For the past few months, social gaming has been predicted to be the future of the online gambling world. These expectations have prompted plenty of gaming developers to make the move into the social gaming world, and pokies developer IGT was one of the first operators to do so.

Although the company is seeing a great deal of success with its social gaming venture, Double Down Casino, IGT’s investors are not entirely convinced that venturing into this market was the right idea. Reuters reports that one of IGT’s investors, Jason Ader, does not believe that IGT made the correct choice by throwing itself into the social gambling world.

Ader’s company controls 3% of IGT’s stock, so his outlook holds great weight – and he is not of the opinion that social gaming offers lucrative opportunities for the company. Ader believes that IGT’s most profitable opportunities lie in American and Asian land-based markets, rather than in the online gambling world.

He states that IGT should get ‘back to basics’ by continuing to focus on gaming in these industries, instead of spending its time creating exclusive titles for Double Down Casino. According to Ader, social gaming has not proven itself as a lucrative market as of yet. Ader uses Zynga as an example, citing the fact that Zynga’s profits have dropped by 80%.

Additionally, players spend less money on social gaming apps than they do at online casinos, as these games only require virtual money and deposits are optional. Markets that present more potential for IGT seem to be Asia and the United States. Macau presents a great opportunity for growth, as the market generated $38 billion in gambling revenue over the course of the past year.

Many gaming developers are setting up shop in the world’s new gaming capital, and they are seeing a great deal of success. The United States also presents lucrative opportunities for gaming operators, as the country prepares for online gambling legislation. With one of the biggest population of online gamblers in the world, the American market would be the idea location on which to focus.

About the Author

George Anderson
Author George, has over 25+ years’ experience in the Pokies and Casinos industry throughout Australia and New Zealand. Loves to research new Pokies games on the block and follows announcements from top industry providers about their upcoming releases. As soon as a new interesting pokie game appears on his radar, George is there to check it out and give you the scoop before anyone else and tell you about all casino sites where can play the latest game. Before this gig, George worked as Pokie game tester, making him an ideal candidate for this genre of work. He is also an animal lover and a proud owner of three dogs.