All kinds of industries were hit in 2020. This year brought some unprecedented things to our lives. Most of the stationary businesses, such as brick ‘n’ mortar stores, were hit the hardest. On the contrary, online platforms began to thrive even more so than the last few years. Even though there had been a steady increase in internet users, this year has brought a rise on a scale that was hard to imagine before.
For instance, online casinos saw an immense increase in users. In fact, the largest in the history of the business. The UK Gambling Commission claims that online slots had seen a 25% increase, while poker – 38%. Those numbers come from the beginning of the pandemic, and we can actually expect them to be even higher.
Increase in players
Online casinos are one of the rare industries that have benefited from the pandemic. As was said before, the numbers are large. It happened in consequence to people looking for more ways to spend time during the epidemic. Online casinos fare way better than their land-based counterparts.
As people have fewer activities possible now, many newcomers turned their heads to online casinos to spend the time in an entertaining and fun way. Besides that, the players who gambled only in the established, brick ‘n’ mortar casinos were forced to migrate to online platforms. They have an alternative to keep their skills on the same level.
Moreover, sports betting has taken a hit, as many events got canceled. Because there are no alternatives, some number of sports bettors have gone for online gambling sites to keep the thrill of gambling up.
Some countries, such as Belarus, have legalized online casinos entirely. Due to the pandemic and the potential increase in players, they made a profitable move.
Revenue is at a standstill
While the number of players had increased significantly, the revenue is not going up all that much. That’s because of the unstable economic situation in some countries, especially those with a shaky dollar course. As the dollar is going up, it becomes more expensive for players from poorer countries to gamble. This results in less revenue generated by the casinos. The global economic situation is a threat to the industry. In some cases, the increase in players and the decrease of the stakes get evened out, and the revenue is not increasing, or at least not at a bigger than usual rate. A player is not as valuable as they used to be because they make smaller deposits.
New bonuses
Operators come up with more and more incentives to encourage both new and regular players to gamble. Casino online owners need to keep the numbers up. Therefore, they establish promotions, various tournaments, and new marketing strategies. While the interest in gambling has escalated tremendously during the past few months, the industry needs to encourage players more than ever. Because so many people stay at home, bored, not able to do their favourite activities, the online casinos see this as an opportunity to incentivise people to gamble.
Gamification and themes
New themes and gamification models emerge among the online casinos. To keep the adrenaline levels up, software providers come up with new ideas for relevant themes. Subjects such as apocalypse, viruses, and other such motives come into play when developing new games. People generally come to casinos to have fun and original experiences. As a result, developers need to keep up with the expectations and provide entertaining content.
Conclusion
To conclude, online gambling industry has seen some changes this year. Some of these changes are probably here to stay, as online casinos right now are at the top. People who have migrated to online casinos may find them more accessible and convenient to play at as opposing to land-based ones. Therefore, we may see no change in the numbers going into the next year. Possibly, even when traditional casinos are back up and running, there might still be an increasing trend for online casinos.