Zynga and bwin in online gambling partnership

Ever since Zynga CEO Mark Pincus’ statement earlier this year that his company intends entering the online gambling sector in the UK in 2013, industry observers have been waiting for the other shoe to drop…with which company would Zynga partner?

The speculation ended Wednesday with Zynga’s Q3-2013 report, which included an announcement revealing that it is to partner with Bwin.Party digital entertainment, and that a real money online casino and poker operation will be operating before the first half of 2013 is done, focusing mainly on the UK punter.

“Partnering with an established leader like Bwin.Party is a strategic and prudent way for us to enter a key RMG (real money gambling) market while giving local players the real money games they’ve been asking us for,” said Zynga executive vice president Barry Cottle.

“Zynga is the world’s leader in social games with hundreds of millions of active players worldwide and a significant player base in the UK,” Bwin.party co-chiefs Jim Ryan and Norbert Teufelberger said in a press release.

“We are delighted to have been selected as their chosen partner for this important step in their evolution, and hope to expand our relationship into other products and markets.”

Licensing will be through the Gibraltar online gambling regulator.

The poker operation will be powered by, and form part of the Party Gaming network which includes industry major Party Poker, along with associated operators like WPT Poker and Empire Poker.

The online gambling venture will also offer around 180 real money casino games from Party Gaming and a Farmville-branded slots game, exploiting one of Zynga’s most successful offerings in the social gaming sphere.

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