It is the dawn of a new age, Facebook has launched their first real money game and the response was amazing. It is highly unlikely to find someone that is not familiar with Facebook, the internet giant that acts like a social platform for people all around the world. It is one of the most popular names on Earth and with more than 955 million users, every app launched by Facebook gets a lot of coverage. There hasn’t been a real money game on the social network until now; there have been games with their own currency or Facebook credits but this can be the start to something amazing for gamblers.
To be fair, it isn’t like the internet is lacking in the gambling department; there are so many websites to choose from that users can spend more time browsing through them than actually playing. A gambling site showcase can be very useful because it presents some of the popular choices in a well-organized manner that can help users save a lot of time when searching for a new gambling website. Despite so many options being available online, the demand for gambling games is a very big one and it seems that Facebook has decided to jump in the water.
So far, the first application is more like a toe in the water to see how it is. The game is called Bingo Friendzy and it was entirely designed by Gamesys, a software developing company based in London. As mentioned a few times before, users have the option to gamble real money on the results of this bingo game from within the Facebook website. It is important to mention that it is not yet available for everyone; actually users outside the United Kingdom will not even be able to see the application. Only players from UK who are over 18 years of age can enjoy the new app.
The choice of bingo as their first real money game is interesting. The game itself is quite easy to play with no real strategies that require a lot experience but the stereotype for a bingo player is not really popular on a social network. It is one of the soft gambling games, as described by Clive Hawkswood, the Remote Gambling Association chief executive.
Online gambling is popular all around the world but very big in the United Kingdom and the regulations make it a safe activity for all citizens. Facebook will also make all the needed restrictions; users will have to provide proof that they are of legal age and live within the UK. There is also a restriction that will prevent underage friends of the players to see their achievement from the game. It is called “age-gating” and it is meant to not encourage minors to play gambling games because they see it at their friends.
If the application will be successful, it can mean that more real money games will be available on Facebook. The Zingo Poker game currently available for play money is already a hit with more than 100k users accessing it each day.
