Bwin.party's Sportster begins open-beta testing

Bwin.party’s social sports betting product Sportster has been beta launched on Facebook this morning ahead of a full-scale launch in the coming weeks.

A holding page for the product appeared last month inviting users to register for the beta testing phase, with the product having been in development since early last year.

The game, developed as part of a collaboration with Ukrainian social gaming studio Nordeus, allows players to bet on both real and virtual football matches involving leading European football teams in order to collect ‘cash winnings’ and tokens.

Users stake a virtual currency on a variety of markets, while tokens are collected after passing certain milestones and used to gain extra currency and to purchase ‘wildcards’ that are used to provide in-bet cash-out bonuses.

Invitations to join the game can be sent to Facebook friends or through the Sportster app before sending gifts to one another, which comprise various amounts of in-game currency.

The social features extend to a game mode called ‘Bet Race’ which puts five users against each other over 11 rounds of betting, with the aim to accumulate as many points as possible by placing successful bets. Prizes are awarded based on a player’s final standings and if they accumulate specific points totals.

Players can also choose to purchase extra tokens via the marketplace, which accepts payment by major credit or debit cards as well as by PayPal and by mobile through a direct carrier billing service.

Bwin.party has high hopes for its social gaming division having backed it as an important source of revenue in the future. The operator has also highlighted its potential to provide growth for its real-money sportsbook after Q3 revenues from the vertical fell 10% year-on-year.