The time is now – Zynga has finally decided to launch a real-money online poker application. After months of speculation, the popular social gaming company is ready to take the leap – and several well-known gaming operators are jumping at the chance to assist.
According to Venture Beat, Zynga has opened up the bidding process. The company hopes to license an experienced online gambling designer to help develop its new online poker website. GTECH G2 and PlayTech have already expressed interest in the development of the new service. Being two of the most successful operators in the online gaming market, they will likely be involved in a competitive bidding war for the license.
Facebook gambling has become incredibly popular over the past year, thanks to Zynga Poker and other popular brands like Double Down Casino. In fact, 13% of all Facebook Games users are social gamblers, marking the incredible growth of popularity of gambling in the social gaming world. So, now seems to be the ideal time for Zynga to launch its real-money application.
Seeing millions of users on Zynga Poker every month, the company will certainly convert some of its 18+ users to real-money players on its new online gambling site. This will make Zynga the first social gaming developer to foray into the gambling market, likely paving the way for other social gaming brands.
We hope to see Zynga’s real-money poker site adopting some of the same features as its Facebook Games operation. Facebook synchronization, friend invites and unique prizes are all interesting social gaming features that could set Zynga’s new online poker site apart from the rest of the competition. Paired with GTECH G2’s or PlayTech’s breadth of knowledge and experience, the venture could give more established sites like PokerStars a run for their money.
