Online casinos have been in existence for more than two decades at this point, but in the last few years, the whole business has seen tremendous growth rates. In fact, the growth of online casinos has been so profound that many of the traditional casinos have also opened up their own sites on the internet to become a part of the growing sector. To understand the growth and evolution of the internet casinos, let’s now take a look at the various factors and changing trends that are contributing to it.
The Rise of the Smartphone
Almost every business has been affected directly or indirectly by the rapid growth, improvement, and acceptance of the modern smartphone, and the online gaming industry has, without a doubt, benefited tremendously from it. Every good online casino now either has a dedicated app for iOS and Android devices or has built-in support for smartphones and tablets on the website itself. This has naturally expanded the target audience enormously and the results have so far been nothing short of astounding, far exceeding the expectations of the industry. Some of the highlighted factors of the smartphone revolution that has boosted the online casino business can be stated as follows.
- Smartphones from 2017 onwards became powerful enough to handle online casino games perfectly and without compromise, even on mobile browsers.
- Players can access their favorite casinos games virtually from anywhere with smartphones, which boosts the total time each player spent on the online casinos, along with the revenues earned.
- Dedicated apps meant that marketing and promotion are easier and more efficient with push notifications.
Online Casino Bonuses
Multiple players have won huge cash prizes over the years when playing in online casinos, without having to spend a single dime of their own in the beginning. That’s because of the bonuses that online establishments offer to new players and sometimes to returning customers as well. The Stakers Casino has a no deposit bonus system which lets people play the latest casino games without having to make any deposit whatsoever. On the other hand, if the player does choose to make a deposit, the casino doubles that first deposit for up to 200 euros – and even throws in 160 free spins at the multiple slot games available twenty-four hours a day.
Now, these bonuses are huge opportunities to win and win big, which offline establishments cannot provide to their players. At best, you will get a few complimentary drinks and snacks on the house while you play, but it does nothing to increase your chances of winning, which online casino bonuses so evidently do. As is to be expected, this understanding has led people to use online casinos more since the bonuses make it a better value for money proposition, as compared to offline establishments.
Live Casino
A live casino is where a real, human dealer is present to deal the cards and interact with both the players and the casino. This happens in real time and it’s as close to the real experience as it can be over the internet. While this isn’t exactly a new concept, live casinos have become particularly popular in recent years because of improvements in technology. Quality of the video feed has improved significantly and thanks to faster internet speeds and powerful hardware, players can now have a jitter-free experience, even from their smartphones. In many ways, it almost feels like a video game where the character is breaking the fourth wall by interacting directly with the players, which is both convenient and entertaining.
VR in Casino Games
The list of VR casino games isn’t particularly long at the moment, but this is a trend which will blow up in the near future. At this moment, live casinos are about as real as it gets without sacrificing on anything, but a few years down the line, VR could become the most popular way to enjoy an online casino experience. To be able to transfer yourself inside a virtual casino, just by putting on a headset, is something that seems like science fiction, but it is happening right now. Of course, the technology will need to improve a great deal first in order for the VR casino games to be really popular with the masses. But, given the kind of profits the online gaming and gambling industry enjoys every year, alongside the growth rate, it is only a matter of time before we get there.
The Ability to Host Thousands of Players Simultaneously
There is a limit to how many games and slot machines even the world’s largest casino can hold, while that limit doesn’t apply to even a comparatively small online casino. There was a time when online casinos were indeed severely limited in their ability to host multiple players at the same time, but that time is over now.
Thanks to rapid improvements in web hosting and server technology achieved in the last five years, even the smaller internet casinos can host thousands of players at the same time nowadays. When there is no queue in front of a popular jackpot machine and the player doesn’t have to wait to get his/her turn at the poker table, there is no limit to how much revenue an online casino can earn within a certain amount of time either. Online casinos basically turn the device that each of the players is using into separate casinos for each one of them. This is something that holds potential for massive revenue generation, limited only by the number of players that choose to play on the casino and the maximum hosting capacity of the site.
We are living in the age of technology and in the coming years, we are likely to see huge changes everywhere. As the experience offered by online casinos is closely tied with the available technology and its use, expect to see advanced trends and an even more significant boom in the online gaming and gambling business coming your way.