RealNetworks, which is already a leader in the casual games space, today announced a deal to acquire Game Trust, which would enhance its RealArcade offerings. The transaction, expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year, will allow Real to integrate Game Trust's Game Frame platform capabilities into the technology platform currently offered to Real's games syndication partners. Real powers more than 200 casual games channels across the globe.

Although Real would not confirm the financial terms, The Wall Street Journal cites a "person familiar with the matter" who estimates the acquisition to be worth about $20 million.

GameDaily BIZ spoke with Erik Goossens, VP Game Content, RealNetworks and the co-founder of European casual games developer and publisher Zylom, which Real acquired in February 2006. Goossens said he hopes to wrap up the deal by the end of this week. He said the primary reason Real has been pursuing Game Trust is that the company has received numerous requests from its users and syndication partners for social/community features; eventually Real will be able to implement chat, leaderboards, buddy lists and multiplayer functionality. Goossens said users will start to see new features "pretty rapidly towards the beginning of next year."

"Our partners want to add social networking to their sites to further engage their game players," said Harold Zeitz, senior vice president for Real's Games Division, in a statement. "This acquisition will create enhanced consumer experiences for our partners' offerings and for Real's casual games players."

"Social networking will be a catalyst for the next wave of casual games growth," commented James Kuai, a research analyst at Parks Associates. "This new partnership demonstrates how industry leaders like RealNetworks are capitalizing on the growing popularity of social networking and community to provide a richer experience for casual games audiences."

"Social networking is a critical next step for the casual games industry and for Lifetime," added Kris Soumas, vice president of Games at Lifetime, the leading network for women and a top syndication partner with Real. "We're looking forward to implementing Game Trust's technology with Real to enhance our extremely popular games section and strengthen the sense of community on LifetimeTV.com."

Goossens also emphasized the importance of this deal to game developers. He said it will "give them another way to generate revenue from their IP." He added that Real has teams in place to help game developers localize their content and to integrate the Game Trust technology into their games.

Goossens noted that the Game Trust staff will be fully integrated into Real and it was actually a key part of the deal. "I'm very happy with that. The roots of Game Trust are seven years old... and these guys have a tremendous amount of experience. The tenure of the people on average is very strong, so for us this is literally like a goldmine of knowledge that we will be able to integrate... It was actually one of the key parts of the decision to make this deal," he explained.

"We are very excited to join Real and push the casual games industry forward," said Adeo Ressi, CEO of Game Trust. "This agreement unites the industry's top content, top distribution, and top technology platform. The players will ultimately benefit."

Real has purchased a number of game or digital entertainment companies in the last two years, and Game Trust is likely not the last. When asked about Real's future acquisition plans Goossens said, "If you look back at our history, that often says a lot about where we're going. That's how we've been executing so far, and there's a plan in place for the future."

Part of that plan will likely include working on consoles in addition to the PC. Thanks to Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network and in the near future WiiWare, casual games are gaining in popularity on the consoles. In fact, Goossens said Real's work on consoles "is happening as we speak."