World Poker Tour Enters Into Asian Agreement With Ourgame International
Well-known poker brand World Poker Tour (WPT) has announced that they have entered in to a licensing agreement with the Chinese online gaming service provider Ourgame International, which will see Ourgame rewarded with exclusive rights to the WPT brand for 7 years across 14 territories.
The new agreement will see Ourgame pushing the WPT throughout a host of Asian countries including China, Korean, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand, as well as into Japan through a non-exclusive rights agreement with the WPT.
World Poker Tour & Ourgame International
Founded in 2002 by attorney and television producer Steven Lipscomb, the World Poker Tour is one of if not the most famous international poker tournaments in the world.
In 2009 it was purchased by PartyGaming plc for a lofty $12,300,000. With the merger of Bwin Interactive Entertainment AG in 2011, the WPT is now officially owned by Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment.
Ourgame International has its roots back in 1998 when Bao Yueqiao, Jian Jing and Wang Jianhua formed a company with an interest in board gaming along with card games.
Now under the ownership of SeaRainbow Holding Corporation, Ourgame is said to have 70 million registered users and 700,000 paying members.
Solidifying The Relationship
The two entities already had a working relationship, with Ourgame backing the previous WPT Chinese national tournament, and this new agreement will see the solidifying of the relationship ahead of an aggressive expansion into the lucrative and popular Asian gaming market.
Ourgame has announced their plans for the World Poker Tournament brand, which are indeed lofty.
Asian gamers can expect to see the launch of new WPT branded tournaments along with live streaming of WPT events, as well a host of online associated products including free-play mode games and social media gaming websites.
Comment From The WPT & Ourgame
The World Poker Tournament will be delighted at the chance to expand into Asia, and comments by President Adam Pliska reflect that.
Pliska noted and praised Ourgame International’s previous efforts and working relationship with the WPT, and in particular the WPT China event which was held at the MGM Grand Sanya, as well as nominating Ourgame as the ideal partner to grow and distribute the WPT brand throughout the region.
The agreement has to be seen as a win for Ourgame and the growing Asian poker market as well.
Ourgame’s CE Frank Ng returned the compliments from the WPT, and noted that Ourgame’s position as the leading board and card game platform in China makes them an ideal partner to progress the WPT throughout Asia.
