Casino games are a fascinating way to spend time (and money). Both in real life and online. And in both realms casino games have two different variants: those that involve real money and those that don’t. Except the online casino games you play for “free” are not in fact free. But there are many more differences between social and real money casinos that you should know about.
Money makers
It is a well known fact that all social games are built with profits in mind. And casino games, especially slot machines, are the perfect choice: they are easy to learn, easy to play, and will leave their players with their pockets empty in the long run. Social games might seem better for the players, as they don’t require them to actually pay for what they play with. But this is not entirely true: social casinos make a great deal of profits – six figure, or more – on a daily basis. Part of their revenue comes from ads, but the majority comes from in-app purchases. With players having no chance to win their money back.
As opposed to social casinos, real money ones are much fairer from this point of view. Playing at the Royal Vegas Casino for real money gives players a chance to win. And, depending on the game, these wins can be quite consistent: last April a lucky Canadian man won a jackpot worth over $7.5 million at Royal Vegas. On a slot machine. Such big wins happen rarely, about once or twice a year, but people walk away with a few hundred, or even a few thousand dollars quite often. Their pay, but they can hope for something in return.
Game variety
With a handful of notable exceptions – like IGT’s DoubleDown – most social casinos are built by social game developers. This often make them less “real” than proper casinos. Besides, their game variety is most of the times limited to just a handful of titles, a few dozen at most. Minuscule compared to the Royal Vegas Casino and other real money operators.
The Royal Vegas Casino has a game library licensed from a single developer – Microgaming. The company has over 700 desktop games in its library, and more than 100 of them have mobile versions as well (with new ones added each month). And there are other casinos that offer even more games, some over 1,000 (and counting) from multiple developers. Most of these games can be played free of charge (with the winnings being virtual as well), for fun.
Free play
Social casino games advertise themselves as free, but players pay for them by seeing ads and buying credits when they run out. Real money casinos, in turn, don’t charge for their “fun” mode, and neither do they show ads. They generate revenues in their “real” section, with no need to push ads in front of their users.
In conclusion, I think it’s safe to say that social casinos are much like the indie games of the industry, while real money operators are the AAA studios. Their services have a higher quality overall, and they are fairer and much more professional than their so-called competition.