# PLAYSTUDIOS Financial Model

Free-to-play mobile casino/social gaming company with a proprietary loyalty rewards platform (playAWARDS) that lets players earn real-world prizes.

- Canonical: https://finamodel.com/startups/playstudios
- Excel download: https://finamodel.com/startup-models/playstudios.xlsx
- Category: Media/Gaming
- Model type: SPAC / De-SPAC
- Funding round: Public
- Funding: $1.1B
- Founded: 2021
- Geography: Global - studios in Las Vegas, Burlingame, Austin, Belgrade, Tel Aviv, Hong Kong, Singapore. [DECK slide 21]
- Customer: B2C

## About the company

PLAYSTUDIOS develops free-to-play social casino and mobile games including myVEGAS Slots, myKONAMI Slots, POP! Slots, myVEGAS Blackjack, Bingo, and Kingdom Boss. Its playAWARDS loyalty platform lets players redeem gameplay points for real-world rewards from hotel, dining, travel, entertainment, retail, and other partners.

Virtual-currency in-app purchases are the main revenue source, supported by advertising and direct player commerce. Loyalty-as-a-Service is a future licensing opportunity. The partner network includes 84 partners and 275 brands in 17 countries; reward redeemers show higher retention, engagement, and spending than non-redeemers.

The business reported 100 million-plus lifetime downloads, 4.2 million MAU, 56 daily session minutes, and $435.2 million of projected 2022 revenue with $89.9 million AEBITDA. The model should forecast installs, DAU, payer conversion, ARPDAU, rewards cost, user acquisition, and game-level operating leverage.

## What's included

- 5-year monthly revenue build with stage-appropriate growth assumptions
- Full P&L, headcount plan, and operating-expense schedule
- Cash-flow statement, runway, and burn-rate tracking
- Valuation via exit multiple with a DCF cross-check
- Returns analysis with MOIC and IRR
- Unit economics including CAC, LTV, payback, and cohort retention

## Product & value proposition

- Core games: myVEGAS Slots, myKONAMI Slots, POP! Slots, myVEGAS Blackjack, myVEGAS Bingo (launched), Kingdom Boss (idle RPG, launched).
- Loyalty platform: playAWARDS - players earn points through gameplay and redeem for real-world rewards (hotel stays, dining, concerts, cruises, retail). Integrated via myVIP in-game framework.
- Partner network: 84 partners, 275 brands, across 4 continents, 17 countries. Includes hotels, airlines, theaters, cruises, restaurants, retail.
- Differentiator: Loyalty mechanics demonstrably improve retention (10x lift), engagement (3x), and monetization (4x spending) for "Redeemers" vs. non-store viewers.
- Platform components: In-game myVIP framework, VIP Player Portal, In-game Store SDK, Player Management Console, Partner Rewards Console, Concierge/Host Program, Game Developer Console.

## Market

- Total gaming TAM (2019): $152.1B, growing at 10% CAGR (2009–2019).
- Mobile gaming TAM (2019): $68.5B, growing at 38% CAGR (2009–2019).
- Gaming has eclipsed music ($21.5B), movies ($42.2B), and books ($113.9B) by market size.
- Adjacent genre markets (App Annie, 2020 worldwide):
  - Casino: $5.5B
  - Brain & Puzzle: $8.3B
  - Adventure & Sim: $12.4B
  - Arcade & Action: $15.0B
  - RPG & Strategy: $30.3B
- Bingo category YoY growth: 51%; 2020 downloads: 51M.
- RPG/Squad category: $5.2B market, YoY growth 47%, 2020 downloads 272M.

## Revenue model

- Primary revenue: In-app purchases of virtual currency (chips/coins) within social casino games. Players are not gambling for real money - games are free-to-play.
- Secondary revenue (growing): Ad monetization and Player Commerce (direct purchase website).
- Future revenue stream: Loyalty-as-a-Service (LaaS) - licensing the playAWARDS platform to third-party game developers.
- Acquisition channels: Cross-promotion across owned game portfolio (organic), partner promotions, paid UA.
- Pricing: Not explicitly stated (virtual currency bundles typical for genre); ARPDAU figures: Bingo targeted at $0.40 ARPDAU, Kingdom Boss at $0.50 ARPDAU.
- Cost structure: Cost of Sales (~30–34% of revenue), User Acquisition (19–29% of revenue), All Other Expenses (26–36% of revenue).

