SPYR Inc (OTCMKTS:SPYR) has begun to frame an increasingly powerful narrative. The company’s latest press communication does an excellent job of separating this company from the competition. The company just announced that its flagship game, Pocket Starships, is now available for download and/or web play on 46 separate game portals throughout the world. The upshot of that distribution channel width is, effectively, access to over 100 million potential users.
The strategy of gaining increasing exposure through online portals was discussed by the company in their year-end shareholder letter as particularly advantageous because they are generally going to be able to access and extend those relationships in a manner that comes at no upfront cost to the company. Last time, we noted that it had been included the new Gameroom platform, now available in beta, for Windows PC gamers that was recently developed and released by Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB). Taken together, these stories highlight the theme: the reach of this brand is on a breakneck pace of expansion.
SPYR Inc (OTCMKTS:SPYR) engages in the digital media and restaurant businesses primarily in the United States. The company engages in developing, publishing, co-publishing, and marketing mobile games and applications.
It also owns and operates American Diner theme restaurant under the Eat at Joe’s brand located in the Philadelphia International Airport in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The company was formerly known as Eat at Joe’s, Ltd. and changed its name to SPYR, Inc. in March 2015. SPYR, Inc. was incorporated in 1988 and is headquartered in Denver, Colorado.
According to the company’s materials, “SPYR, INC. is a holding company that through its wholly owned subsidiary SPYR APPS, LLC, is engaged in mobile application and game publishing and development. SPYR, INC. also owns and operates an “American Diner” theme restaurant located in the Philadelphia International Airport in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania called “Eat at Joe’s” through its other wholly-owned subsidiary, E.A.J.: PHL Airport Inc. The Company is currently exploring opportunities for additional acquisitions in these and other verticals, including mobile application and game development, to expand its holdings, to drive and increase revenue and to generate profits and build value for shareholders.”
Wide Gauge
As noted above, as discussed in SPYR’s February 2, 2017 Shareholder Update Press Release, one of SPYR’s strategies with Pocket Starships has been to make the game available on as many web portals as possible under revenue sharing arrangements.
According to the release, “each portal has a unique user base, and combined these portals are exposing Pocket Starships to more than 100 Million monthly active users. These individual portals provide the opportunity for Pocket Starships to be specifically featured on the portal, increasing visibility, users and revenue. The owners of the portals receive a percentage of the revenue generated from in-app purchases made by the users playing the game through the portal, but there is no upfront cash outlay by SPYR.”
We have seen similar tactics used at Skyworks Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:SWKS), ARM Holdings plc (ADR) (NASDAQ:ARMH), and Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA).
The strategy also affords a strong global dimension to the work that the company is doing. “Through these international web portals, Pocket Starships is available to gamers in their native languages in many different countries, including France, Russia, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Brazil and Indonesia. The portals expand on the targeted reach of Pocket Starships, which is already available worldwide on Android, Apple, Amazon and the web.”
The stock is sitting in an interesting pullback after breaking higher last month. The overall trend remains fixed strongly to the upside. In fact, from a strict technical perspective, one can easily make a case that the stock is tracing out a potential breakout setup.
The current key factor in the action on the chart is the upward sloped 50-day SMA, which has been held as support for the past 10-15 days.
If support holds and resistance in the $1/share area comes back into play, we can start to think in terms of what sort of catalyst might be able to drive a true breakout in a stock like SPYR. According to the release, SPYR is expecting eight more game portals to add Pocket Starships in the coming weeks. If packaged well, that further expansion might help get the job done.
