WorldWinner is a cross-platform, skill-based games community that operates competitive cash tournaments for web, mobile web, and mobile (

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...

and Android) platforms. Games include Solitaire Rush, Wheel of Fortune, SCRABBLE Cubes, and Two Dots. In 2018, WorldWinner launched Angry Birds Champions, the official cash tournament version of

Rovio Entertainment Rovio Entertainment Oyj (formerly Relude Oy and Rovio Mobile Oy and doing business internationally as the Rovio Entertainment Corporation) is a Finnish video game developer based in Espoo. Founded in 2003 by Helsinki University of Technology s ...

's Angry Birds. WorldWinner is based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States and operates under the

Game Show Network Game Show Network (GSN) is an American basic cable channel owned by Sony Pictures Television. The channel's programming is primarily dedicated to game shows, including reruns of acquired game shows, along with new, first-run original and revive ...

’s GSN Games division.

History

Worldwinner was founded in 1999 in

Newton, Massachusetts Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is approximately west of downtown Boston. Newton resembles a patchwork of thirteen villages, without a city center. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the population of Ne ...

by Alex Bloom (formerly Saidakovsky), Alex Ganelis, and Daniil Utin, raising over $17 million from leading venture capital firms, including HarbourVest Partners and

Benchmark Capital Benchmark is a venture capital firm based in San Francisco that provides seed money to startups. History The firm's most successful investment was a 1997 investment of $6.7 million in eBay for 22.1% of the company. In 2011, it invested $12 mill ...

. WorldWinner launched on August 17, 2000, as the first online gaming destination allowing participants to compete in skill-based tournaments for real-money winnings. The company established partnerships with leading casual games sites, including Yahoo!, EA, Pogo, iWon, PAX TV, WildTangent, and Shockwave. By 2002, WorldWinner was hosting more than two million tournaments per month, with more than $100,000 in daily cash winnings. From 2000 to 2004, WorldWinner reported a revenue increase of 2,386 percent, earning the number six spot on the Technology Fast 50 for New England. During that time, Saidakovsky, Ganelis, and Utin obtained a patent for their tournament technology. By 2004, WorldWinner had over 14 million registered players worldwide, hosting more than four million tournaments and awarding millions of dollars in prizes every month. In March 2006, WorldWinner was acquired by

FUN Technologies FUN Technologies was an online game company based in Toronto. Founded in 2002 by Canadian businessmen Lorne Abony and Andrew Rivkin, FUN grew to become the world's largest provider of online casual games and fantasy sports, with over 35 millio ...

and merged with SkillJam into WorldWinner, dropping the SkillJam brand. In December 2007,

Liberty Media Liberty Media Corporation (commonly referred to as Liberty Media or just Liberty) is an American mass media company controlled by chairman John C. Malone. The company has three divisions, reflecting the company's ownership stakes in Formula One ...

acquired FUN Technologies in a transaction valuing the company at $484 million. As a result of the acquisition, WorldWinner integrated with the Liberty-owned Game Show Network, and FUN Technologies was discontinued as a brand. WorldWinner rebranded to GSN Cash Games in 2013. The company also launched its mobile web offering (GSN Cash Games Mobile) in 2014, allowing players to compete in cash tournaments on mobile devices. In 2017, GSN Cash Games re-branded back to WorldWinner, simultaneously launching a cash tournament version of Solitaire TriPeaks, based on the Solitaire TriPeaks app by GSN Games. In July 2017, WorldWinner launched its iOS app, followed by Android in May 2018. As of June 2018, WorldWinner is no longer available in the EU.

Cash tournament model

WorldWinner hosts different types of cash tournaments with varying player pools, prize pools, entry fees, and difficulty level. WorldWinner also offers free Warm-Up tournaments.

Games

WorldWinner's portfolio includes online and mobile games based on popular

card game A card game is any game using playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, be they traditional or game-specific. Countless card games exist, including families of related games (such as poker). A small number of card ...

puzzle games Puzzle video games make up a broad genre of video games that emphasize puzzle solving. The types of puzzles can test problem-solving skills, including logic, pattern recognition, sequence solving, spatial recognition, and word completion. ...

word game Word games (also called word game puzzles or word search games) are spoken, board, or video games often designed to test ability with language or to explore its properties. Word games are generally used as a source of entertainment, but can add ...

board game Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well. Many board games feature a comp ...

s, TV game show games, arcade games, and match-three games.

History

Cash tournament model

Games

References

Further reading