The success of free to play social media casino games like Zynga Poker on Facebook is showing that social media gaming is outdoing real money poker and other online gambling. Owners of Zynga turned down the chance to enter the real poker market and decided they were fine with sticking with social media gaming.
Social Media Gaming Less “Messy”
One of the biggest reasons that social media gaming is becoming so huge is that regulations governing real money gambling are complicated and can change merely due to a different political party getting into office, while social media gaming is mostly unoffending and inexpensive and getting more popular every day.
It’s estimated that more than 400 million people play social media gaming every month and that number is expected to at least double in the next five years with it being worth more than $17 billion dollars by 2019. Those numbers alone make it a great gaming venue for potential investors over the profits of real money gambling.
Social Media Gaming Grew With the Mobile Industry
One of the biggest reasons social media gaming is growing so fast is that mobile technology is also growing quickly and is expected to continue to get better and be accepted by even more individuals. With the introduction of tablets and smartphones, social game creators are working harder than ever to develop new games for their potential customers.
It’s estimated that about half the time people spend online is when they are playing these games. This is providing opportunities for profit making in several venues. Many companies, such as Caesar’s Interactive, are investing millions of bucks into social casino games.
Researchers like Eilers Research group say that the real money gambling industry is going to have to make some major changes before it can hope to challenge the social media gaming “fake” online gaming sites. This research shows that the total profits generated by the social media casino type games is 10x higher than traditional regulated online gambling. This is true even though players of the social media casino type of games can buy chips but not ever really cash them in for real money.
Real Money Gambling Not as Available
One of the reasons for this is likely the lack of availability since real money online gambling can only be played in three states, which only represents less than five percent of the population in the US. Social media casino games, however, can be played everywhere nationwide.
This could remain true for a long time since the approval of real money gambling is a slow process in the US. In addition, there are other factors such as location, payment processing issues, lack of potential customers knowing if online gambling has been approved in their state, and tax issues such as in Delaware where winners must turn over the first $3.75mm to the state.
The bottom line is that at least for now and possibly the foreseeable future, social media gaming is outdoing real money gambling in the US.