1.06 billion active users log into their Facebook account each month. When you consider there are not quite 7 billion people walking around on planet Earth, that is a staggering number. Those numbers were released by the social networking giant at their most recent earnings call, and in one bit of information accompanying that mind-numbing reality is exactly where people go when they are on Facebook. Month in and month out, some of the most popular destinations on Facebook are casino applications.
Up until recently, the only Las Vegas or Monte Carlo style casino rush you could enjoy was for play money. That all ended this week, when MAGIC888 opened its virtual doors in the United Kingdom as the first real money Facebook casino application. Not that Facebook needed any help in attracting traffic, but that application is exclusive to Facebook currently. Play is limited to UK players over the age of 18, with “stringent age verification checks” to ensure only eligible Facebook users are able to use the real money app.
888 is a well-known gaming entertainment company that has for years been offering global access to a wide range of popular games to over 150 countries in both the free play and pay for play categories. Their services are offered in 19 different languages around the world, and the MAGIC888 Facebook casino launch follows on the heels of last year’s BingoAppy real money bingo Facebook release. Itai Frieberger is the COO for 888, and he said that the successful real money bingo Facebook experience led to this historical real money Facebook casino offering.
Offering a mix of table and casino games like video slots, blackjack, roulette and others, MAGIC888 even offers “live action” games where you play in real-time at their casino with other Facebook users. The casino is not currently available for US players, but since Delaware, New Jersey and Nevada have all passed legislation legalizing some form of online gambling in the United States, it is probably just a matter of time until this or some other real money Facebook casino launches in the US.
888 is no insignificant player in the global gaming market, but as the first company to launch a real money social gaming application, their presence as a worldwide leader in online gaming is only going to grow. Frieberger said that the real money Facebook casino launch “marks a significant extension in our real money social offering.” MAGIC888 is actually two applications combined into one, with a free version that is very similar to the typical social casinos on Facebook, as well as the real money side. With worldwide revenue generated by real money online casino gaming already creating a multibillion dollar industry, look for MAGIC888 to have plenty of company in the near future in the UK, as well as other countries.