WSOP.com Outshines Zynga In The Social Gaming Market

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Friday, June 12th, 2015 | Written by Adam Brown

Poker may be a popular pastime amongst online gamers, but revenues from the game pale in comparison to the money generated by online casino sites. The same hold true in the social gaming world where casino apps are a more lucrative revenue stream than their free money poker equivalents, which have also showed a steady decline in popularity over the past few years.

One site which has contributed exponentially to this downward trajectory is Zynga Poker, which in 2011 was the world’s biggest poker site with 38 million players, but last year saw a huge 44% of its audience disappear. Consequently, a SuperData Research study now predicts that Zynga Poker will generate around $179 million in revenues in 2015, down from $203 million in 2013, with that figure falling further to just $156 million by 2017. Commenting on the situation, SuperData Research senior analyst Stephanie Lllamas, explained:

“Because of Zynga Poker’s overwhelming command over social poker, their performance has been reflected in the overall market.. [which has suffered] largely due to Zynga Poker’s fluctuating revenue and falling player base”

Decline Impacting Social Poker Market

While Zynga Poker continues to struggle, the company still remains the undisputed leader in the social poker niche commanding 61% of overall revenues, worth up to $13 million in revenues each month. Having lost almost half its players in 2014, however, the business has come under fire for failing to keep up with changing tastes in the social gaming space, especially with players now moving away from stand-alone poker apps to ones featuring a more complete casino game offering, including slots and blackjack. As the report states:

“User numbers are dropping more sharply than revenue, as the market matures and fickle players fall by the wayside. More casual poker players now gravitate toward poker games included in casino-style apps like DoubleDown Casino.. [thus] causing a deflation in poker figures.”

WSOP’s Growing Mobile Sector Base

The SuperData Research study then goes on to suggest Zynga may be able to win back its core audience of social gamers by producing an all-in-one app combining poker with other casino games. Thus far, however, Zynga has proved slow to adapt, and in the meantime the WSOP brand has been making major inroads into the social poker market, particularly in the all important mobile sector. In fact, WSOP free poker players have doubled over the past year, and now stand at around 3.25 million players. Furthermore, SuperData predicts WSOP will boast more free poker mobile users than Zynga Poker by the end of 2015, representing a considerable coup as the mobile market is expected to generate the lion’s share of social poker revenues by 2018.

WSOP Poised To Dethrone Zynga

The WSOP also has the added advantage of organizing the annual poker tournament extravaganza called the World Series Of Poker, from which the brand derives its name, with thousands of players flocking to Las Vegas each year in order to take part in live tournaments awarding gold bracelets to its winners. Moreover, since Nevada legalized online poker in 2013, the WSOP.com platform has grown to hold a virtual monopoly over the states iPoker market, and following last year’s competition where live players could compete online using their laptops, this year the WSOP has gone even further in expanding its WSOP.com platform.

At the 2015 WSOP currently underway, for instance, players have the ability to multi-table at the WSOP.com site via WiFi connections throughout the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino, or whilst playing live tournaments via their mobile device. This year’s series is therefore expected to boost WSOP.com traffic by at least 50% compared to last year, whilst recreational players and tourists visiting Las Vegas may also be tempted to download the WSOP app during the WSOP’s seven-week run time.

Finally, for the first time in its history the WSOP will feature an online bracelet event, a $1,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em tournament, which is sure to attract a huge audience to the WSOP.com site where it is hosted. Helping to promote the landmark event is WSOP.com’s first Brand Ambassador, Greg Merson, who also won the World Series of Poker Main Event in 2012 for $8,531,853. As the 27 year-old pro explains:

“My favorite part of the schedule is the online bracelet. Online has been a big boost for the game and rewarding the industry with a bracelet is amazing.”