Online casinos changed the landscape of the gambling industry. When people talk about “disruptive innovations”, the online casino world should be the case study against which everything else is measured. It changed how players access their games. It changed how banks secure and move finances. It opened up casino games to millions of people who would otherwise be unable to visit a casino whether because of money or because of distance.
It even changed gambling laws around the globe.
It has created ever more sophisticated, challenging, and entertaining games, merging the traditional casino game with all the entertainment that computer gaming on PCs and consoles has to offer. It has stretched the limits of new technology with mobile casinos being one of the biggest markets in the mobile tech world and one of the drivers for faster, better, and more stable networks.
So, what else can the online gambling world offer? Where else can our favourite pastime take us and the world? Far from sitting back and being content with what has already been achieved, the online casino world is always looking to advance and to use the latest developments to bring the thrills and excitement of the casinos to the players.
Analysts are predicting further growth in the cryptocurrency industry as it becomes more accepted in the public domain. Tech visionaries are starting to put their weight behind the new global currency, with one particular Mars-bound, putting-electric-cars-in-orbit, let’s-build-rocketships guru leading the charge.
Bitcoin is becoming an accepted form of banking at online casinos.
There are even online casinos that only trade in Bitcoin.
All this is pointing to a cryptocurrency boom that will see online casinos becoming established Bitcoin (or other cryptocurrency) vendors.
While this may sound great for those players looking for an anonymous banking method, it does come with some risks, biggest of which is the (sometimes wildly) fluctuating value of Bitcoin. What could be worth R10,000 today could drop to R5,000 tomorrow – or rise to R20,000 the next day.
Sounds like the perfect currency for those who enjoy the risk and reward of games of chance.
One of the big benefits of the crypto boom is the underlying programming and systems that make it so popular: blockchain.
As crypto becomes more established, so does the blockchain technology that makes it such a valued currency. Blockchain is all about security and this can only make the online and mobile casinos that much safer and more secure.
Added to this is the inherent check system to ensure the integrity of the blockchain. With blockchain becoming more entrenched in the casino world it will lead to far more open dealings and a focus on fair play – all to the better for the players.
Wearable tech is all the rage – and making a huge impact on our lives. Gone are the days of the Casio calculator watch, now you can have health monitors, phones, web browsers and more integrated into a watch or bracelet or even necklace.
And soon we’ll be able to play at our favourite online casinos using this wearable tech.
It may seem that this tech would be best suited to basic slots games but that’s only if you aren’t aware of just how smart this technology is becoming. The Nintendo Switch is an all-in-one gaming console that’s a little bigger than a smartphone. Why can’t we incorporate that into a wrist-mounted device? Foldable screens are giving us opportunities to incorporate video and sound into all sorts of unlikely things.
And who says we won’t have holograms that will pop up whenever we want in the near future? We could even have a full game of Texas Hold’em around our office desk with a bunch of virtual players all sitting right next to us.
And virtual is definitely starting to show its muscle in the tech world so it really is no stretch of the imagination to realise that games developers are already testing the limits when it comes to incorporating VR and AR into the online casino environment.
Gear like the Oculus Rift already allow you to visit exotic locations and feel like you’re really there, even if you’re actually sitting on your couch. In the near future we could be visiting famous casinos like the Casino de Monte Carlo or Casino Baden-Baden or Venetian Macau without leaving our homes. In this virtual environment we could be playing at the famous Poker Room in Vegas one minute and playing a game of vingt-et-un in Paris the next.
Gambling on eSports is already a thing but, as far as the CasinoPlay crew are concerned, is about to become really big. Sports betting is already huge and the addition of betting on Fantasy Leagues has turned a fun sports hobby into a serious consideration for a lot of fans around the world.
With the unbelievable explosion in the popularity of online gaming, this is set to only get bigger.
Far from being pale geeks in front of the computer screen, online gaming stars now win millions in prize money, companies throw billions at events, and the rise of video channels dedicated to watching and following these new stars and games is testament to just how popular this entertainment medium actually is.
And it’s becoming the latest platform for gambling. Much like sports betting in general, wagers are made on results, winners, key moments during tournaments, first kill/score/whatever, fastest kill/score/whatever.
It’s big business and it’s going to get bigger.
The world belongs to the young. It’s a fact and always will be. Older generations have control over the political and financial landscape but it’s the youth who drive innovation.
And the 18 – 30-year-old market is the one that is fuelling the growth of the online gambling world. This is a market who are as comfortable having a chat over a boardroom table as they are with using their devices to find anything they need. They have grown up with the Internet, see YouTube as a valid entertainment channel rather than a place to watch cat videos, and interact with VR and AR as if it was always a part of reality.
And they are the ones who will be using technology like crypto, blockchain, AR/VR, wearable tech and more in their everyday lives. Which means that, if the online casino world wants to continue to grow, we will need to embrace – no, we will need to lead – the new technologies they take for granted.
The future, thankfully for us online gambling fans, looks bright and we cannot wait to see just what other innovations make our gaming even better.
