[donavanm]

I have a little knowledge of actual gambling “games” ala video poker etc. They seem to be dominated by large publishers who farm content from a collection of in house & contract “studios.” The studious crank out an entire new game on the order of 12-16 weeks using a single integrated team of development, art assets, marketing and production management. Releasing multiple games varying in assets/branding, but identical mechanics, is a very intentional strategy. Applies to “refrahing” popular older games as well.

History wise I suspect the micro monetized mobile apps trace their origins back to the “social platform” games of the 2000s ala Zynga, and the online “game platforms” of poker, faux-scrabble, etc of the yahoo era.