888 in real-money Facebook talks after completing Mytopia integration
Social arm to be brought under operator's overall department structure - company also moving closer to real-money poker launch in Italy.
888 chief executive Brian Mattingley has admitted the operator is “in discussions” with Facebook over the possibility of launching real-money gambling on the social network.
Following the launch of Gamesys’ Bingo and Slots Friendzy earlier this month – to date the only real-money gambling products available on Facebook – Mattingley (pictured) explained that talks with the network are “ongoing”.
When eGaming Review first provided details of Facebook’s exploratory talks over real-money gambling, it was believed that 888 were favourites, alongside Gamesys, to launch real-money products, however the social network has suggested it has no immediate plans to expand real-money opportunities beyond the existing private agreement it has with the Jackpot Joy operator.
“Whether we will be accepted and whether the overall strategy of FB is to develop real money gaming remains to be seen. I think they are yet to decide, although Gamesys has been successful and I don’t see any reason why other operators shouldn’t be successful,” Mattingley said.
The CEO was speaking following the operator’s impressive H1 report, which saw 888 announce that it had completed the integration of social arm Mytopia, and he told eGR: “We don’t refer to it as Mytopia any more, we refer to it as our social gaming operation, and that has been integrated within the 888 department structure.
“Now when you look at [our poker offering], that has a mobile division, the current division on the web, and it also now specialises in poker for social networks. So we’re actually now firing the social network at a product channel as much as everything,” Mattingley added.
He explained that “We will actually concentrate in the initial instance in trying to move ahead with recreational gaming on social networks and trying to get significant players playing our products, but I see that real money gaming will [ultimately] be part of the overall mix.
Mattingley gave no timeframe on the development of the social arm, revived earlier this year after Mytopia was given a US$20m write-down in 2011, and said “We want to do this in a proper orderly manner and start to work on it and make sure we’re using the right advertising and marketing channels, so there’s going to be no pressure on that – it’s something that’s going to evolve.”
Meanwhile on the real-money front, 888 hopes to build on its impressive start in Spain – where poker revenues have doubled since the launch of a dot.es site – by adapting its Spanish-facing poker offering for the Italian market.
“When we launched a site in Italy it was only casino, but the success we’ve had in poker in Spain we have adapted the software and are looking to get that licensed in Italy and that will join the portfolio towards the end of this year,” said Mattingley, also noting the imminent launch of online slots in the dot.it market.
“We are concentrating on regulated markets, and…this is a great reference for us when new markets open up and in particular if the US opens up.” he said.
“We have now got some experience in starting afresh because in the case of Italy we had to close down the dot.com and weren’t able to migrate; in the case of Spain we were able to migrate from dot.com over to dot.es. We’ve now seen two different methods of markets opening up and in those markets we have seen great opportunities arise, so I think we’re well placed for other territories.”