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Category Archives: Facebook
Bunker Mode Launches High Limit Sports Mobile App
The social sports-betting market just got a new contender. The company Bunker Mode has launched a new mobile app called High Limit Sports, available for iOS devices. An Android version is planned for later.
The game is intended for audiences interested in a purely social betting experience, with no risk of losing real money. It was developed by Greg Dirrenberger, Jason Bredice, and Matt Pangborn out of San Francisco. Check out some more details on VentureBeat.
“Our goal with High Limit Sports was to turn sports betting into a game, removing the complexity of the sports-book experience and replacing it with entertaining features that reward people for playing often,” said Dirrenberger. “We’ve created a mobile game that connects fans with their favorite team in an even deeper way while providing a great second-screen experience for tracking live sporting events.”
Ah, the second-screen experience. It’s a concept that’s been gaining ground in popular entertainment these days. A recent study found that 85 percent of tablet owners use their devices when watching TV. There is vast potential for attractive new apps to cash in on the second-screen experience. Sports-betting apps are one way, especially when you consider that Sean Ryan, the director of game partnerships at Facebook recently said that “sports fantasy apps are certainly an area that was underrepresented.” Every time someone employed by Facebook says something is underrepresented, startup folks perk up all across the Bay area like startled meerkats.
At the moment, High Limit Sports is a free-to-play title that features NFL, CFL and NCAA football. The company intends to add additional sports later, beginning with the NBA.
Is High Limit Sports late to the show? Hardly! Just because companies like RocketPlay and Pickmoto have arrived on the scene doesn’t mean that Bunker Mode’s new game has any less of a chance to take off. As Matt Pangborn said, “We may be the 10th to come out this month, but the platform we are building will be a lot different. We believe this is an underserved demographic, and we will be true to the casual sports game segment.”
Check out the game for yourself and see what High Limit Sports has to offer this emerging new market.
Betable Forms Partnerships to Compete with Zynga
Betable Ltd has reached agreements with three social-gaming companies that will uses its platform to directly compete with Zynga’s entry into the ring. Bloomberg has full coverage of the story.
Slingo Inc, which is a maker of virtual slots and bingo titles, will use Betable’s shiny new U.K. gambling license and technology for future games. Slingo attracts roughly 54 million users every single month. The other companies that have partnered up with Betable are Digital Chocolate Inc and Murka Ltd.
Digital Chocolate was started by Electronic Arts, Inc. and Murka is the maker of the popular game “Slots Journey.”
Last week, Zynga formed a partnership with bwin.party to launch U.K. real-money gambling. But Betable was first on the scene with its partnership with Big Fish Games, which recently launched its first real-money gambling game. They’re interested in pressing that homefield advantage. Betable believes it can streamline the licensing and offer developers a framework to instantly get things running on social networks.
Betable’s new partner Slingo believes that the development of online operations will benefit he company. “Our goal would be to transition online players into gamblers of our content,” Slingo CEO Rich Roberts said in an interview with Bloomberg. “Betable gives us an opportunity to move a little bit quicker than we could on our own.”
Online gambling has been legal in the U.K. since 2005, and has reached a market value of over $2 billion.
The Staggering Growth of Online Gambling
On this lovely Friday afternoon, Chipist is giving you some weekend homework. Your assignment is to study the numbers in the below infographic and remind yourself of exactly what kind of industry the world of online gambling represents. Created by the folks over at Poker Sites, the graphic states that in a sense, the growth of online gambling has actually surpassed social media itself.
There was a 32 percent increase in online gambling in just a single year. One year saw an entire third more people get into the game. Social media only saw a 4.5 percent growth. Now, you’ll need to take that with a grain of salt. Social media already has a titanic number of users, so a 4.5 percent yearly increase still constitutes a significant number of people. But it’s exciting to see that online gambling grew by such a huge margin as well.
The graphic also takes a look at the U.S. market. We already know the U.K. market is thriving, but we’re more interested in our own shores. Coming in at 63 percent, lottery play is the most popular online gambling activity. I’m wondering what kind of numbers we’d see if online poker was regulated by the federal government?
Click the infographic for a full view.
Click for full resolution.
Zynga Makes First Move Toward Real-Money Gambling
Just because Zynga didn’t purchase the OnGame Network doesn’t mean it didn’t have a trick up its sleeve. Today the company announced an exclusive partnership with bwin.party that marks the company’s first move into the holy grail of real-money social gambling. At the moment, the plans seem to suggest that the real-money operations will only occur in the United Kingdom, which falls in line with industry predictions that Zynga would not announce such a plan for U.S. customers.
This is pretty big news, and it will be exciting to see how this announcement impact investor reception of Zynga’s third quarter results. Just yesterday, Zynga axed a whole bunch of folks, and this announcement is feeling like a bit of a bounceback.
It’s worth posting the company’s press release in its entirety because this is a historic industry development. Check back later for more news.
SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 24, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Zynga (Nasdaq:ZNGA), the world’s leading provider of social game services, and bwin.party, the leading international real money gaming operator, today announced an exclusive partnership to offer real money online Poker and Casino games in the UK market. Zynga’s UK-based RMG service and bwin.party will launch RMG products including Poker and a full suite of 180 Casino games in the first half of 2013, which include table games such as slots, roulette and blackjack.
“Bringing together Zynga’s expertise in social gaming with the top international real money gaming operator is the best way to create the highest quality gaming experiences for our players in the UK,” said Barry Cottle, Executive Vice President, Corporate and Business Development, Zynga. “Partnering with an established leader like bwin.party is a strategic and prudent way for us to enter a key RMG market while giving local players the real money games they’ve been asking us for.”
“Today’s announcement is another example of our success in leveraging our assets through strategic blue-chip partners,” said Jim Ryan and Norbert Teufelberger, Co-CEOs of bwin.party. “Zynga is the world’s leader in social games with hundreds of millions of active players worldwide and a significant player base in the UK. We are delighted to have been selected as their chosen partner for this important step in their evolution, and hope to expand our relationship into other products and markets.”
Zynga’s real money UK poker customers will join the bwin.party dotcom player liquidity pool — getting the benefits of playing on the largest regulated poker network. Zynga’s UK-based RMG service will be powered by the established operating platform, software, and related support of bwin.party.
In addition to the full suite of Casino and Poker games, Zynga’s UK-based RMG service will also leverage the company’s world renowned entertainment brand, FarmVille, to offer local players the first-ever, online FarmVille-branded real money slots game.
Zynga’s UK-based RMG service will operate under bwin.party’s Gibraltar gaming license.
The Two-Screen Experience for Social Betting and Entertainment
The “second-screen” experience is a concept that is gaining ground in sports and entertainment. Fantasy football’s popularity has increased the usage of mobile devices and laptop computers during game day, and chances are you’ve watched a game on Monday night with friends gripping smartphones or keying laptops perched in front of them.
Matthew Cullen, president and chief business development officer of RocketPlay, the company which recently launched the sports betting Facebook game Sports Casino, feels that the two-screen experience allows fans to feel closer to the action. In an op-ed on Social Casino Intelligence, Cullen wrote that RocketPlay developed Sports Casino to offer players a “more in-depth experience when watching sports and predicting the outcomes—something beyond simply placing a single, isolated bet about the final outcome of a game.”
A recent Forrester Study found that 85 percent of tablet owners use their devices when watching TV. It’s a concept that AMC capitalized on during its latest season of Breaking Bad, and you’d better get used to hearing the term “two-screen experience” before getting your zombie-killing groove on in a new episode of The Walking Dead. As an even timelier example, news outlets are reporting on the trending topics and social media mentions that occur in real time during the Presidential debates. Perhaps during tonight’s debate, we’ll get another amusing sound-bite out of one or both of the candidates, and you’ll likely hear about it because folks will have their smartphones and tablets in their hands while watching.
It is a sound business strategy to incorporate the two-screen experience in a number of entertainment ventures, and RocketPlay’s Sports Casino is a smart choice for fantasy players looking to augment their sports-watching experience. At the moment, Sports Casino is an exclusively browser-based game, but the company is hard at work on producing a mobile app. Still, the browser experience works just fine for football fanatics. As Cullen writes:
“Given that almost every sporting event is now televised live, there is nearly an endless amount of content for sports fans to watch, enjoy, and potentially bet on. That creates limitless opportunities for Sports Casino, and we believe we have created an unrivaled second screen option for Facebook—and eventually mobile users.”
At this point, the kind of two-screen experience for which Cullen is hoping is hampered by the fact that real-money gambling has yet to come to Facebook in the U.S. As lobbyists and entrepreneurs seem to agree however, total legalization in this country is just a matter of time. Given enough time and effort, it is certainly possible that the two-screen sports betting experience will become almost as popular as watching the game itself.
OSGA Examines the Attraction to Social Gambling
In a session at the G2E Global Gaming Expo titled “Social Games: Soaring Technology,” guest speakers pointed out how social media gaming is a fluid way of introducing customers to free games which could then transition into real-money games.
This holds true for social media sites and land-based casinos. As Hartley Henderson writes for OSGA,
“Right now real money online gambling is illegal in the U.S., but if the casinos can get players to play for free on social media sites then when any laws prohibiting online gambling are amended or repealed these casinos need simply to “flip a switch” and the casinos have hundreds of thousands of potential players for their real site.”
Henderson writes about the curious allure of social media gambling, and how 120,000 players flock to Zynga Poker on any given day. This is almost 2.5 times the amount of all other real money poker sites. You’ve got thousands of players participating, many of whom are paying small-time cash for virtual chips.
I’m not going to bother trying to figure out how process isn’t actually real-money gambling. I don’t see myself understanding how exchanging how actual money for virtual money … and then gambling it isn’t a form of actual, no-BS online gambling. Perhaps it is? Perhaps there are hardened folks in Congress who view it as such and wish it outlawed? I don’t really know.
