Source: Pexels
Back in December, we wrote a piece exploring how the casino games industry is thriving not only in the North East of England, but throughout the entire United Kingdom. We found that games such as poker, blackjack and slots, to name just a few, have been attracting players at incredible numbers over the last decade, both online and in brick-and-mortar, traditional venues. According to statista.com, the UK’s casino industry has grown significantly since the early 2000s, raking in as much as $135.3 million (£104.9 million) in just one year.
Following the sector’s undeniably impressive growth and our brief look into how it all happened, we began to wonder exactly what the future has in store for the casino industry, not only in the UK, but all around the world as many other countries are embracing the industry. Here are our humble predictions on how casinos will grow throughout 2019.
Mobile Casinos
By the end of 2020, network experts Ericsson.com have estimated that over 6.1 billion people will have a smartphone. Of these people, we can safely assume that at least a few million will be avid online casino fans. With that in mind, iGaming brands are beginning to put a lot more effort into creating mobile-friendly casinos that anyone can access straight from their smartphone.
For example, take redbet.com/en– a well-established online casino that has existed for many years, they now offer a mobile-friendly interface that their loyal customers and newbies alike can easily navigate. Meanwhile, other iGaming brands are offering apps to smartphone users, although these can still be a little clunky at times. By providing and improving these alternatives to the main desktop platform, online casinos are sure to draw in many new players and keep their established user-base happy.
VR & AR Games
Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) have been circulating within the gaming world for quite a few years now, and yet neither of these new technologies are as popular as they should be. The magic of both VR and AR is that they can transform our experiences completely, allowing us to become more immersed than ever in our favourite games. Although it seems some sectors have neglected this tech for the time being, there’s a good chance that the iGaming industry hasn’t given up just yet.
In fact, we’d argue that online casinos are in the best position of all the gaming platforms to really bring VR and AR to life. By combining live casino games with virtual or augmented reality, they could truly bring the casino experience to people’s homes. If a big online casino was able to master VR and AR technologies in 2019, it would surely bring a massive amount of new players to their digital doors.
While 2018 may have been the year cryptocurrency casinos and live games began to pick up steam, we hope that 2019 will be the era of smartphone casinos-on-the-go and virtual reality table games. Just imagine being able to sit in your living room while experiencing a Las Vegas casino through your VR headset? That’s the future!