Line Between Social And Money Games Blurring

You don't have to be a rocket surgeon to see that most of the world's biggest social gaming firms are looking at getting involved in the highly lucrative world of online, or to be more accurate, virtual gambling. The question I want to pose is whether the line between social and real money gambling games is blurring?

I believe the answer is yes, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

In this very column a couple of months ago, I reported how leading Seattle-based social games developer Big Fish Gaming was gearing up to launch its Big Fish Casino app (for Apple iOS and Android), which would give players the choice to play for play money as well as - and a first for Big Fish - real money.

Big Fish Casino App Now Downloadable

Well, the Big Fish Casino app is now officially available to download - by gaming fans in the UK - and by all accounts has been extremely well received so far. But the move from purely fun gambling games to real money gambling games is tricky, and one that gaming firms are having to negotiate very carefully.

The reason is that while play money games are pretty easily accessible by most gaming fans regardless of their age because there is no actual risk financially, real money gambling games are a 'different animal' completely, mainly because of the risk of facilitating and potentially encouraging underage gambling.

And it's for this reason that social game developers like Big Fish have had to incorporate special verification technology alongside their virtual casinos in order to vet their real money players with the objective of keeping underage gamblers at bay, as well as gamblers based in 'virtual gambling-unfriendly' nations.

Big Fish Gaming Partnered with Betable

In this regard, Big Fish has partnered with a firm called Betable, which comes into play invisibly as soon as a player at Big Fish Casino opts to play for real money.

The way it works is that any real money games at Big Fish Casino involves Betable. When a Big Fish Casino player selects to play slots, video poker, roulette or blackjack for real money, they are automatically rerouted to Betable's servers which houses special software that verifies their physical location and age.

If the software reveals a player to be based in a country, state or territory (like the United States) where virtual gaming is not legal, licensed or regulated, they will not be allowed to proceed, or if it shows them to be underage. In addition, Betable's servers boast anti-fraud software smart enough to recognise if someone attempts to fake their location or use a false IP address.

Real Money Players Verified by Age and Location

In short, Big Fish takes care of the casino front-end, while Betable takes care of the back-end where real money players are concerned. From a player point of view, whether they play for fun or for real money, the process is user-friendly and seamless, and they will only be flagged if their age or location is in question.

If Big Fish Gaming's foray into real money gambling demonstrates anything, it's that it is one of the pioneers where the crossover from social games to real money games is concerned. And Big Fish will certainly not be the last social games vendor to hop on the real money virtual gaming bandwagon with a view to increasing their bottom line.

I can see the lines blurring, can you?

 Posted by Anton Johan at 11:11 on 31 October 2012