BettingBusinessInteractive • OCTOBER 2012 EiG 2012 SOCIAL GAMING Debating the need for social gaming regulation
A white paper released by Clarion Gaming ahead of its EiG Expo in Barcelona on 16-18 October has thrown up some interesting points about one of the hot topics at the moment - social gaming.
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ocial gaming companies should not be seen as a threat to gambling businesses, according to Hussein Chahine, the CEO of social casino operator Yazino and one of the speakers at this month’s EiG Expo. Speaking to Allan Taylor, author of the white paper ‘Social gaming regulation: A pressing issue or a pointless concern?’, Chahine believes that it is fear from the gambling industry which is generating calls to regulate social gaming. He said: “It’s like the difference between Nokia and iPhone: it’s not un- usual for the next generation to hurt the previous one. Regula- tion is just wishful thinking on the part of gambling compa- nies. The question regulators need to ask is what the motiva- tion for regulation is.
“What are people buying when they buy on a social game? It’s digital. It doesn’t exist. The player knows it’s just for fun. If we regulate social games, are we going to start regulating console games? Traditionally, gambling is a very solitary pursuit, but so- cial gaming has made it into community mobile entertainment. Regulation would be too complicated. The three biggest com- panies right now are Facebook, Google and Apple, and to stunt their profits would make no sense for governments.” Another EiG attendee, Raf Keustermans of social gaming start-up Plumbee, agrees that the perceived risk around social gaming is far higher than the reality. In the white paper he com-
mented: “If the concern is around money, then that exists in every market: from people who spend too much on golf equip- ment, to magazines and shopping. There is no indication that there is a bigger problem. The behaviour of social gamers and problem gamblers is completely different as, when people play for fun, they know they cannot win money and that means they don’t get into a cycle of chasing cash and loss. “There is also caution around attracting underage gamblers, but most children who are spending money on in-app purchas- es are not playing casino-style games. For us, less than 0.1 per
cent of our customers are under 18 and there is no point in at- tracting or encouraging those players. It costs the same amount of money for us to attract a 35 year old as it does an 18 year old.” Despite these views, Wes Himes from public affairs body Pol- icy Action believes there is scope for some tightening up of the laws. In the white paper, he commented: “There are several per- tinent issues, but the main one is the cross-over between adult and underage players where real money gambling is integrated with social media. Around this issue will be how to gate-keep players on age grounds, the types of communication allowed between players and the marketing of real gambling products where they come into contact with broader ageless social media products.”
Clearly there is a lot of debate to be had over the emerging market and EiG plans to be a talking shop for such discussions with a number of panels dedicated to social gaming and how it fits into the existing gaming industry. •Hussein Chahine will be speaking on the topic of ‘Social gaming platforms: smartphones and tablets as the next fron- tier of social casino-style gaming’ on the Thursday of EiG at 11.10 in Theatre A. •Raf Keustermans will be speaking on the topic of ‘Social gaming vs. gambling’ on the Wednesday of EiG at 11.00 in Theatre A.
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