Facebook’s entrance into real-money wagering this week is set to draw followers into the evolving landscape.
“As the convergence of casual gaming and social gambling further evolves across other jurisdictions, it’s refreshing to see strategic moves by industry leaders like Facebook taking shape. There’s no reason to repeat the mistakes of the past by other sectors, like music and publishing, and resist the pulse of innovation. The i-gaming industry has more to gain by embracing change and evolving business models,” said Hal Bringman, chairman of social gaming for EiG.
Speculation surrounding Facebook’s interest in gambling has been circulating the industry for almost a year, since it was revealed in December 2011 that Facebook executives were discussing real-money options with a small group of industry operators. The rumour was later escalated by IGT with the acquisition of social game company Double Down Interactive and a number of other partnership discussions between social game developers and gambling companies.
Although anticipation will continue on who will be next, Facebook denies plans to launch with other operators, as reported by Reuters. The social network platform’s new addition will also intensify calls for regulation of social gaming, an area already being monitored by the UK Gambling Commission.
The debate that started less than a year ago will continue to evaluate the commercial viability of real-money gaming on Facebook, conversion rate from social gaming to real-money gambling, propensity of social gamers to switch to real-money gambling and partnership opportunities coming out of the convergence of social gaming and gambling.
CEOs and decision makers from companies involved in the space, including William Hill, Gala Coral, Betfair, DragonPlay, Lottomatica, Boylesports, Plumbee, Blitzoo Games, Playsino, 6waves, Sportech, Crowdpark, King.com, Slingo, Yazino, among many others, are confirmed panelists to discuss the above topics at the 11th European iGaming Congress and Expo in Barcelona from October 16-18.
