• Social gaming platforms are under attack 

• Over 10 states have introduced bills to have social casinos banned 

• High 5 Casino recently lost a $25m lawsuit 

Social gaming is extremely popular. We know this because games like Roblox and Minecraft have monthly player counts that most other games couldn’t dream of (the latest data shows Roblox is still pulling in over 380 million active monthly users). Not to mention, Gen Z and Millennials have said countless times that the main reason they play video games is actually to connect with other people, showing that modern video games are very much the new social media.  

The slight problem with social gaming, though, is that some studios and games have started to push the envelope a little too far in some cases, blurring the lines between entertainment and exploitative mechanics. Specifically, there’s been a spike in concern surrounding the gambling nature of many social games. It was only last year when an investigation found a network of illegal casinos operating within the Roblox game, and we’ve also seen well over one-hundred separate “social casinos” hit the internet since the start of 2020. 

All of this has led to an attack on social gaming platforms. The attack is coming from a growing number of U.S. states, who are effectively lobbing grenades at some of these sites and apps to have them banned. Unsurprisingly, social casinos are taking the brunt of it, and it looks like more states are going to ban them by the time 2026 arrives. 

Montana and Connecticut Officially Ban Social Casinos 

In response to the growing concern surrounding social casinos, sometimes known on the internet as “sweepstakes casinos”, both Montana and Connecticut have passed bills into law banning them. What this means is that popular social casinos, including the likes of Chumba Casino and Stake.us, are now banned in these respective states. And by the looks of it, more bans are coming. 

What we know so far is that New York, California, Nevada, Mississippi, and a handful of other states have also passed bills to have social casinos banned. If these bans all successfully come into play, it could lead to a situation where social casinos are only legal in around 40 states, whereas before they were legal in almost all of them. One thing for sure is that it certainly signifies that “social” gaming sites won’t keep getting away with introducing gambling-like mechanics into their games. 

Social casinos themselves will still keep thriving, though. These particular sites exploded back during the COVID-19 pandemic and have pulled in millions of users even since (Chumba Casino, one of the biggest social casinos, proudly boasts of having “over 1 million” daily players). They’ve effectively been able to do this by offering tons of free-to-play casino games and bonuses, which you can find on sweepstakecasinobonuses.com. However, based on the current trend, their player counts are going to take a hit if states continue banning them. 

Social Casinos Are Technically Still Gambling Sites, Which Has Led to a Crackdown on Them 

When social casinos first arrived on the scene, players were hooked because they came with a ton of social features that most regular casinos simply don’t have. We’re talking chatrooms, free-to-enter tournaments, climbable leaderboards, and everything else in between. But the issue comes from the fact that these social gaming sites also let you purchase Sweeps Coins, the on-site currency, in exchange for real money. If you collect enough Sweeps Coins, these coins can then be redeemed for prizes, which is why so many states have started a crackdown on them like we’ve never seen before. 

It’s now created an environment where state lawmakers are constantly monitoring all types of social games, not just those inside social casinos. Any social game that allows gambling-like features to be introduced to it, sort of like what happened with Roblox last year, will likely be hit with a warning or, in some cases, a lawsuit. This is something that even recently happened with the popular High 5 social casino casino, which saw the site lose a huge $25m lawsuit. 

High 5 Casino Loses Huge $25m Lawsuit 

One of the big shock moments came earlier this year when High 5 Casino, one of the most popular social gaming sites on the internet, was on the losing side of a $25 million lawsuit. A Washington state jury found the site to be in breach of gambling laws and ordered them to payout $25 million in damages, most of which went to the affected players (these players had been exchanging money for “Sweeps Coins” on the site). And although this is a rare case of a social gaming site having to pay out a huge amount of money, it will definitely serve as a warning to others not to do the same thing. Sure, you can launch any social game you like, but as soon as you decide to incorporate gambling elements into it, you’re running the risk of lawsuits and getting kicked out of certain states. This, at least, is how it’s unfolding at the moment, and it appears as though crackdowns are only going to get tougher over the next few years, with High 5 being one of the sites used to set an example. 

What’s the Future Look Like for Social Gaming 

The social gaming market was last valued at $28.4 billion in 2024. With games like Roblox and Apex Legends continuing to bring countless new players in, too, this is a part of the gaming world that’s never going to disappear. In fact, it’s quite likely that almost every new game released in the future will be social, and the line between social media and gaming itself will become even more blurry. But what’s clear to see is that the attempt by many of these games and sites to incorporate gambling into the experience has, for now at least, been shot down. So many of today’s social games have young player audiences, so it’s completely right for state lawmakers to crack down on the ones that have introduced a softer, less obvious version of gambling. After all, player wellbeing is most important.