Zynga, the social gaming company, will soon shut down its ZyngaPlus Casino and Poker products, says a report from iGAMINGBUSINESS. This will happen as a consequence of a termination of the real-money gaming partnership between Zynga and bwin.party, an online gaming operator.
Why did Zynga end the partnership?
Both the games are live on Facebook for now, but players have been informed by the company regarding the shut down.
“We are very sorry to announce that ZyngaPlusPoker and ZyngaPlusCasino will be closing shortly,” Zynga said, adding, “If you have a balance please log in to withdraw it.”
It must be noted that Zynga gave no explanation as to why it is closing the games or why it is ending the partnership with bwin.party. There are possibilities that efforts to costs might have provoked the game maker to make such a decision. Also a push from the declining revenue and stock value could be understandable.
Sad end to an impressive start
The partnership between the two kicked off in April 2013. With the partnership, Zynga aimed to expand its services into the real-money gaming market. Online gaming space is filled with cut-throat competition with established players like the Caesars Interactive division dominating the market. Zynga was pretty upbeat at the time of the launch of its offering, saying, “This is just the beginning for us,” adding that in time ahead it will come up with valuable casino games and social experiences for the players. However, now the social game maker has announced plans to wind up the offering and withdraw from the regulated market of the U.K.
The two companies jointly developed two real-money gaming products on Facebook known as ZyngaPlusPoker and ZyngaPlysCasino. They had plans to make use of the social network providing its U.K. customers with real-money gaming services.
The end of the partnership and closing of the games have once again highlighted the difficulties faced in monetizing social gambling in casinos and card rooms. At around 10:22 a.m. EST, Zynga shares were up 2.58% at $2.36, while year to date, the stock is down by almost 11%.
