What is a social casino?

Publication date: 25 Nov 2024

In addition to the well-known game formats, operators are constantly looking for new ways to attract more users. Moreover, they make the sphere even more attractive for players and investors. Thus, the market is now actively developing the social casino sphere. 

According to Research and Marketers, this niche has a great potential for growth in the international market. By the end of 2024, social casinos will generate up to $7.99 billion in revenue. R&M predicts that the social casino market will increase the current figure to $11.20 billion by 2028, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.8%. Agreed, these are pretty solid numbers for a niche that isn’t directly related to gambling. In the new 3S.INFO article, you can read about this iGaming business direction, how it differs from the usual online casino, advertising opportunities and growth prospects.

What is a Social Casino?

Simply put, a social casino is an online platform. It allows users to play various games of chance, such as slots, poker, roulette, blackjack, crash games, etc. Sounds like a normal casino, right? However, the main difference between the two is that in a social casino the game is played in the same way, but without real financial bets, donations and chances to win real money. Without the obligatory financial outlay, the player gets a safe gaming experience and a wide range of opportunities. This makes this format a leader in the industry. 

Why Social? Most of these casinos are integrated with social media. In addition to gambling and entertainment, they offer players a space for networking, competition and team spirit. Social networks are the catalyst through which the project develops on its own. Players maintain a community atmosphere, sharing their in-game achievements with friends on social networks. Furthermore, they compete for the top positions in the rankings and exchange tips with each other. Along with the excitement, the user can also feel the spirit of competition, motivation to win, desire to improve in-game skills and get a community of like-minded people. Each game fully imitates a real casino with all visual, graphic and sound effects. In addition to the free options, each player can purchase the game’s internal currency for real money. These can be phantoms, coins or crystals, for which they can get more features in the game (disabled ads, extra roulette spins, double bonus, etc.). 

Unlike traditional gambling, social casinos have no legal ban on advertising and are legalized in different countries. In most GEOs (USA, UK, Canada, Australia, Germany, Malta, Russia, Philippines, etc.) Social Casinos don’t need a license because they don’t involve playing for real money. As a result, this factor directly opens up more opportunities to reach a wide audience segment of different age and gender. This criterion allows operators to operate in regions where gambling is regulated by law. 

How and when did the Social Casino come into being?

In the early 2000s, the world met the first social networks: Facebook and VKontakte. With the emergence of new social networks and the development of competition for the attention of users, there was a need to attract people not only by the possibility of communication, but by adding other options. Therefore, developers integrated games into social networks, and later gambling. Eventually, these games grew into full-fledged social casinos, which became one of the profitable areas in the category of mobile games.

Games were integrated into social networks. Players could now share their progress with friends. They could invite them, send gifts, and share the experience on their wall by attaching a link to the game. It all worked on a proven funnel of user retention and engagement. It was the beginning of the integration of social media into online gaming, which evolved into social casinos. The late 2000s saw the release of the first online social casino platforms (FarmVille, Zynga Poker, House of Fun, Big Fish Casino, Mafia Wars, and Slotomania). In these platforms, players could already use virtual money to pay for in-game perks and other options.  Later, the direction began to evolve, adapting to the needs of users, providing more opportunities and complicating their structure. Operators focused on the development and improvement of various tournaments, team challenges and team mode. In this way, they had a direct impact on the engagement and retention of players.

Since 2010, smartphones have been hitting the market en masse, not only with the ability to access the Internet, but also with the technical ability to play games. This accelerated the development of social casinos. Users were now able to play games anytime, anywhere, without having to limit themselves. The direction is still being modernized under the trends and interests of users. The development of the sphere was also made possible by the developers’ focus on creating a game with cross-platform play. Players can now play from absolutely any device and synchronize online with their friends. 

How do Social Casinos generate revenue?

One of the main ways social casinos make money is by hosting in-app purchases. This means that each player can buy different options in the game with real money. Some paid options in the game motivate the user to spend more money, and some make it impossible to continue playing without making a real money deposit to buy the in-game currency. 

The second way to monetize is to integrate advertising into the game that is organically related to the game itself. It can be any kind of advertising, including advertising for a real online casino. For example, a promotional video showing a story where players receive a large cash bonus and react very emotionally to it. The player can get an additional free bonus in the game for watching the video, and when the user gets into the excitement, such video views can reach up to a dozen for one game.

The third way to make money in social casinos is through various hot offers, promotions, double bonuses that are limited in time, which puts a certain pressure on the user and encourages them to make a purchase. 

Another way to monetize social casinos is to offer players subscription or bonus options for a monthly fee, such as free currency, open exclusive options, and the ability to play without ads. This model is very popular with players, generates regular profits and promotes player retention and engagement.  At first glance, Social Casino may seem like a harmless game. However, if you look deeper, it evokes the same range of feelings, emotions and excitement in the user as a regular casino.

Therefore, it can also cause gambling addiction and ludomania. Social casino is an intermediate stage for the development of safe gambling experience. But after finding it, a person will be confident in his own safety, catch a wave of adrenaline & excitement and want more.  But by going to the internal advertisements of the real casino, the user will already be playing and losing real money. Hence, for all the apparent safety of social casinos, they are just as much gambling as real online casinos and bookmakers with deposits and bets. 

Why are companies willing to invest in social casinos?

