Those who thought that the global economic crisis was becoming little more than a blip in the distance should take heed of the online gaming industry, as for the second time in a week several gaming sites have announced they will be shutting down.

The latest group to be hit by cut-backs are fans of online bingo, who will now have two less sites to entertain themselves on after it was announced that Curacao-licensed sites Bingo777.com and BingoFantasy.com are set to close later on this week.

The two sites are owned by Unimaster Limited, the gaming firm responsible for the popular Playtech-powered online casinos CityClubCasino.com and CrownEurope.com, and despite the resounding successes of those two ventures, the bingo operations are thought to be closing down due to lack of market interest.

As of yet, no statement has been released by the Unimaster company as to the definitive reason why the two sites have been forced to close down, but it is widely believed to be the result of increased competition in the online bingo sector as well as a tough economic climate leading the company to ditch its non-essential assets.

As is ever the case, players who hold accounts that are in credit with either site are advised to withdraw their funds as soon as possible and transfer them elsewhere, as with no statement being forthcoming from Unimaster, it is currently unclear as to what the site plans to do with their existing accounts after this weekÂ's closure.