Social game giant Zynga announced today that it's decided to expand beyond free to play, microtransaction-based titles like FarmVille and Words With Friends, and has begun to develop games that support real-money gambling.
Social game giant Zynga announced today that it's decided to expand beyond free to play, microtransaction-based titles like FarmVille and Words With Friends, and has begun to develop games that support real-money gambling. Zynga CEO Mark Pincus said that the company plans to launch its first real-money poker game in the first half of 2013. He did not confirm which regions the game will support, but it might be some time until these types of games hit the U.S., as federal laws put strict limitations on online gambling. "We have our first [real-money gambling] products in development, and we intend to release them in markets that are regulated and open, subject to our getting licensing," Pincus said. "The U.S. is obviously an attractive market, but it's not an open and regulated market today, so we currently don't have plans for the U.S." Alongside this news, Zynga revealed that its revenues for its recent second quarter fell well below initial expectations. For more information, check out Gamasutra's full report.
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