One of a number of discussions at yesterday’s Social Gaming & Gambling Summit was taken by Yazino founder and CEO Hussein Chahine where he shared the process his company has gone through to reach where it is today. During the panel he discussed the issue of synchronous games and how it is a huge opportunity for the gaming industry, stating: “Synchronous is the future of online casinos.”
For those wondering WTF synchronous is, and immediately thought of synchronized swimming when they saw it, here’s the dictionary definition:
syn·chro·nous
adjective
1.occurring at the same time; coinciding in time;contemporaneous; simultaneous.
In essence it basically defines exactly what the shared experience of social gaming is – playing with your friends, and others, and getting enjoyment out of it. Chahine’s assertion that it’s the future of online casinos is a bold one to say the least. Looking at the numbers being predicted for the social side of the industry makes you realize that Yazino’s founder isn’t far wrong though and the synchronous nature of games could drive social gambling revenue to hit $100billion by 2017.
Back to the company itself, and the CEO disclosed some of his firm’s figures that it’s safe to say are fairly impressive. The company, which took three years to build from the ground up, generates an ARPU of $0.42 per player. If you compared that to Zynga Poker’s ARPU of just $0.06 it’s a staggering figure and makes you ask where Zynga may have gone wrong. Yazino built their own platform unlike Zynga who so heavily rely on Facebook.
Problems for Yazino could eventually arise from other bigger and more powerful firms deciding to enter the social casino space. If Chahine’s drive and determination are anything to go by, then knocking Yazino off their stride might be difficult. Chahine summed it all up in a nutshell by finishing his speech stating: “It’s so important that if you believe in a vision you follow it.”
