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Don’t bet the FarmVille on Zynga’s gambling future.
The social-gaming company tipped its hand yesterday by acknowledging that it was exploring getting into online gambling.
Some Zynga watchers took this to mean that the company could start accepting real-money wagers. Zynga is already on the online gaming scene with its worldwide Zynga Poker game that boasts 30 million monthly users who bet virtual currency.
“We know from listening to our players that there’s an interest in the real-money gambling market,” Zynga said in a statement yesterday. “We’re in active conversations with potential partners to better understand and explore this new opportunity.”
However, several analysts said Zynga is not cut out for the business. In particular, Michael Pachter of Webush Securities said the company is not set up to handle the intensive security required to run an online gambling operation.
“They have no prayer of participating in online gambling,” Pachter said. “People are vastly oversimplifying how complicated it is to provide online gambling.”
To be sure, Zynga would have to commit much more to safeguarding credit-card data online. The company has had issues just trying to keep online predators from stealing users’ fake chips.
Still, Zynga’s massive subscriber base of poker enthusiasts is a valuable commodity to the traditional gambling industry interested in youth and the social media revolution.
Online gambling is poised for growth in the US since a federal ruling last month paved the way for states to decide on the legality of such ventures. States from New Jersey to California are considering legalizing Internet casinos.
Gaming titans such as Caesars Interactive and IGT are also surveying the social landscape to prepare for the coming Web revolution in gambling.
In one potential scenario: Zynga could partner with more established and secure gaming companies, becoming a recruiting ground for them to lure serious players into their online cash games, Pachter said.
“There’s huge revenue potential for Zynga,” he said. “Just not huge poker gambling potential for them.”