Game for Buzztime’s BEOND™ Platform Takes Trivia to a New Dimension
CARLSBAD, CA – March 10, 2015 – NTN Buzztime, Inc. (NYSE MKT: NTN), a leading provider of in-venue social entertainment for bars and restaurants, announces the availability of the Jackpot Trivia™ game, which infuses traditional bar and restaurant trivia with popular game show and interactive social gaming elements. With the release of Jackpot Trivia, Buzztime extends its reach in the trivia category and expands the options that bars and restaurants offering the Buzztime service have to thrill and excite consumers, attract new guests, increase sales, and foster greater patron loyalty.
“Jackpot Trivia is available exclusively on Buzztime’s tablet-based BEOND™ platform, the most advanced entertainment-on-demand platform we’ve ever offered,” said Ram Krishnan, Buzztime’s CEO. “One of our key priorities has been to migrate Buzztime locations to BEOND, which enables automatic content updates and interactive play. In 2014 alone we moved our BEOND install base from 4% to 36%. Jackpot Trivia further enhances the value we bring to customers and consumers, and makes our BEOND migration that much more exciting.”
Jackpot Trivia presents players with tens of thousands of questions from over one hundred modern trivia categories with a pop culture set ranging from Beyoncé to Big Bang Theory, sports topics such as NASCAR, and geek culture subjects that include Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, Star Wars, and video games. These questions are combined with familiar social game mechanics that make the game accessible to an audience wider than just trivia experts. For example, players can use “boosts” during game play when they are unsure of an answer or “double up” when they are certain they are correct. The result is an entertaining, inviting, interactive trivia experience that keeps patrons coming back for more.
“Jackpot Trivia revolutionizes the trivia category by giving players a singular ability to influence the outcome of their game play, no matter how skilled they are at trivia,” said Bob Cooney, Buzztime Chief Operating Officer. “By blending Buzztime’s long history of leadership in the trivia category with the best of social gaming, Jackpot Trivia becomes a fresh concept that will captivate bar and restaurant patrons.”
Jackpot Trivia is the first in-house game created in association with famed game designer Raph Koster, lead talent behind such well-known video games as Ultima Online and Star Wars Galaxies and an innovator in social game mechanics. The game was built on the modern Unity cross-platform framework—another company first—which promotes publishing nimbly and quickly to a variety of devices. Buzztime expects to release a mobile version of the game on iOS and Android later this year.
Jackpot Trivia features rich animation and a contemporary look and feel. The 10-round game introduces a number of strategic elements which add a new dimension to social gaming:
Category Vote—Players can customize their game experience to exhibit their own strengths or anticipate their opponents’ weaknesses before competing by voting for the trivia categories they want.
Boosts—In-game options such as “Hint,” “50/50,” “Double Up” and “Free” allow players to jump ahead of their rivals or maintain their lead when they’re stumped for an answer.
Stakes—A stack of in-game tokens allows players to hedge their answers on difficult questions, increasing their odds of being correct.
Furthermore, Buzztime will provide automatic content updates to Jackpot Trivia based on the most popular topics that players select over time. This not only keeps the game fresh and relevant, but also allows it to reflect the categories and content most in-demand in different locations, thereby enhancing its appeal to specific classes of patrons, like millennials and families.
Jackpot Trivia is now available at establishments equipped with Buzztime’s BEOND tablets. To learn more about Jackpot Trivia, go to www.buzztime.com
About Buzztime:
NTN Buzztime, Inc. (NYSE MKT: NTN) is a leading bar and restaurant social entertainment and integrated marketing platform. Trusted by bars and restaurants in North America since 1985, Buzztime integrates trivia, card and sports games with in- and out-of-venue messaging and communication tools. With over 6 million player registrations on the Buzztime platform and over 60 million games played each year, Buzztime players spread the word and invite friends and family to their favorite Buzztime locations to enjoy evenings of fun and competition. With Buzztime entertainment and marketing solutions, bars and restaurants can turn casual visitors into regulars, and give patrons a reason to stay longer. For the most up-to-date information on NTN Buzztime, please visit https://www.buzztime.com or follow us on Facebook or Twitter @buzztime.
Forward-looking Statements:
This release contains forward-looking statements which reflect management’s current views of future events and operations, including but not limited to statements about our growth plans, product and platform development and new revenue. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. These risks and uncertainties include the risks of unsuccessful execution or launch of products, platforms or brands, the impact of alternative entertainment options and technologies and competitive products, brands, technologies and pricing, adverse economic conditions, and the regulatory environment, and the failure of customer and/or player acceptance or demand for new or existing products. Please see NTN Buzztime, Inc.’s recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for information about these and other risks that may affect the Company. All forward-looking statements included in this release are based on information available to us on the date hereof. These statements speak only as of the date hereof and NTN Buzztime, Inc. does not undertake to publicly update or revise any of its forward-looking statements, even if experience or future changes show that the indicated results or events will not be realized.