INK Games

About INK Games

Based in Austin, Texas, INK Games is a venture-capital-backed entertainment software company founded in 2017 by CEO Robert Towles and President/CCO Josh Gause. The firm is developing a social gaming platform centered on a revenue-sharing model that compensates users for their influence and network reach. Robert Towles is a serial entrepreneur with a history of multi-million dollar exits, including a significant role as a lead investor in Buffalo Studios, which was acquired by Caesars Interactive. His background in leveraging viral social media campaigns for growth informs the company's strategy. Josh Gause brings extensive experience from the gaming industry, having been a two-time Emmy-nominated designer who helped Electronic Arts enter social gaming and founded studios later acquired by major players like Zynga.

The company's business model aims to disrupt traditional user acquisition in mobile gaming by paying users a share of the revenue generated through their social connections on the platform. This is managed by a proprietary Payment and Tracking Engine, which maps each user's viral reach and calculates ongoing royalty payments. The system assigns each user a unique "INK ID" invite code to track referrals and subsequent network activity in perpetuity. Revenue is generated from in-game purchases and subscriptions across its portfolio of games. The platform serves mobile gamers, social media users, and online influencers, offering them a direct way to monetize their online presence.

INK Games' flagship product is the INK Platform, accessible via iOS and Google Play, which integrates its payment and tracking technology. The primary title developed in-house is "Prize Kingdoms," a free-to-earn casual board game that features a built-in sweepstakes engine, allowing players to win real-world prizes. A key feature recently introduced is "Cash Quests," which rewards players with real money for completing in-game actions at no cost to them. The platform is also designed to support third-party developers through a software development kit (SDK), enabling them to integrate INK's monetization engine into their own games and products. The company is also exploring Web3 incentives and a digital currency to further enhance the platform's ecosystem.