888 to Offer Real-Money Gambling on Facebook in 2013
Online gaming company 888 Holdings PLC, owner of 888poker, has teamed up with social media giant Facebook to offer real-money games in the U.K.
The agreement, which was announced on Wednesday, will see 888 offer its real-money games through the Facebook platform in the U.K. starting in 2013. 888's Bingo Island will be the first product to launch a real-money offering, and casino, slots and poker are expected to follow later in the year.
��888 has long recognized the potential for social gaming," said 888 COO Itai Frieberger. "Our Facebook freemium (play for fun) offerings have found a significant audience, and we are very excited by the opportunity that real-money gaming on Facebook provides. We are working closely with Facebook on this launch, ensuring we introduce the best of both worlds of real-money and social gaming.��
Julien Codorniou, Head of Games Partnerships for Facebook in Europe, added: ��Facebook is a great platform for playing games with your friends and we are really pleased to be working with 888, who have a strong reputation on both the quality and safety of their games."
888 is the second company to join forces with Facebook for real-money gambling in the U.K. In August, Facebook launched a bingo product called Bingo Friendzy which was the company's first app that allowed gambling with real money instead of Facebook Credits. Gamesys, which powered the software, later added a real-money slots product to Facebook's real-money platform.
Zynga, Facebook��s largest gaming partner for several years, is also planning to enter the real-money online gambling space in the U.K. by early next year. The two companies recently restructured their partnership to ensure that Zynga's real-money offering through bwin.party will be made available on Facebook when the new platform launches.
PokerNews reached out to Facebook on Wednesday, but a spokesperson declined to provide further details.
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