28/05/2001
Zootec bridges the site divide with independent online gaming platform
Last week, online gaming developer Zootec launched Zoogi, an online betting platform that allows people to play games across different sites and bet cash against each other by depositing money with Zoogi or using a credit card for payment.
Established in 1999 in the Netherlands, with R&D in Israel, Zootec has created a virtual community, independent of any site or network, where players can play against each other while communicating via instant messaging and other chat tools.
Zootec founder, Michael Gutman, believes that Zoogi will hit the jackpot with many game sites and networks because it ?offers a new source of traffic, increased site and game stickiness and most importantly a non-advertising based business mode that works.?
Tal Shaked, director of business development, explains, "The key now is to make money off the games such as subscriptions, pay-to-play or to take a cut off people playing against each other for real money. The decline of advertising revenues has led to the downfall of a lot of games sites. A new business model like ours offers a new revenue stream for these gaming companies.?
Zootec aims to establish partnerships with major handset makers, as well as online gaming sites and networks. The company makes its money by charging a 10 percent commission out of the total pot for each bet.
Zoogi?s independent platform allows players to select their game of choice on any site, and to bet. The players deposit money into Zoogi prior to the game and once its over, they declare the winner to Zoogi and the winnings are transferred to the winner. In addition, players have individual accounts where they can keep track of their earnings.
Thus security is obviously of vital importance. Susan Nehab, vice president of business development, assures players that they are protected as the system does not allow customers with poor credit into a game and that the company was constantly working to improve security.
The company appears to have overcome the legal issues surrounding online gambling by claiming it does not ?fall under the legal definition of 'gambling' in the US since gambling is defined as placing a wager on an event or game of chance or luck, whereas Zoogi is promoting wagering between two consenting people online who are playing against each other skills-based games such as backgammon, dominoes, chess, checkers and others.?
Although the company has only just completed its beta testing phase, Nehab claims that the platform currently has several thousand users. So it seems the odds are that Zootec will definitely hit the jackpot with Zoogi.
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