Zynga Inc (ZNGA) Launches Real-Money Internet Gambling In U.K.

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The gaming giant, Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) hasstarted offering poker and casino style games in Britain in partnership with Bwin.party Digital Entertainment.

Zynga Inc (ZNGA) Launches Real-Money Internet Gambling In U.K.

British based gamblers will be able to access “ZyngaPlusPoker” and “ZyngaPlusCasino” on the web in the form of desktop applications. Through these games, Zynga will be able to track the popularity of its games of online betting ranging from poker to blackjack and roulette. Bets start at £0.01 per play for some of the slots, to £1.00 for table games like BlackJack. Popular branded games, like Farmville slots, start at a minimum of £0.30 per play.

The executives at Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) announced, further that the game maker is seeking to develop these games for Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB). Zynga is looking forward to garner the wide base of social network users. The Facebook and mobile based games will be launched in the near months, according to a source.

Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) already has approximately 300 million users base, which it can use for its own benefit. The online gambling market is one of the most profitable businesses in the future, which could reach up to $30 billion in 2013. Zynga is well positioned to take advantage in the online gambling market boom.

The players need to register to play, but in the beginning they are given some options like to play some games with play money. Once they register, some real payment information needs to be given, and users will have to play with some real money.

Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) is opening its online gambling for the first time in the United Kingdom although giving users the freedom to deposit five different currencies- pounds, dollars, euros, yen and Canadian dollars. The game maker hired in Maytal Olsha, former senior executive at 888 Holdings PLC, which is a dominant online gambling portal.

“This is just the beginning for us and we’re looking forward to seeing what our UK players think,” Chief Revenue Officer Barry Cottle wrote in a blogpost.

As for now, the company is quiet on its terms of agreement with Bwin Party. The analysts in the UK are expecting that Bwin party will have the major chunk of revenue the reason being Bwin is the holder of UK gambling license.

Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) was listed towards the end of 2011 at $10 a share, and the shares were as low as $2.10 in November. The gaming company, which was once amongst the fastest growing companies in Silicon Valley, tumbled massively in 2012. The once most loved games like “City Ville” could not taste the same success with its sequels. Further, the shift in the consumer behavior also affected the business of Zynga as users tend to spent more time on mobile rather than desktop.

The gaming firm is hoping to revive its fortunes from the gambling segment.

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