Friday, August 5, 2016

Singlepoint, Inc. (SING) Looks to Cash in on Pokémon Go Craze through Development of Companion App

In late May, Singlepoint, Inc. (OTC: SING) acquired an interest in DraftFury, a daily fantasy sports (DFS) company that’s widely recognized as the first cash flow positive enterprise in the DFS space. With this transaction, Singlepoint immediately grabbed a foothold in an industry that’s been on fire in recent years. According to data from the Fantasy Sports Trade Association (http://nnw.fm/TpI8p), roughly 57.4 million players will participate in fantasy sports in 2016, with DFS activities accounting for the lion’s share of spending. As recently as 2012, DFS accounted for just over six percent of fantasy sports spending. Its rapid emergence and subsequent overtaking of traditional fantasy sports contests have created opportunities for fast-moving companies operating in the space. Singlepoint’s decision to acquire an interest in the DFS sector demonstrated its flexibility to capitalize on market opportunities by leaning on the experience of its management team.

With this in mind, it came as little surprise when, earlier this week, Singlepoint turned its sights toward the latest trend to take the country by storm – Pokémon Go. On Tuesday, the company announced that its board of directors has approved an initiative to build a mobile app that caters to bringing like-minded Pokémon Go players together and offering reward-backed communication opportunities. Singlepoint has already initiated discussions with programmers under contract to develop this app, which will reportedly reward users for performing a variety of geo-targeted actions while playing Niantic’s immensely popular mobile game.

Since its release on July 6, Pokémon Go has effectively rewritten the mobile record books. Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) recently reported that the game was downloaded more times during its first week than any other app in the history of the App Store. User data supports these statistics. As of July 18, Pokémon Go had an active user base of 21 million people spanning 35 countries. Despite adhering to a free-to-play model, the app has also been extremely successful in generating revenue. According to analysts from Needham and Company, Pokémon Go’s ratio of paid users to total users is roughly 10 times that of Candy Crush, the smash hit from Activision Blizzard’s (NASDAQ: ATVI) King Digital Entertainment that raked in more than $1 billion in revenue for two consecutive years from 2013 to 2014. Even Nintendo (OTC: NTDOY), which released a statement confirming that the income it will receive from Pokémon Go is expected to be “limited,” saw its share price nearly double in the days following the game’s release.

Alongside the popularity of Pokémon Go, a number of developers have demonstrated the viability of companion apps that improve its play experience. GoChat, for example, is currently available for both iOS and Google’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) Android mobile operating system. Because Pokémon Go lacks an in-game chat feature, GoChat has proven extremely successful in riding in the game’s wake. Jonathan Zarra, a first-time developer and creator of GoChat, told The Verge that, within five days of launch, his free app was approaching one million users and hitting servers with 600 requests per second. Still, GoChat is just one of many available companion apps for Pokémon Go players. The Verge estimates that about 10 percent of the individuals who have downloaded the game have also downloaded at least one third-party chat app to go along with it (http://nnw.fm/mM82M).

The early successes of companion apps reiterate the viability of Singlepoint’s plan to capitalize on the growing Pokémon Go craze. By integrating message boards with additional features that enhance the play experience, the company’s upcoming app could help it establish a sustainable foothold in the next big wave in digital entertainment. Greg Lambrecht, chief executive officer of Singlepoint, confirmed this vision in a recent news release.

“We are perfectly aligned in the mobile app space to take advantage of the current phenomenon that is Pokémon Go, along with similar scenarios in the gaming world across the board moving forward,” he stated. “We are to the point where technology has demonstrated the ability for gaming to bring players to the outdoors: engaging, exploring and with a camaraderie among players like never before. We intend to capitalize on this in a big way.”

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.Singlepoint.com

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