Playboy jumps into bed with BigPoint for Poisonville promotion

It's getting to the point where it would be shorter to start naming the big-name media companies that don't have some sort of interest in the social gaming space. The list already includes Disney, Sports Illustrated, ESPN, News Corp.... you know, we're kind of regretting not writing out that shorter list right about now.

Anyway, today you can add the venerable Playboy brand to that list, as the company has announced a partnership with German social game developer BigPoint Games to promote their new 3D social gang-themed title Poisonville on Playboy.com. The effort is part of a new, unnamed gaming label Playboy is aiming to have fully set up by the end of the year, according to PaidContent.

Despite the Playboy name's racy image, the new label and BigPoint partnership aren't aimed at prurient interests. "One of our core competencies involves using our brand to present quality content," Playboy Managing Director for New Digital Ventures Paul Lee told PaidContent. "Gaming is a growing, mainstream area. And part of our plan is to extend Playboy's brand into the mainstream." Playboy reportedly hasn't invested any sort of equity in BigPoint, but Lee said the company "fit the bill for what we needed to get started."