WorldWinner

WorldWinner
Type	Smartphone app
Genre	Online game, Mobile game, Game of skill, Casual game
Founded	1999
Founder	Alex Bloom (Saidakovsky); Alex Ganelis; Daniil Utin;
Headquarters	Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Parent	Game Show Network
Website	worldwinner.com

WorldWinner is a cross-platform, skill-based games community that operates competitive cash tournaments for web, mobile web, and mobile (iOS 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's Angry Birds.

WorldWinner is based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States and operates under the Game Show Network’s GSN Games division.

History

Worldwinner was founded in 1999 in Newton, Massachusetts[1] 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.

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.[2] During that time, Saidakovsky, Ganelis, and Utin obtained a patent for their tournament technology.[3] 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.[4]

In March 2006, WorldWinner was acquired by FUN Technologies and merged with SkillJam into WorldWinner, dropping the SkillJam brand.

In December 2007, Liberty Media acquired FUN Technologies[5] 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. Players are matched with other players of similar skill. Unlike gambling games that, from a legal standpoint, feature the elements of chance, prize, and consideration, WorldWinner games are modified so that player skill (as opposed to chance or luck) is the predominant factor in performance and winnings.

WorldWinner also offers free Warm-Up tournaments.

Games

WorldWinner's portfolio includes online and mobile games based on popular card games, puzzle games, word games, board games, TV game show games, arcade games, and match-three games.

Game	Availability
Wheel of Fortune®	App, web, mobile web
SCRABBLE Cubes	App, web, mobile web
Solitaire Rush	App, web, mobile web
Angry Birds Champions	App, web
TRIVIAL PURSUIT	App, web
Solitaire TriPeaks	App, web
Catch 21®	App, web, mobile web
The Price Is Right®: Super Plinko™	App, web, mobile web
Two Dots	App
Big Money™	Web, mobile web
Bejeweled® 2	Web
Bejeweled® Blitz: Rubies and Riches	Web
Cubis	Web
Dynomite!™	Web
Luxor	Web
Pop & Plunder	App, web, mobile web
SCRABBLE BOGGLE	Web
Spades	Web
Spider Solitaire	App, web
SwapIt!	Web
SwapIt 2	App, web, mobile web
Word Mojo	Web
Vegas Nights 2	Web
Zen Gems	Web

Charitable donations

WorldWinner and GSN Games have collectively supported many nonprofit groups, donating a portion of tournament entry fees to organizations such as Toys for Tots, the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the Alzheimer's Foundation of America, and the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation.[6][7]

gollark: Indeed.

gollark: It's a library. It should not have *state* in it.

gollark: That sounds like bad design honestly.

gollark: The only real issue is `multishell` which has (*the horror*) **GLOBAL STATE**.

gollark: Add some sort of coroutine manager to your javarunner thing. Have Runtime or whatever add coroutines to that when wanted. When you want to kill a process just halt the coroutine.

References

"WorldWinner.com Launches Online Gaming Site that Rewards Skilled Players with Cash Prizes; New Gaming Destination Brings the Thrill of Competition to Familiar Games. - Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
Inc., WorldWinner. "WorldWinner Ranks Sixth on Deloitte's Technology Fast 50 List". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
"Minimizing the effects of chance, US Patent" (PDF).
Inc., WorldWinner. "WorldWinner Explodes in 2004 with Record Revenues". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
"Liberty Media Corporation Completes Acquisition of FUN Technologies Inc". Retrieved 2018-01-22.
"WorldWinner Kicks off Charitable Online Games Competitions during National Breast Cancer Awareness Month - GameZone". GameZone. 2012-05-04. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
"WorldWinner launches "Compete for Pink" for breast cancer funds". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2018-01-22.