Just before the launch of the new Zynga Poker Mobile Version, the company suffered a setback in South Korea as the authorities announced to block all games on Facebook in an effort to clamp down on what they call “Social gambling industry”. This proves to be a thwarting move against the company’s initiative of revamping the social gaming market.
The directives of regulating the social gambling in South Korea have resulted into a massive blockage of all the games available on Facebook which includes popular games like Candy Crush, Zynga Poker and Farmville 2. According to Korea’s legislation, the game developers are supposed to submit an application in order to have their products reviewed and rated by the Game Rating and Administration Committee (GRAC). Additionally, they need to pay a state fee in order to legally offer their games to South Korean citizens.
Earlier this week Zynga also launched the revamped version of its poker game on mobile devices which are available on Apple’s App Store and Google Play. Zynga Poker got a refreshed look and feel with new animations, high speed performance on mobiles and tablets and new casino floor sound effects. Zynga has also developed the game’s social features, notifying players when and where their friends are playing, and making it easy to join them at the table.
The company’s vice president of games for Zynga’s casino franchise, Jon Liu, said the company had used the feedback from its players and the Zynga Poker community to create a Poker experience that delivers the fresh and unique features players have been asking for a while and which mirrors the fun and excitement consumers have on real casino floors.
With the new version of Zynga Poker, the company is looking to accelerate its business which has hit the floors in terms of revenue. Meanwhile, Zynga needs to settle out the issues of legal authorities to restart the blocked games on social platforms. Similar bans in China and the Middle East region have already made serious impact on potential revenue and this latest development will certainly have financial consequences.