Discover how social casinos have taken over the iGaming industry.
Social casinos are on the rise. In a short space of time, big names like Chumba Casino and WOW Vegas have been able to attract a combined 200 million worldwide users, making the social gaming industry a force to be reckoned with. Even real money casinos have had to take notice of this, with many of them now fearful that they could be wiped out in the future if the social casino boom continues in the same direction.
What’s the Difference Between Social Casinos and Real Money Casinos?
Social casinos use virtual coins. These coins are called ‘Gold Coins’ and ‘Sweeps Coins’. With real money casinos, you use actual money.The appeal of social casinos is that you’re not technically gambling, as the virtual coins have no real-world value. Instead, you’re just playing for fun. At the same time, you can also make new friends, climb leaderboards, and win exciting prizes, so there’s a lot to love (and very little to dislike) about them.
Alex Windsor, casino analyst from SweepsKings.com, has given his thoughts on the major success of social casinos over recent years:
“There are countless people around the world who just want to play casino games for fun. They don’t really have any interest in gambling, which is completely fair. So, what they’re doing now is playing inside social casinos, where they get access to all the games they like without having to bet a thing. And some social casinos even throw in the opportunity to win real prizes, too, which is an added bonus for those who want an extra bit of competition.”
How Social Casinos Have Reached 200 Million Users
Social casino games first started attracting attention back in the mid-2010s. During this time, global smartphone usage skyrocketed — and so did social gaming. As a result, millions of people started trying social casino games for the first time, with many of them getting hooked on Chumba Casino and other social casinos during that time period.It wasn’t until 2020, though, when social casinos truly hit the big time. The COVID-19 pandemic happened, everyone had to stay at home, and socializing was banned. So, one of the best solutions available was to hop online and play social casino games, which people quickly started to do. After all, it was a no-brainer: you got to socialize with other people from around the world while passing the time with popular games like slots.
This was great news for social casinos, as it meant their player counts drastically increased in 2020 and 2021. Since then, the demand for them has kept on rising, with millions of new players joining the trend ever since. Some have joined just for fun, while others are interested in social casino prizes like gift cards and cryptocurrencies.
As of 2024, social casinos are officially bigger than ever. Statista reports that the social casino gaming market is worth an estimated $6.2 billion and that mobile casino games are amongst the top-grossing mobile game genres in the world, which is a crazy achievement considering that they were relatively unknown not too long ago.
This can (in large) be credited to the fact that social casinos offer free-to-play casino games and provide users with a social gaming experience. There’s no stress about money or having to make endless deposits — instead, you choose the casino games you like, play against other people, and have fun.
Another big factor behind the rise of social casinos has been celebrity and influencer sponsorship deals. Since 2020, there’s been a huge increase in social casinos cutting deals with famous people, which is best highlighted by mega-star Drake. The “6 God” is currently earning a reported $100 million a year from Stake, a leading social casino site, for promoting them through his social media and livestreams. This deal has worked a treat for Stake, who have since attracted thousands of new users thanks to the Drake influence.
