Playtika had already been sold twice before it ever went public. Robert Antokol and Uri Shahak founded the Israeli game studio in 2010. Caesars Entertainment bought it a year later. In 2016 Caesars sold it to a Chinese consortium led by Giant Network for $4.4 billion. Its games, such as Slotomania, were free to play and earned money when players paid for coins. In January 2021, with people stuck at home and gaming on phones, Playtika went public.

A Casino Company's Side Bet

Antokol and Shahak started Playtika in 2010 with Slotomania, a social slots game on Facebook. Caesars bought the company in May 2011 and let it run on its own. The bet was that a small share of players would spend real money on virtual coins, and that careful data work could keep them playing for years. Playtika bought other studios and their hit games, and ran them all with the same playbook.

Nearly $1.9 Billion Raised

Playtika priced its IPO at $27 a share in January 2021 and raised about $1.88 billion. Its shares began trading on Nasdaq as PLTK on January 15 and jumped in their debut. Growth slowed as the pandemic faded. Playtika bought SuperPlay in 2024 and cut about 20 percent of its staff in late 2025. In 2026 a special committee of its board began a review of strategic options, and Playtika still trades on Nasdaq.

Cover: Cat Playing with a Toy Butterfly, Totoya Hokkei. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for a cat at play (Playtika).