The rise of the social networking has heavily influenced the online gaming community. According to an article on WhaTech over 200 million people worldwide play social games on platforms such as Facebook every month, and the social gaming market is expected to keep on growing. By 2019 the value of the social gaming market is expected to rise to $17.40 billion, when compared to the numbers of 2013 that would be a growth of 16.1%. The article also states that people in the age bracket of 19-25 heavily contribute to this growth.
It is no surprise that social media and social gaming are very closely connected. Games such as Farmville for instance are particularly designed to be played on a social networking site. The game makes money by allowing its users to unlock more content by having them pay for it, which shows many of us are happy to spend money just to play. That’s why real-money casino games are also rather popular on social networking platforms. According to WhaTech the number of 200 million players, who play social games every month, is going to double within the next five years.
Recent technological advancements have supported the developments. Nowadays most people own a smartphone and as such are able to access their social media accounts and games wherever they go. On top of that, more and more people get access to the internet and can sign up for free to social networking sites such as Facebook. Sharing your gaming experience with your friends is also more appealing than playing on your own.
According to Out-Law, betting companies, such as Ladbrokes, who usually need a licence from the British Gambling Commission, do not need to have one for online gaming services as long of they have no key gambling equipment in that country. Politicians are working on changing this policy though. Overall, there are many changes taking place in the social gaming world but Games Industry predicts that social gambling is here to stay.
The rise of social networking has undoubtedly had a huge influence on the rise of social gaming. The numbers prove that the two are very closely linked and that easier access to social networking sites has helped the growth of social gaming and gambling immensely. People like competing with their friends and people they know and it looks like social gaming will keep on growing in the future.