Zynga Ends Real-Money Gaming Partnership with bwin.party

ZyngaPlus poker and casino products for real-money will no longer be offered, per an announcement from the company that effectively terminates a partnership with bwin.party.

Based in San Francisco, Zynga teamed with bwin.party in the spring of 2013 with the goal of converting social gamers in the UK to real-money players via Facebook. The pairing targeted only the UK market, with Zynga unwilling to venture farther internationally at the risk of alienating its hold on the social gaming market, according to sbcnews.co.uk.

“We are very sorry to announce that ZyngaPlusPoker and ZyngaPlusCasino will be closing shortly," read an email sent to real-money gamblers. “If you have a balance please log in to withdraw it."

When the partnership was announced almost two years ago, many were under the impression that Zynga would go all-in in efforts to entice social gamers into real-money play. That turned out not to be the case, as Zynga had second thoughts regarding the real-money gambling market just a few months later.

After announcing the end to real-money gaming with bwin.party, a spokersperson for the social games developer told eGR that Zynga was “committed to delivering customers unparalleled free-to-play mobile gaming experiences."