GAMING | G2E Asia | Social casino games can help land-based operators’ branding

Jiten Melwani (left), Kevin Li (center) and Nelson Rose

Social casino games are helping land-based gaming operators spread their brand name and Macau operators might consider going into social gaming, said Kevin Li, CEO of Inteplay, a software company providing gaming platforms for the iGaming industry.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Global Gaming Expo (G2E Asia) on Thursday, Mr Li stated: “I believe some operators in Macau are already thinking of going into social casinos.”
Mr Li spoke at a discussion panel on “Strategizing Social Gaming,” alongside Jiten Melwani, CEO of Bitgame Labs, looking into how social casinos offer traditional operators a wide range of opportunities to promote and further spread their brand name, including a market-entry strategy in unregulated jurisdictions.
“Everyone knows physical casinos. Social casinos are about using the Internet to also grow your brand. It’s mostly on mobile devices now meaning that people can play casinos’ games on their own mobile phone,” Mr Li stated, but added, “it’s not [real] gambling. It’s about finding another way of entertainment.”
According to scholar Nelson Rose, who teaches at Whittier Law School in California and is a visiting professor at the University
of Macau, licensed land-based and Internet casino companies are investing to get into the social casino games business.
Caesars Entertainment Corp., for instance, has bought several social gaming companies over the past years, he discussed in a paper titled “Should Social Casino Games Be Regulated?”
He also acknowledged that casino companies are looking into social games as a way to help them spread their brand name, thus building a larger customer base.
But would casino operators in Macau consider expanding into this business, since their brands
are already quite established in the Asian market? Mr Li told The Times that he believes casino operators here would still have an advantage when investing in social games as it would help them reach a broader audience, perhaps expanding their client base within the mass market.
Kevin Li stressed that the social casino games market “is huge” in Asia. However, it’s hard to estimate the exact size. He told The Times that global figures show that the social games industry generates USD60 billion in revenue each year.
Some jurisdictions are now considering regulating social casino games, as real money land-based casino companies are acquiring social gaming businesses.
One of the issues discussed during Thursday’s panel session was whether there is any age limit for social games. Kevin Li acknowledged there’s no standard regarding age but recalled that in the U.S. they are now trying to regulate it.
Professor Nelson Rose also wrote in his paper that the lack of regulation on social casino games makes them available to children and even potential compulsive gamblers.
G2E Asia concluded last Thursday at the Venetian Macao. The three-day event gathered 9,000 attendees and 180 exhibitors this year.