The Future of Online Gambling

Online gambling began humbly. Back in the 1990s, a handful of sites offered players a chance to play games like online poker. It was a niche thing and only the most hardcore players chanced to try it. Fast forward to today, and online gambling is an industry worth more than $90 billion. By 2025, its worth is expected to reach $102 billion, rising more than 11% in just 6 years. Online gambling, once a niche, has become mainstream in a quarter of a century. One of the biggest drives behind this success is the rapid development of technology. Things like the Internet and smartphones have fueled this rapid progression and the industry is aware of it. That is why most online casinos are keeping an eye on any future technological development that might give them an edge. Here are some things that will shape the future of online gambling.

Mobile Gaming

Mobile gaming already accounts for 33% of the entire gaming revenue. In the future, that percentage will only increase. As devices become more powerful, developers will be able to create more demanding games, with better graphics. It won’t be long now when every game will have two versions, one for PC and consoles and other for mobile devices. Some already follow this pattern and are wildly successful. The factor that will have the biggest impact on mobile gaming is the introduction of 5G networks. As these super-fast nods get implemented, the speed of wireless internet will rival those of land connections. This will allow developers to overcome the most common bottleneck of online mobile gambling.

More Games

The increased competition has been forcing developers to be on their A-game all the time. Players have been reaping benefits of this. This is especially visible in the gambling industry, where competition is especially fierce. Casinos release new and improved slot games almost weekly, in order to keep up with the demand. And the improvements don’t include just new and fancy graphics and interface. Bonuses also increase, offering many new ways to win. Some of the games feature an RTR (Return to Players) of 96%. The result is a veritable flood of new games that can be overwhelming.

Augmented and Virtual Reality

Both VR and AR have been around for years, even decades if you count when the concepts were invented. Still, they have failed to gain any significant traction in the gaming community. The main reason is that the equipment needed is still too expensive for an average user. The game developers are aware of this fact and haven’t made much of an effort to create titles that support these technologies. The lack of titles has made it impossible for hardware manufacturers to sell VR/AR equipment in any significant quantity. This has kept the prices high, creating a spiral. Still, we are under the impression that this spiral can be broken. Either new, quality games will be released or there will be a significant drop in hardware prices. Either way, we will probably see a lot more VR and AR gamers in the future.

The Rise of Blockchain

In the near future, blockchain will become a dominant form of all online payments. The advantages are clear. All payments are secure, anonymous, and fast. With the distributed ledger as the main accounting tool, it will be virtually impossible to hack. Personal details of both the sender and the receiver will be encrypted, yet the payments itself will be visible. That means every payment can be verified, yet the details will remain confidential. With blockchain, you don’t have to worry about someone seeing your bank statement. Also, you can say goodbye to those banking fees. Blockchain payments are not only cheaper but significantly faster. Waiting for days for your money to clear will be a thing of the past.

The synergy of all these things will create a whole new look and feel of online gambling. With VR and AR creating a whole new level of immersion, there will be a lot of incentives for new players to start playing. Cryptocurrencies and blockchain will remove any lingering doubts of fixed games and irregular payments. Finally, 5G will allow everyone to enjoy the games the way developers intended. All in all, the future of online gambling seems bright.