Poker News
Online Gaming Market Stocks Lower Amid Concerns
By Thomas Hanson
Oct 12, 2005, 11:54

With the online gaming industry reaching a potential market saturation point, Empire Online Ltd., Gaming VC Holdings SA, and PartyGaming Plc stocks have all fallen drastically over the past few weeks amid investor concerns.

Investors who rushed to buy stock in online gaming companies earlier this year are becoming much more cautious as researchers forecast slower growth ahead. The Merrill Lynch Internet Gaming Index has slumped 15 percent since PartyGaming Plc announced on September 6th that its sales growth was slowing. Since the announcement, PartyGaming Plc stock has dropped below the initial public offering price the stock held last June. Shares of Empire Online Ltd. and 888 Holdings Plc have also followed identical trends in recent weeks.

The online gaming industry had been fueled by more than ten Internet gaming operators going public over the last 18 months. Reportedly, three more such companies plan to sell shares in the near future with Germany's Tipp24 offering stock tomorrow.

In perhaps the greatest sign of slow growth, whereas companies used to regard relationships as being mutually beneficial for both parties, the competition for new players has led companies to begin closing off other online gaming site participants. Among the recently released information is that PartyGaming Plc is no longer willing to allow players of rival web sites to gamble at the same tables as its clients.

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