## Traction & metrics

- 2022E Revenue: $435M
- 2022E AEBITDA: $90M (exact: $89.9M)
- 2019–2022E AEBITDA CAGR: 46%
- Lifetime downloads: 100M+
- MAU: 4.2M
- Session minutes per day: 56
- Sessions per day: 2.4
- Reward Purchasers: 1.9M
- Rewards Purchased (cumulative): 11M+
- Cumulative retail value of rewards purchased: ~$500M
- Audience: 55% female / 45% male; average age 42; average income $80K
- Full financials table:
| Year | Revenue | YoY% | CoS | CoS% | UA | UA% | Other Exp | Other% | AEBITDA | Margin% |
| ----- | -------- | ------ | ---- | ----- | --- | ---- | ---------- | ------- | -------- | -------- |
| 2017A | $161.8M | - | $53.4M | 33.0% | $46.2M | 28.5% | $48.9M | 30.2% | $13.3M | 8.2% |
| 2018A | $195.5M | 20.8% | $66.8M | 34.2% | $48.3M | 24.7% | $64.0M | 32.7% | $16.5M | 8.4% |
| 2019A | $239.4M | 22.5% | $80.3M | 33.5% | $53.8M | 22.5% | $76.8M | 32.1% | $28.5M | 11.9% |
| 2020E | $269.8M | 12.7% | $91.2M | 33.8% | $50.1M | 18.6% | $96.0M | 35.6% | $32.4M | 12.0% |
| 2021E | $328.0M | 21.6% | $102.2M | 31.2% | $94.3M | 28.7% | $109.7M | 33.5% | $21.8M | 6.7% |
| 2022E | $435.2M | 32.7% | $128.4M | 29.5% | $103.4M | 23.8% | $113.5M | 26.1% | $89.9M | 20.7% |
- Revenue CAGR 2020–2022E: 27% (vs. gaming peers avg 16%)
- AEBITDA CAGR 2020–2022E: 67% (vs. gaming peers avg 19%)
- 2017–2019 revenue CAGR (organic, all organic): 22%
- ARPDAU (as of Q3 2020): $0.54
- Daily player conversion: 2.4%
- Daily Active Monetizers: 14K (2017), 33K (2019)
- Studios: 6; Employees: 385 "Playmakers"
- Each internally developed/launched game achieved 150,000+ sustained DAU within 3 weeks of cross-promotion.

## Unit economics

- AEBITDA margin: 8.2% (2017A) → 12.0% (2020E) → 20.7% (2022E) → 30% (2025E forecast)
- Loyalty program impact on unit economics:
  - 10x retention lift (Redeemers vs. No-Store Viewers)
  - 3x engagement lift
  - 4x spending lift
- Margin bridge CY20→CY22: +2.6% Core Bus OpEx, +1.8% E-Commerce, +2.6% Ad Mon, -1.5% Corp Expenses, -3.2% New Games Post-Launch → CY22 Margin 20.7%
- CY22→CY23 margin expansion: +2.0–2.5% UA Efficiency, +2.5–3.0% OpEx Efficiency → CY23 margin 25–26%
- UA spend as % of revenue: 28.5% (2017) → 18.6% (2020E) → 23.8% (2022E, elevated due to new game launches)
- CAC: Not explicitly stated. Organic cross-promotion is primary UA mechanism.
- ARPDAU: $0.54 (company) vs. $0.61 (Playtika)