Anyways, Henderson’s article about the attractiveness of social media gambling offers great insight into this topic. Required reading for anyone interested in this industry. Head over to OSGA and check it out. As he concludes:
“It certainly isn’t for everybody and personally I couldn’t fathom playing any gambling game without a vested interest but as most marketing departments would suggest, the customer is always right. And in the case of our cab driver, if he prefers to spend time and money on Zynga rather than at a Las Vegas casino who are we to question it?”
New Sports Betting Facebook Game Fanhood Attracting Users
Venture Beat has the details on a new sports-betting game on Facebook called Fanhood. The San Francisco-based company’s new title features all major and professional college sports and embraces the kind of community experience that you’d expect from a social networking game. Players can wager against each other, conduct challenges, participate in pools and trivia games … and folks are paying attention. In just its short beta period, the game has gathered 40,000 registered users.
Fantasy sports is a $1.5 billion market which is enjoyed by 35 million U.S. players. The fields are fertile for sports betting apps and social games and Fanhood is working to capitalize on it.
CEO and founder Brandon Ramsey said “With Fanhood, we are engaging sports fans on a whole new level, making their opinions matter. As fans ourselves, we saw a distinct opportunity to create the perfect platform to make following sports with friends easier and more fun.”
And investors have hopped on board as well. First Round Capital’s Josh Kopelman said, “We are thrilled to be a part of the continued growth and development of this exciting platform. This is a creative team that knows how to execute. I’m betting on them.”
Glu Mobile Arranges Partnership with Online Gambling Firm
The mobile game publisher Glu Mobile has announced a new partnership with the UK gambling firm Probability PLC. UK players have the online gambling company Betable to thank for bringing real-money Facebook gambling to its shores, and Glu Mobile is interested in tapping into the market as well.
Probability PLC will create a whole new line of mobile slot games based on existing franchises of Glu Mobile’s. According to Gamasutra, these new titles will launch in both the UK and Italy and be regulated by Probability.
In addition to the new online gambling arrangement, Glu will stay true to to their bread-and-butter customers who play their popular free-to-play mobile games. Their core business model revolves around 3d freemium titles like Indestructible, Samurai vs. Zombies, and Deer Hunter Reloaded. Personally I think it’d be great to play a mobile gambling game that featured samurai or zombies. Head over to Glu’s site to view their entire catalog.
Facebook Passes the Big Billion
“And you’re not a hugger, I know.” – Sean Parker (The Social Network)
The number of Facebook users just passed 1 billion. What I find most staggering is not the number 1,000,000,000. What impresses me the most is the fact that the amount of Facebook users DOUBLED in just two years. In July of 2010, the social network reached 500 million users.
A billion people. According to the International Telecommunications Union, 81 percent of them live outside of the U.S. and Canada. The people joining now have a median age of 22, down from 23 in 2010 and 26 in 2008 and 2007. Man, I remember when you needed a college.edu email address to get an account. Now, you just have to be 13.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg marked the milestone on his own page:
“If you’re reading this: thank you for giving me and my little team the honor of serving you,” he wrote. “Helping a billion people connect is amazing, humbling and by far the thing I am most proud of in my life.”
Facebook can become the biggest online casino if legislation is passed regulating online gambling. As noted in an article yesterday, one of the most popular things on Facebook is Texas Hold’Em and that’s not even for real money. If just a fraction of those users transitioned to real-money games, we’d see some serious revenue pour forth. One billion users is a huge pool from which to draw. It’s just a matter of time.
Hollywood Poker Brings Celebrities to the Facebook Table
Yeah, it’s that one guy in that one movie.
My favorite Kevin Pollak movie is A Few Good Men. His sardonic delivery of the line “I have no responsibility whatsoever” makes me feel like playing the man in a game of poker. He’s an excellent “who’s that one guy?” actor, and I’ll bet he uses that kind of low visibility to his advantage when playing cards. While I may not be able to sit across an actual table with Kevin Pollak, I could have a chance of sitting down in a Facebook game with him if I sign up for Hollywood Poker, the new title from social games publisher PLAOR.
On October 20, three lucky winners who signed up for access to Hollywood Poker will get to play with actor and comedian Kevin Pollak in a round of Texas Hold ‘Em. It will be interesting to see how Hollywood Poker fares as far as social casino and poker games go on Facebook. Will the allure of celebrity participation help this new title take off?
Pollak gave a rather vanilla endorsement of the game that was clearly not read off a screenplay written by Aaron Sorkin:
“Hollywood Poker is a free-to-play game that’s fun for everyone,” he said. “You’ll be able to play with your favorite celebrities, and win great prizes. Check out the Hollywood Poker community site and Facebook page for a chance to play in our first-ever online celebrity game. I promise you won’t want to miss it!”
Other Hollywood stars have committed to playing in the new Facebook game including James Woods, Seth Meyers, Dennis Quaid and that’s the last of the names that I actually recognize in the list found in PLAOR’s official press release.
The game is also available on iPad, with an iPhone and Android release planned for future release.
