This Startup is Willing to Gamble

But not with your money.

Crowdpark, a young startup that pioneered the concept of social betting games, announced that it is launching two new titles today. But despite the hype surrounding Zynga (NASDAQ: ZNGA), which may launch a series of gambling games in which players wager real money, Crowdpark is defying industry norms.

“We are very excited to launch Pet Vegas, our first social casino game,” said Ingo Hinterding, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer of Crowdpark. His firm designs games that allow players to gamble for fun, not for cash prizes. “This past fall, DoubleDown Casino was rumored to be making $140,000/day in revenues. This number shows how profitable social casino games can be when they figure out how to make casino games truly social, even if there is no real money payout.”

“Moreover,” Hinterding adds, “Zynga's Texas HoldEm Poker is the largest poker network in the world.”

Hinterding said that traditionally, slot machines have not always had very sophisticated graphics. “Part of our strength as a company is in our creativity,” he explained. “Our graphic artists and developers have made many [attractive] levels [by producing] graphics with various animal themes. Because traditional casino games users are women over 35, and so are the bulk of Facebook games users, we have made the style of our slots cute and pets-focused.”

Crowdpark's other new game is AnteUp, which Hinterding describes as a “peer-to-peer betting game that has a slick and simple interface.”

“AnteUp is designed to use anytime, anywhere with any one of your Facebook or Twitter friends, so the quick and simple Twitter ecosystem is a perfect home for AnteUp's friendly competition,” said Hinterding.

Taking a Gamble

Despite the possible changes to online gambling regulations, Crowdpark is committed to its original strategy. “Indeed, Crowdpark recognizes how fascinating these times are for social betting and casino games,” said Hinterding. “We have prepared a White Paper entitled ‘The State of the Social Games Industry: Gambling to Social Gaming, Social Gaming to Gambling.' This document explores how and why casino games have become a hot growth category on Facebook.”

Hinterding said that the social game industry was estimated at $3.65B in 2010, while the online gambling industry was measured at $30.3B during the same 12-month period.

“Both social games and online gaming are healthy markets, and together they can accelerate each other's growth,” said Hinterding. “Online gambling monetizes very well on a per-player basis, and social games have a huge reach.”

Further, Hinterding said that social game developers are starting to create casino games as well. “At the same time, large gambling operators are increasingly looking to move into social gaming,” he said. “One of the gambling operators' hopes is to convert virtual payout social games players to online gambling. However, as mentioned above, this is only one of the many reasons gambling operators would develop social games.”

Going forward, Hinterding believes that social games on Facebook will continue to go mobile. “We ourselves are developing the mobile versions of our games and are excited to capitalize on the growth and enormous reach of mobile,” said Hinterding. “Also, we expect more and more major game developers, such as Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: EA), will bring their major brands to Facebook.”

And the Oscar Goes to…

While the Academy Awards and the Super Bowl (two of the biggest events on television) are already behind us, Hinterding said that, since any event can be bet on, Crowdpark's games “are perfect for a real-time environment.”

“We have an editorial team that is dedicated to tailoring our games for current events to maximize our users' experience,” Hinterding explained. “We are always creating bets for events, such as the Oscars, the Super Bowl, etc. Localized bets are particularly popular. Bet Tycoon currently exists in English, German, Spanish and Turkish, so each specific language game is customized for specific language groups' interests.”

Hinterding said that Crowdpark's social media team also creates event-specific content for its fan pages. “In Pet Vegas, we had a coins giveaway for the Oscars,” he said. “We are planning to increase event-specific features for all of our games, including for the U.S. market. The U.S. is a core market for us and we have an office in San Francisco, as well as a U.S. editorial team.”

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