Thanks to recent acquisitions of Facebook casino game companies the real-money gambling rumours are more prevalent than ever before
For a while now there have been rumours that Facebook will soon allow real-money gambling for UK users. Whilst many consider this an obvious move forwards which will allow greater revenue generation, many are concerned about the effects this could have on problem gambling.
The rumours are supported by two purchases made of Facebook casino game companies in the last few weeks. At the end of last month Caesars Casino bought the 49% of Playtika it didn’t already own. However, the purchase that really caught everyone’s attention was IGT’s acquisition of DoubleDown Interactive.
At first glance the numbers don’t add up. IGT paid $500 million for DoubleDown which is only reported to be making $51 million a year. This means that IGT paid nearly ten times DoubleDown’s revenue which seems staggeringly high. The only way this makes any sense is if Facebook will soon be allowing real-money gambling.
Another company which is expected to offer real-money gambling on Facebook is Zynga. Zynga currently runs some of the most popular games on the social network and real-money gambling offers the potential for huge revenue. Currently, with no real-money involved, Zynga needs to be sure to consistently produce gaming hits in order to maintain their market position, however, as soon as real money is introduced this stops being a concern and profits will significantly rise.
However, a number of people are concerned. It is expected that the introduction of real money gambling to an already addictive social platform will lead to a significant rise in problem gambling. With so many users of a young age on Facebook, there is a significant chance that people who would otherwise have never considered online gambling will be tempted to try it out.
