PlayMG has found another kid to game with: Olivia Holt.
One of the stars of Disney XD’s “Kickin’ It” has partnered with the mobile device maker to serve as an owner in the company. In return, she will help promote the brand and help the company develop new versions of the device that enables its core audience of teens and tweens to play apps and games on its four-inch screen.
Deal to give away ownership in a company to a spokesperson is an unusual one for a new digital player, but one that others may replicate as they look to step out of the shadows of larger companies like Apple and Samsung.
PlayMG has a similar four-year partnership and ownership deal with basketball player Kyrie Irving, of the Cleveland Cavaliers, where he and Holt will give weekly recommendations of which apps to download. Holt recently promoted “Subway Surfers” and “Heads Up!”
“When they expressed interest in learning more about the brand and teaming up together on collaboration opportunities, we jumped at the opportunity to have such incredible influencers join the company and help set a course for our future offerings,” said T. Scott Edwards, president and CEO of PlayMG Corp. “We are fortunate to have both of them involved because they not only play app-based games, but they want to share their knowledge of gaming with the broader app gaming audience.”
Launched less than a year ago, PlayMG promotes itself as “the first dedicated pocketable Wi-Fi app gaming system exclusively for Android.” It currently offers more than 60,000 apps on the device, including Facebook and Twitter. Company’s hardware resembles a smartphone or Apple iTouch and runs off Google’s Android system, giving younger users something they’re already familiar with.
The devices are currently sold on Amazon and PlayMG’s website and are priced at $180.
PlayMG is essentially looking to target what it calls “the app-generation,” or teens and tweens that don’t yet have a smartphone but want one. It estimates that there are 55 million 3- to 19-year-olds that do not currently have smartphones in the U.S., giving it a sizable market to grow its business.
Holt sparked to PlayMG’s business model of giving kids a chance to interact via apps and play games without having to pay the monthly fee for a smartphone.
“PlayMG is basically an amazing device where kids can play app-based games all day long,” Holt told Variety. “People my age just love to play games and they’re constantly asking to borrow their parents’ smartphones. I’m also a big social media person. I’m always on my Twitter or Instagram. That’s the one thing I have to have.”
Holt said she hopes to help make PlayMG more kid friendly.
“If it’s something boring, no kid will want to pick it up,” she said. “It has to have the perfect shape, the perfect functions, the perfect design layout. That’s what we’re shooting for. We want kids to say we want this on me every single day.”