Let’s discuss some of the main reasons, as any investment should pay off over time. Operators can increase the profit of the project due to relatively easy and quick integration of a free social platform with any online casino service.  These platforms can develop independently on the principle of word of mouth and ten reposts. Therefore, the conversion rate increases even without impressive marketing costs. Due to the pre-existing target audience, it is possible to target a wide range of users and attract different groups of users. 

Social casinos have no legal restrictions and represent a legal sphere of activity from the point of view of legislation. Moreover, they have a loyal attitude on the part of advertising sources of traffic. The latter makes life much easier for affiliates when working with gambling offers. In fact, the gambling advertising campaign can be integrated into the social casino, thus encouraging the user to play for real money and receive real winnings. 

Social casino platforms are a great opportunity for many players to enjoy the game and quench their thirst for adrenaline in a safe environment where no risk is involved. This fact is one of the most important USPs (Unique Selling Propositions) of this niche. The expansion of the target traffic is growing on this fact.

Social casinos are highly integrated with social networks. For the modern user, they are already one product. Thus, it helps developers to collect all the data about users’ interests and preferences in the game. Moreover, it helps them to improve applications and offer more interesting conditions for online gambling.

How can Social Casinos be used to promote gambling? 

In the case of real casino advertising, there is native advertising integration. It may not attract the player immediately (non-aggressive ads are used), but it does so organically. Alternatively, there is direct online casino advertising, where different approaches are launched with videos that encourage the player to click on the link. Let’s take a closer look at the most common advertising approaches. 

• A user can earn virtual currency for completing certain tasks or passing bonus levels in a social casino. This currency can then be used to play in the real casino whose advertisements they have seen in the game.
• By visiting the social casino every day, the user can also receive free bonuses or free spins from real casinos (banners with casino advertisements are native to the game and are visually part of it). 
• In addition, players may encounter other types of advertising while playing on the social platform: video ads or ad breaks, banners with offers and bonuses for registering at a real casino.
• The presence of roulettes, gift boxes, free spins or bonus funds where bonuses or promo codes can be obtained for playing casino games.
• Place virtual casino brands within the game or create “sponsored” game levels. This helps to integrate the brand into the context of the game and makes the advertising less intrusive.

A player can receive any bonuses they receive in a variety of ways, such as by entering a special promo code in their social casino or through a quick authorization in the casino itself.

• Social casinos often sell virtual coins, bonuses or other items that can be purchased with real money. This gives you the opportunity to integrate casino advertising during the game.
• Internal in-app purchases allow the player to buy virtual goods that may be indirectly related to gambling and real online casinos. 
• Some social casinos have loyalty or referral programs. Operators offer various bonuses to users for bringing new members to the casino.

Summarizing all the above, advertising is possible according to the following funnel: the user sees an advertisement in a social casino, goes to the real online casino site and is already connected to other products. 

Social casinos are much easier to advertise than regular casinos. However, it is important to remember that online casino and gambling advertising is strictly regulated in different countries. Legal restrictions may apply to the advertising, promotion and sale of virtual goods, especially if the advertising is directed at real players or people using real money, even if it is all done within a social casino. Before running any advertisements, it is still best to research the legal and legislative documentation of the region. It is also best to read the policies of the advertising platform to avoid being banned or having other legal problems. 

How to place social casino ads in Google Ads? 

When it comes to gambling ads, Google Ads has a fairly strict policy. However, the platform has given a relaxation regarding the promotion of social casinos. The ad format is available through personalized ads for social casino applications, and Google Ads has excluded social casino ads from the prohibited ads in the gambling category. How does Google Ads personalized advertising differ from standard advertising? This ad format focuses on users’ interests and is based on their online behavioral algorithm. Consequently, ads are tailored to the users for whom they are relevant. These changes will give advertisers the ability to configure personalized targeting settings for social casino ad campaigns starting December 4, 2024. In March 2025, this option will be fully available to all advertisers. It should be noted that gambling adverts will still be regulated as before.

How to place social casino ads via mini-app in Telegram Ads? 

Telegram Ads has been working for a long time to expand the possibilities of placing ads on its platform. This is also due to the growing popularity of the messenger itself. In fact, the developers continue to make unique offers aimed at monetizing both advertisers and affiliates. The function of officially placing ads on their resources and receiving 50% of the cost of advertising and attracted users has become available for bots and mini-applications. Mini-applications, as well as bots, are constantly being technically upgraded and are already competing with other mobile applications. Therefore, mini-applications and bots can also be linked to social casinos, where the user can play and share the results with his friends within the platform. In addition, apps can give gifts and various bonuses to players, send push notifications. In other words, they can provide the full functionality of a full-fledged app, including the ability to play games from the “social casino” category. You can read more about this in our material “New Gaming and Gambling Opportunities in Telegram”.

As we can see, social casinos are quite an ambitious and promising business. It is actively developing both in the Russian and international markets. It is a lucrative niche for operators and investors, allowing them to expand monetization opportunities and attract users in more geographical and demographic groups. Moreover, social casinos can introduce the public to the world of gambling. In addition, social casinos can encourage some of them to try their luck in online casinos with real bets and winnings. This market is very large, dynamically developing and there is still room for new bold projects that can occupy its niche. Nevertheless, it is worth remembering that the social casino has a very similar format to real gambling. Although at first glance it seems to be the opposite, and therefore can be interpreted for the user and for the market as a real casino, where real money is spent. 

*The social network Facebook is blocked in Russia by court order, as it belongs to the extremist corporation Meta.