You may never have to set foot in a land-based casino again – that is if you are in the UK and use Facebook – the world’s No 1 social network. Last Tuesday, 7 August, social gaming giant Facebook launched real-money gambling in the U.K. with a bingo app called Bingo Friendzy. The Bingo Friendzy app for Facebook was developed by London-based online gambling operator Gamesys. Gamesys, one of the largest UK online gambling companies, operates the Sun Bingo and Heart Bingo, as well as the UK’s leading bingo-and-slots website Jackpotjoy.com. Gambling activities are licensed and regulated by the government of Gibraltar, allowing the offer of titles in the UK. Gamesys is one of the most successful gambling operators online, having launched its first slots in 2009. Gamesys apps (Jackpot Joy Slots etc.) are known to be among the top 30 highest- grossing games on the social network. Real-money gambling on Facebook, marks an exciting turning-point for the industry, and a milestone for the Gamesys business. The app is Facebook’s first that allows gambling with real money instead of Facebook credits. The Friendzy App comprises of a series of 90-Ball Bingo and Slots games which allow the user to gamble using real money. At first, Bingo & Slots Friendzy will only be available to Facebook users in the UK; this is in conformity with regulatory requirements that are in place to make sure that no underage players obtain access to the app. Consequently the bright and cheerful Bingo Friendzy app allows users aged 18 and over to play games for cash prizes. Briefly, UK-based users aged 18 and over, who sign up to the game are asked to confirm their date of birth, enter their bank details and then deposit an opening stake of between £10 and £500 using Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, Neteller, UKash or PayPal. To protect against compulsive gambling problems, an intelligent self-help system is in place.
Given that gambling is an addictive pastime, all users will also have access to a number of self -help tools to limit their spending and exclude themselves from playing at any time.
Lobbyist groups from Christian quarters have spoken against this venture, saying that irrespective of what Facebook offers as control for underage gambling, they oppose it and have already provoked an outcry in the media. It is a coincidence that the app is marketed using cartoon graphics featuring characters that critics have associated with those on Moshi Monsters, the popular children’s online game. This association has fanned the fire of critics, who placed written objections with the Advertising Standards Authority urging it to act. Toby Scott, director of communications for the Methodist Church, argued that gambling is age-restricted for good reason: children are excluded because they are vulnerable. It is argued that Bingo Friendzy’s visual marketing is the kind that you see in children’s games, with bright colours and the usual friendly characters. For these reasons Scott thinks that the app is a blatant breach of ASA’s Gambling Advertising rules, which clearly state that gambling-related marketing should not appeal to children or young persons, especially if it does so by reflecting youth culture. It is well known that Facebook has over one million underage users and that this poses a problem for parents who would like their children to stay away from it. But is this a storm in a teacup? Facebook has argued that Bingo Friendzy players would be subject to “strict account acceptance controls verifying their identity, and that they are over 18. Only members over 18 will be able to access Bingo Friendzy. Facebook has an age- gating technology that will mean that any activity related to the games will not appear in timelines of users who are under 18 years of age@. One might ask what the novelty factor in this app might be or why the UK was chosen as their first country of introduction. The answer is simple. It is because gambling for real money is a very popular and well-regulated activity in the UK. Facebook said that the decision to launch a real-cash gambling app in the UK had been motivated by “a mature and very well-regulated gambling market”. The UK has a strong gambling culture, with off-track betting shops hosted in many high streets around the country for everyone over 18 to enter and bet on horses, football games and the like. Almost every town or city in the UK has a bingo hall, where friends and family members come together for a night out. Online bingo has been popular for years in the UK and it also lends itself very well to Facebook, as the cornerstone of its attraction is a sense of community that binds members together in a social structure, even if for a few hours. People love playing new types of games with their friends on Facebook and real-money gaming is a popular leisure activity in the UK. Media commentators agree that the experiment has a strong chance of success and Facebook promoters are confident that it will lead to a solid working platform with Gamesys.
On the subject of regulation, Facebook spokeswomen Linda Griffin revealed that following intensive discussions with the UK Gambling Commission and industry watchdog GamCare, and with Gamesys, they secured approval for a license by the Gibraltar Gambling Commission. As a result Facebook is fully-licensed to allow approved operators to offer real-money gambling on the platform.
Facebook have clarified that the agreement is not a joint venture with Gamesys but rather a private commercial agreement, and so far it is unclear how much Facebook stands to pocket from its new partnership with Gamesys. The social network currently takes 30% of the cost of transactions carried out on its network when, for example non-cash games users purchase Facebook credits to use on their games. However, Facebook would not confirm if that was the case with this new app, saying that it is “commercially sensitive information”. On close inspection one might realise that so far, Facebook has made the majority of its income from online advertising and has seen its revenue decline sharply during the past year. The implications for Facebook to enter into the paid gambling market could be huge. Since Facebook has become a publicly-listed company, it has faced a barrage of questions about its next source of revenue. This path offers a time-tested avenue toward profit that looks less risky than its hazy advertising business. To users in general, well-regulated social gaming is still a bright spot in Facebook’s revenue stream, and the option of real-money gambling offers a window towards monetising a much larger percentage of its vast and growing user base. The big question will be whether or not Facebook could manage to become a dominant platform in online gambling. As Gamesys points out, online gambling in the UK is a mature space with extant communities and established sites. Facebook got to where it is today by leading the way in a new era of social media – when it comes to gambling, it has to play without that significant lead on the competition. According to experts, online gambling could grow exponentially and optimistically can reach a $100 billion global business. Gamesys is not the only gaming company that’s setting its sights on Facebook’s gambling potential; others such as Zynga are aiming to launch poker, bingo and slot machine games that allow real-money wagers, in 2013. To conclude, Facebook spokeswomen Linda Griffin said that there are no current plans to offer gambling in any other countries or with any other partners besides Gamesys in Britain. She explained that it might be something they would consider in the future, but that at the moment they have no plans to do so. Naturally, the proof of the pudding is in the eating and if it tastes good, there is nothing to stop social media gambling from spreading onto other EU markets, as everybody knows that the internet knows no boundaries.
Monta Mokanu is a sociology graduate and work with PKF Malta
info@pkfmalta.com
Well, I'm not so sure about this news but I'll try to keep an update about it.
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