During the 6th International Casino Conference that took place at the London ICE Monday 3th February, the on-going convergence between online and social gaming has been discussed among the most important social gaming operators, Facebook and Egla.
In our view, especially with reference to those social games products casino-style, gaming operators should enhance a proactive responsibility. The code of conduct adopted by the International Social Games Association is a significant step towards this direction in order to avoid the same fragmentation of rules we encounter for gambling activities regulation.
The round table discussed the French proposal to reform art. L-322-2 of the internal security code currently under examination before the French Parliament, in order to expand the legal definition of games of chance that could de facto include some types of social games within the online gambling regulations.
Among the entertainment markets, there is a complementarity of social gaming and gambling activities. With respect to other European countries, synergy in Italy among social networks and gambling operators is still underdeveloped as had been evidenced by the Politecnico university of Milan report issued in 2013. With no doubt, gambling, both off-line and on-line, needs constantly fantasy and innovation for its products. Social games could represent an opportunity for cross-fertilisation and a tool to promote brands and products encouraging their users’ interaction. Partnership and cross-marketing actions are more than welcomed.