## Competition / moat

- Competitive set: Playtika, DoubleDown Interactive, Aristocrat Digital, SciPlay, Zynga, Glu.
- Playtika 2019A Revenue: $1,888M (vs. PLAYSTUDIOS $239M - significant scale gap).
- Bingo competitors (DAU / Rev): BingoBlitz ~$417M, ~$57M player, ~$46M player, ~$42M player.
- RPG competitor AFK Arena: 1.4M DAU, $757M revenue.
- Moats:
  - Proprietary playAWARDS platform - described as "the game industry's only full-featured loyalty platform."
  - Partner network (84 partners, 275 brands) - difficult to replicate quickly.
  - Cross-promotional player network: organic seeding of new games to existing 4.2M MAU base.
  - Real-world rewards create switching costs and differentiated value proposition.
  - Award-winning track record: multiple EGR/EKG awards.
- Valuation vs. peers (EV $1,102M): EV/2022E Revenue 2.5x vs. gaming peers avg 5.8x; EV/2022E AEBITDA 12.3x vs. Playtika 16.7x/Zynga 16.4x.

## Team & funding ask / use of funds

- Team: Founder-led; Andrew Pascal (Founder, Chairman & CEO) - prior Wynn Resorts, WagerWorks, Silicon Gaming. Voting shares granted (20 votes per share).
- CFO: Scott Peterson (prior Wynn Resorts, Mirage Resorts, Coopers & Lybrand).
- Other founders: Paul Mathews (EVP), Katie Bolich (EVP Product), Yonatan Maor (PS Israel CEO), Yossi Sadoun (PS Israel CPO), John Lin (PS Asia GM).
- Transaction structure (SPAC):
  - SPAC: Acies Acquisition Corp., $215M cash in trust
  - Equity valuation of PLAYSTUDIOS: $1.041B
  - PIPE: $250M at $10/share (investors: BlackRock, ClearBridge, Neuberger Berman, MGM Resorts)
  - Sources: ACAC trust $215M + PIPE $250M + Company Rollover $891M + Company Cash $33M = $1,389M
  - Uses: Equity consideration $891M + Cash to company stockholders $150M + Cash to balance sheet $291M + Transaction expenses $58M = $1,389M
  - Post-close cash: ~$290M
  - Post-transaction ownership: 64% Company Rollover, 18% PIPE, 15% Acies Stockholders, 3% Acies Sponsor
  - 12-month lockup on existing PLAYSTUDIOS + Acies Sponsor shares
- Use of funds: Balance sheet cash (~$291M) to "accelerate growth" - M&A, new game genres, player network expansion, LaaS buildout.

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## Recommended financial model

- **Archetype + why:** SPAC/de-SPAC model (not a standalone operating forecast). This is a business combination between PLAYSTUDIOS and Acies Acquisition Corp. The deck is an investor presentation for the proposed merger. The appropriate model has two components:
  1. **Operating forecast model** - the company provides 2017A–2022E P&L with explicit line items; an operating model extending through 2025E is appropriate to test the 30% AEBITDA margin target.
  2. **SPAC transaction/pro forma model** - sources & uses, post-close cap table, share count build (including earnout shares, warrants, options), and pro forma EV/AEBITDA bridge.

- **Forecast horizon & granularity:**
  - Historical: 2017A–2019A (annual)
  - Near-term forecast: 2020E–2022E (annual; matches deck)
  - Long-range: 2023E–2025E (annual; needed to show 30% margin path)
  - No monthly/quarterly granularity provided or needed for this model.

