PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 4, 2011 — Ryzing LLC, a unique upstart social gaming company based in Philadelphia, PA, is giving players two great new reasons to play its first social Facebook game titled "Bingo by Ryzing." Players can help charities as well as win real cash and prizes.
Ryzing's twist on playing for charity is fun and unique. Ryzing selects a set of charities to compete for a cash prize. Having just completed its first charity tournament, Ryzing is discovering some interesting insights about the charitable outlooks of its social gamers.
Ryzing's first charity tournament ran from December 7, 2010 to December 22, 2010 and featured 25 highly rated charities. More than 1.2 million votes were cast over a two-week period and the run away winner was St. Jude's Children's Hospital with 381,046 votes. The Humane Society of the United States came in second with 234,189 votes. "This is consistent with common interests our players share on their public Facebook profiles — kids and pets," said Anitha Vadivel, Ryzing's data analytics manager.
Interestingly, the most votes from a single city came from the tiny city of Natchitoches, Louisiana, which has a population of 17,865. Players from Natchitoches cast 16,448 votes — an average of almost 1 vote per resident from a town where the per capita income is a little more than $12,000 per year!
"It was very nice to be reminded that a small town can have such a big heart. All of the participating charities, even those who didn't win cash, received tremendous exposure for their causes. Every one was a winner," remarked Jennifer Koren, Ryzing's community manager.
Ryzing is currently running its second charity tournament, which is focused on breast cancer charities. The tournament ends on January 3rd with the winner getting a cash prize. "We focused on breast cancer because it's a topic of importance to our players," said Koren, "the participation is already tremendous."
Ryzing isn't the first to use social games to benefit charities, but it is unique in combining the attraction of real cash and prizes and helping great charities. As social gaming continues to grow into a mass interactive entertainment medium, its potential to be used for raising money and awareness for important causes by taking micro-transactions from millions of players is immense. It's not surprising that charities are getting involved with social games such as Bingo by Ryzing to help them advance their causes.
About:
Ryzing is a startup social gaming company based in center city Philadelphia, PA. Founded by gaming veterans, Ryzing's mission is to bring social gamers the attraction of playing for charities and winning real cash and prizes.
http://www.ryzing.com/CharityLanding.aspx
For further information, please contact David Gloss at Email; 610-772-1270
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