More and more social gaming operators are catching on to the gambling trend. First, Zynga decided to launch its own online casino and online poker brands. Then, Glu Mobile launched a set of real-money mobile slots. Now, GigaMedia is making plans to create a selection of social casino titles. It was only a matter of time before social gambling became popular.

Even non-gambling titles like Farmville encouraged players to spend digital currency. In some cases, players could even use real cash to purchase in game items. So, it seems like a natural transition to make. Social gambling differs from traditional online gambling because of its synchronization with social media sites. Players can share their progress with friends, invite others to compete with them and send in-game gifts to other players.

These games operate just like any other social casino game (like Farmville or Candy Crush), except players are wagering real cash. “We are targeting the highest-spending social gamers in the world’s largest mobile games market – Asia,” says GigaMedia CEO Collin Hwang. “We see great growth prospects for our online games business in social casino games and are moving forward quickly.”

GigaMedia is currently conducting trials of casino dice and card games at over 200 internet cafes in Taiwan. The findings of the trial will inform the company of how best to proceed in the online gambling market. Zynga, a fellow social gaming operator, has also recently delved into the online gambling market.

The company launched Zynga Plus Poker and Zynga Plus Casino, but both brands are still struggling to compete with established online gaming operators like Microgaming and PlayTech. GigaMedia is taking a different approach by targeting a market in which online gambling is still burgeoning. As such, the company will not have to face the hurdle of competing with more experienced and established online casino brands.

Giga Media plans to make great progress with the project over the next month. The company has announced that its new suite of casino games will be launched within the next four weeks.

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.