Nearly every fan of online gambling has had some experience with social casino games – the ones that allow players to place bets using fake currency on a variety of popular casino games. While these are mostly found on mobile gaming platforms and social media sites such as Facebook, they are beginning to take shape in some other ways.
With more and more traditional game developers and publishers beginning to take notice of the social casino space, there has been a rise in the number of such social casino games as GTA Online and NBA 2K. Needless to say, these games are already proving to be very lucrative ventures for the companies involved and hence we should expect even more to spring up in the near future. However, if you are a fan, you will not need to wait that long since there are a number of great options currently available and these include the ones mentioned above.
Rockstar Games has been one of the most popular traditional game developers in the world and it was therefore not very surprising that its social casino game offering would be such a big deal. It all began when the company launched Red Dead Online and gave the gamers the opportunity to play blackjack and poker. In July 2019, the company finally followed through with the highly-anticipated launch of GTA Online’s Diamond Casino. This came with slots, craps, roulette and card games.
Most recently, 2K Games has revealed through a rather bizarre trailer a number of casino-style mechanics that are set to be added to NBA 2K20. The addition of these features will allow basketball fans to unlock player cards for the MyTeam mode in slots, pachinko as well as a giant spinning wheel.
More to Come
Needless to say, it is quite clear that traditional game publishers are actively pursuing the casino gambling space through the introduction of these social casino games. In fact, Strauss Zelnick, the chief executive officer of Take-Two Interactive which owns both 2K Games and Rockstar has pointed out that the move to add casino gaming options to Red Dead Online, GTA Online and NBA 2K are all deliberate.
“Social casino is a big part of the interactive entertainment business. It’s great to be in the social casino business now through Red Dead Online and GTA Online,” Mr. Zelnick said during a recent CNBC interview.
Fortunately, the players seem to be embracing the social casino offerings that are being added to the video games. For this reason, Take-Two Interactive and other video game publishers definitely have good reason to continue capitalizing on the casino business.