Zynga acquires social casino game start-up Rising Tide Games

Zynga has acquired free-to-play social-casino start-up Rising Tide Games in an effort to expand its footprint in the social casino market.

Rising Tide CEO Maytal Olsha who along with casino slots veterans Stuart Zoble, Andrew Sega and Peter Franco will join Zynga as part of the acquisition.

Olsha, worked at Zynga for two years. He was hired to take the company into real-money gambling but the legalization of real-money gambling in U.S progressed more slowly than expected and Zynga had to pull out and shift their focus back to their bread and butter games like Zynga Poker and Hit It Rich Casino Slots.

Olsha shifted roles, taking over the social slots business, which included the reality TV branded Duck Dynasty Slots.