Chumba World looking for financial support

Thursday February 7,2013 : AUSSIE START-UP PUNTS A VIRTUAL GAMBLING GAME
 
Virtual Gaming World looking for financial support
 
Chumba World is the unusual title chosen for a new online and mobile social game based on gambling and developed by Australian start-up Virtual Gaming World, which hopes to generate enough interest to garner financial support for the massively multi-player, freeplay offering.
 
VGW chief executive and and founder Laurence Escalante told the publication  VentureBeat that Chumba World is a social casino through which players can build their own digital Bellagios, customise their avatars, and create their own individual digital variations of slot machines and table games, including Blackjack, Roulette, and Video Poker.
 
There are currently eight games available, and more are in development, including Poker, Bingo, Keno, and Baccarat.
 
Users can host other players and share their creations, or embed them into their own websites and blogs, potentially earning real cash through a traffic-based revenue share with the Chumba platform.
 
Escalante says that as with all social casino games, users are able to purchase currency to play, although winnings can’t be cashed out. But as players generate more traffic spending virtual currency at their casinos, Chumba can calculate the currency flowing through their casinos and pay them a small revenue share as real or virtual money.
 
Escalente says he has raised some capital from Australian private investors, but needs more resources to realise the full potential of his concept, which should be ready for launch within the next six months.