- **Key drivers & assumptions:**

| Driver | Value | Source |
| ------- | ------ | ------- |
| 2020E Revenue | $269.8M | - |
| 2021E Revenue | $328.0M | - |
| 2022E Revenue | $435.2M | - |
| 2022E Revenue YoY growth | 32.7% | - |
| Revenue growth 2023E–2025E | ~15–20% declining | Based on genre maturity and comp trajectory after new game launch spike |
| CoS % of Revenue (2022E) | 29.5% | - |
| CoS % of Revenue (2023E+) | ~28–29% | Slight improvement from scale, consistent with management's margin bridge |
| UA % of Revenue (2022E) | 23.8% | - |
| UA % of Revenue (2023E+) | ~21–22% | +2.0–2.5% efficiency per slide 40 margin bridge |
| Other OpEx % of Revenue (2022E) | 26.1% | - |
| Other OpEx % of Revenue (2023E+) | ~23–24% | +2.5–3.0% efficiency per slide 40 |
| AEBITDA margin 2022E | 20.7% | - |
| AEBITDA margin 2023E | 25–26% | - |
| AEBITDA margin 2025E | 30% | - |
| Revenue waterfall 2020→2022: Loyalty Lift / Market Growth | +$45M | - |
| Revenue waterfall 2020→2022: Bingo (300K DAU, $0.40 ARPDAU) | +$45M | - |
| Revenue waterfall 2020→2022: Kingdom Boss (275K DAU, $0.50 ARPDAU) | +$60M | - |
| Revenue waterfall 2020→2022: Other (Ad Mon, Player Commerce) | +$15M | - |
| AEBITDA bridge 2020E→2022E: Core Games uplift | +$22M | - |
| AEBITDA bridge: Ad Monetization | +$12M | - |
| AEBITDA bridge: Bingo & Kingdom Boss | +$19M | - |
| AEBITDA bridge: Public Company Costs | $7M | - |
| 2020E AEBITDA normalized (pre new-game dev costs) | ~$44M | - |
| Post-close cash on balance sheet | ~$291M | - |
| Transaction equity value | $1.041B | - |
| Implied EV | $1,102M | - |
| PIPE raise | $250M at $10/share | - |
| Transaction expenses | $58M | - |
| Earnout shares threshold 1 | $12.50 for 20/30 days | - |
| Earnout shares threshold 2 | $15.00 for 20/30 days | - |
| Earnout shares (incremental) | 15M to company shareholders + 900K to sponsor | - |
| Peer EV/2022E Revenue (gaming avg) | 5.8x | - |
| Peer EV/2022E AEBITDA (Playtika) | 16.7x | - |
| PLAYSTUDIOS EV/2022E AEBITDA | 12.3x | - |

- **Scenarios (Base / Bull / Bear - which variables flex):**
  - **Base:** Deck projections - 2022E $435M revenue, $90M AEBITDA (20.7% margin). New games (Bingo + Kingdom Boss) hit DAU targets; margin expands to 30% by 2025.
  - **Bull:** M&A adds $50–100M incremental revenue post-2022; LaaS platform launched and gains external developers; loyalty network exceeds 100 partners. Revenue CAGR sustains >20% to 2025.
  - **Bear:** New games (Bingo, Kingdom Boss) underperform DAU/ARPDAU targets; UA spend elevated longer than forecast; margin stays sub-15% through 2023; M&A delayed. Revenue growth slows to high single digits.
  - **Flex variables:** DAU per new game title, ARPDAU per title, UA % of revenue, new game development spend timing, M&A contribution, LaaS revenue ramp, public company cost burden.

- **Required sheets / outputs:**
  1. **Transaction Summary** - sources & uses, pro forma ownership cap table, share count build (base + earnout + warrants + options), implied EV at various share prices.
  2. **P&L Forecast** - annual 2017A–2025E: Revenue, CoS, UA, Other OpEx, AEBITDA, AEBITDA margin. Match deck line-item structure exactly.
  3. **Revenue Bridge / Waterfall** - 2020E→2022E waterfall by growth driver (Loyalty Lift, Bingo, Kingdom Boss, Other).
  4. **AEBITDA Bridge** - 2020E→2022E waterfall by driver (Core Games, Ad Mon, Bingo+Kingdom Boss, Public Co Costs).
  5. **Margin Walk** - CY20→CY22→CY23→CY25 margin expansion waterfall.
  6. **Comps / Valuation** - EV/Revenue and EV/AEBITDA multiples vs. Playtika, Zynga, SciPlay, Glu, Gaming Peers Avg. at various EV scenarios.
  7. **Assumptions** - clearly tagged vs. per driver.

## Frequently asked questions

### Is the PLAYSTUDIOS financial model free?

Yes. The PLAYSTUDIOS model is a free Excel download with live formulas.

### Can I change the assumptions?

Yes. The workbook is editable and its live formulas recalculate when assumptions change.