Two stories from the world of video gaming and gambling including RumbleMonkey allowing betting on Hearthstone matches, and the question of whether Loot Boxes constitutes gambling arrives in the UK Parliament.
When it comes to naming your brand, Seth Godin, author of the Purple Cow, believes the vital question is, “When I Google this name, will I find you?”
If you Google RumbleMonkey you only land in one place, a platform that allows you to gamble for real money while playing Hearthstone. The name might not have anything to do with esports, but who cares, right?
RumbleMonkey works like Hold’em Manager (HEM) in as much as it operates in the background while you compete. Rather than annoying you, the seamless application improves the user experience. While HEM provides statistics, RumbleMoney gives you with the opportunity to gamble for real money against your opponent.
The application is currently in Beta Mode, and only available for Blizzard Entertainment’s Hearthstone. So if you have a buddy who plays Hearthstone, and you want to have a little digital wager on the outcome, then register a RumbleMonkey account and off you go.
RumbleMonkey plan to add more titles to the client. When this happens, players can use one wallet to play a broad variety of games in the same way PokerStars players can use a single wallet to play online poker, casino, and make sports bets.
What if you don’t have any friends who happen to play Hearthstone and gamble?
There is a player list on RumbleMonkey of people interested in gambling (there are 42 at the time of writing). You can tag them as friends, and RumbleMonkey will let you know when they are online.
Thoughts?
I like the idea.
Playing video games is fun, but playing with some money at stake takes things to a whole new level. Not only will the addition of a wager increase the excitement for the competing players, but it also improves the live stream for viewers should players want to go down that popular route.
The Beta Mode only allows punters to wager $5 each on a single match, and this will have to increase for the idea to work. As far as I can tell the only way to get money on and off your wallet is via PayPal, and this won’t do moving forward. Cryptocurrency options is also a must.
If you want to get involved in the Beta Mode then Google ‘RumbleMoney,” I promise you will find them.
“RumbleMonkey empowers gamers to engage in contests of skill against other RumbleMonkey users for real money,” said RumbleMonkey CEO Jacob Rapoport. “Our goal is to democratize esports and enhance gameplay. RumbleMonkey does not support betting, gambling, or wagering of any kind. This is not merely semantics. RumbleMonkey’s business facilitates contests of skill in which players pay an entry fee to engage in a match for a fixed prize, which is announced by RumbleMonkey and guaranteed to the most successful player. At no time does RumbleMonkey offer the ability to place a bet, or wager, or gamble on the outcome in any form or by any means. Nor do we offer or engage in fantasy sports for that matter. The fact that users play for real money has no bearing on the legality of RumbleMonkey’s activities, and certainly does not make the services ‘gambling.’”
Loot Boxes Make it to The House of Commons.
When your teenage son wants you to watch him open a ‘Loot Box’, you know the game developers have got him hooked like a sardine.
The ‘addictive’ nature of these boxes have caused some furore in recent months, brought to a head when developers of the Lord of the Rings spin-off Shadow of War allowed players to purchase Loot Boxes outside of the game, meaning if you had the collateral, you could become better at the game.
You have to feel sorry for the adults feeding this frenzy.
In some quarters of the esports industry, people believe opening a Loot Box is akin to spinning the roulette wheel and have posed the question: is this gambling?
As covered by our intrepid reporter, Peter Amsel, The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) recently declared that Loot Boxes and gambling aren’t in the same ballpark, but that hasn’t stopped an MP in good Old Blighty bringing up the same question in the Houses of Parliament.
Labour MP for Cambridge, Daniel Zeichner, brought up the question of Loot Boxes and gambling during a session on October 6 and the UK Government now have a month to make their judgment.
There is also a petition asking the UK Gambling Commission to create a law protecting children from Loot Boxes. It has 10,000 signatures, and if it comes across my email, there will be 10,001 because I am currently going broke buying these things.
