Real-Money Social Gaming Still Growing in US

Developments in real-money social gaming in the US market are alive and well, as shown by GameHouse Casino Plus' decision to launch a monthly sweepstakes on their Facebook game GameHouse Casino this week.

Starting August 1, Facebook players in 31 states and Washington DC have been able to enter the monthly sweepstakes for a shot at a $100,000 first prizes. Players outside of the supported areas (i.e. other US states or other countries) are eligible to enter a separate monthly contest using virtual coins.

The move by GameHouse is extra significant given that it came in the same week as Zynga, the world's leading social gaming company, reportedly backed down from real-money gaming plans for the US market. In its second-quarter earning report, Zynga Inc. announced that it would give up on the potential new revenue stream and would focus its efforts elsewhere.

Rather than discourage other players, Zynga's move has actually left the door open for other developers to pave their own way. GameHouse Casino Plus is one such developer: while it does not offer the types of traditional gambling that Zynga was supposedly considering, its sweepstakes could be the start of something big.

Of course, GameHouse, Zynga and other developers are not able to offer American residents real-money social gambling in the same way that Zynga is offering it to British residents through its partnership with gambling giant Bwin.party. This is because US laws and regulations still do not allow companies the freedom to offer real-money gambling services that residents of many European countries take for granted.

However, new online gambling regulations are just around the corner in the US (Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware have already passed different forms of Internet gaming reforms), meaning that companies like GameHouse that build a following through the methods available to them now will be well-placed to capitalize when the US implements complete freedom for online gambling in the near future.