Steam is a community where members can watch streamed footage of gaming as it happens. From the top Xbox and PlayStation games to online poker gaming, millions of members log on to play as well as watch players as they achieve new feats during game play. Amaya Gaming recently applied to receive approval to offer Play Money gaming via the Full Tilt poker application. Valve has now given approval, allowing Full Tilt to offer their gaming software to 125 million gamers.
Greenlight acceptance was given after a large group of video gamers conducted the approval process. The Play Money version of Full Tilt will now be available worldwide via Steam. The application is believed to be launching before the end of the year.
Amaya Gaming has been in the news several times of late. PokerStars and Full Tilt, the brands owned by Amaya, both received approval to operate in New Jersey, with players anticipating the launch. PokerStars has been under fire for quite a while due to changes to the VIP program. PokerStars is the top operating poker brand, leaving Full Tilt behind in regards to traffic. With the acceptance to Steam, Amaya is in the news once again and Full Tilt is hoping to gain new members from the video gaming community.
Players located in the United States as well as around the world will be able to download the Full Tilt software and play for fun via Steam when the application is launched. The version will not be Real Money but will give players an inside look at Full Tilt and what they have to offer. Players who can legally play for real money will hopefully be intrigued to log online and sign up for a real money gaming account.
With the approval of Full Tilt on Steam will give players the option to sell Play Money Chips which do have a real cost. Packages for chips can be purchased for a price starting at $1.99 and as high as $199.99. Play Money events will be offered on the application including tournaments and cash games running 24/7.
There seems to be a crossover taking place now in regards to poker and video gaming. In the past, many pros have had a history of starting out with video games or popular role playing games before entering into the world of poker. In today’s society, providers of online poker gaming seem to be focusing on the recreational players and video gaming.
Today, major competitions take place with gamers earning huge cash prizes for being dominant in a particular game. Twitch is a live streaming platform where members can watch others playing the best games and members being able to interact and watch as the player progresses. Some casinos that are land based are even considering adding new games such as video slots that have a more video-game type feel.
The goal is to bring in the younger audience to both online gaming and land based casinos. The older audience commonly visits casinos to enjoy slot gaming. Younger players will visit the poker tables but seem to not have an interest in slots, even online. Operators have to be able to appeal to the younger audience or they could be at risk for this type of gaming to peter out which could lead to major losses in revenues.
It will be interesting to see how well Full Tilt does with the integration of their software on Steam. Will players take to the game and spend time playing for Play Money, then moving on to actual Real Money game play?