What was Double Down trying to become?
Double Down Interactive was a Seattle social-casino game developer. Its flagship, DoubleDown Casino, was presented as a major Facebook game, but Enell said the company did not want its growth to depend on a single distribution channel. In the interview, he described expanding mobile distribution, seeking original-equipment-manufacturer (OEM) and carrier deals, and localizing the game for international markets. He called that broader distribution effort “key to our growth strategy.”
For the company’s position and plans as described in 2012, see GeekWire’s December 14, 2012 interview with Greg Enell.
How quickly was Double Down growing?
The interview followed the start-of-2012 announcement that International Game Technology (IGT) would acquire Double Down for up to $500 million. The maximum depended partly on future performance targets; it was not all guaranteed upfront. GeekWire described the reported terms as $250 million in upfront cash, $85 million in retention payments, and up to $165 million in additional cash over three years if financial targets were met. The original acquisition report is GeekWire’s January 12, 2012 coverage.
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Enell said Double Down was tracking well against the targets and that he was optimistic about receiving the full potential payment. He also credited IGT’s game content. He said DaVinci Diamonds and Cleopatra slots delivered “5-6X” the top-line performance of the company’s other slots. That was Enell’s comparison in the interview, not an independently audited benchmark.
Revenue and office capacity in the 2012 account
GeekWire reported $35.8 million in revenue, up 20%, for the quarter ended September 30, attributing the result to IGT’s social-gaming unit, driven by Double Down. At the time, the company’s new office had about 150 occupied seats, capacity for 180, and roughly 33 open software-development positions. These are historical figures from the interview, not current financial or staffing information.
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What technology and hiring changes did Enell describe?
Enell said Double Down was moving its front end away from Flash and toward HTML5, while its backend used Java. He said the company was seeking Java and JavaScript developers and reducing its hiring of Flash developers. His summary of the transition was: “We’re really transitioning the whole front-end to HTML5.”
He described 33 open development roles and said the development team was about that size, with an ambition to roughly double it. He also characterized the Seattle market for software talent as highly competitive. These statements reflect the company’s 2012 technology and hiring priorities; they do not establish its later or current stack, team size, or recruiting needs.
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Why was Facebook both valuable and risky?
Facebook remained important to Double Down, but Enell said the era of abundant free traffic had already faded. In his view, less virality and free distribution meant more marketing spend and higher costs to acquire players. He also described a tension between Facebook’s interests in games and advertising. These were his observations about the platform in 2012, not a current assessment of Facebook.
Enell said Double Down wanted to remain loyal to Facebook while reducing its exposure to any one platform. “You never want to have a single point of failure,” he said. The strategy was diversification, not a stated decision to leave Facebook.
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Which expansion plans were on the table?
Enell described several avenues the company was pursuing or considering. The interview records these as 2012 initiatives and plans; it does not confirm that each later launched or succeeded.
- Mobile: Enell described HTML5 mobile products intended to run across Android and iOS, and cited an existing Kindle business.
- OEM and carrier distribution: The company was seeking device-maker placement and carrier deals as alternatives to relying solely on Facebook distribution.
- Localization: Enell said Double Down planned to localize for five or six international markets around March or April.
- IGT content: He saw IGT’s slot content as a growth advantage, citing the performance of DaVinci Diamonds and Cleopatra in the interview.
Did Double Down plan to add real-money gambling?
Enell described real-money online wagering as an interesting U.S. opportunity, but said its development was uncertain and would take time. He said Europe was open to opportunities and that discussions were taking place with IGT. The social-casino games discussed in the interview had no money at stake; a potential wagering product was a separate possibility, not a confirmed launch.
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A separate GeekWire interview from January 12, 2012 likewise described IGT’s regulated-wagering capability as something that could make the idea possible, rather than evidence of a launch. Neither interview establishes present-day product availability or the law in any jurisdiction.
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