Taiwanese Developer Forges Ahead with Social Casino Games

Although Taiwanese gambling laws impose an unambiguous ban on online gambling, this prohibition does not apply to social casino games.

Played for entertainment instead of financial gains, they do not fall under the same prohibitions that prevent setting up online casinos in Taiwan.

Building on the legality of such activities, as well as the lucrative online gaming market in Asia, comes the announcement from GigaMedia about the planned launch of new casino games.

The Taipei-based company develops and operates online and mobile games in Taiwan and Hong Kong, and sees great potential in this market segment.

“Social casino games is one of the fastest growing and most profitable segments of online games,” says CEO Collin Hwang, adding that “with social casino games generating ARPUs nearly double those of social games, increased sector focus will play a key role in driving growth of our FunTown online game operations in 2013 and beyond.”

“We plan to leverage our expertise as a developer and operator of PC-based Asian casino games to create new offerings for mobile and tablet devices, building a strong multi-platform offering,” explained Hwang.

“We are also reviewing potential strategic partnerships and acquisitions that would enable us to accelerate our growth in social casino games. In sum, we are targeting the highest-spending social gamers in the world’s largest mobile games market – Asia,” said GigaMedia’s CEO.

One possible direction for such partnerships is the ongoing testing of the company’s casino gaming suit in more than 200 Taiwanese internet cafes. Participating establishments have been able to offer slots, poker and dice games to their patrons, and based on the feedback received GigaMedia expects to finalize and release these games to the wider public around the end of the year.