The gambling industry is one of the most innovative in the world. With competition between betting companies incredibly fierce, everyone is striving to bring out the next big innovation to capture a greater market share.
With technologies advancing rapidly, the online gambling market is testing the options and opportunities. In this guide, we’ll take a look at the future of the market, and we’ll look at the emerging trends and innovations that have been embraced or invested in, such as artificial intelligence and cryptocurrencies.
First, let’s take a look at the future of virtual reality in the world of gambling.
The rise in virtual reality
Online gambling companies are in a constant tussle to create memorable and compelling user experiences. After all, the better the experience, the more likely the person is to return.
So, it’s not surprising that with the rise of the metaverse, some betting companies have turned their attention to virtual reality (VR) games.
A few brands of mobile phones and computers now have the capacity to play VR games. This has, in turn, made this technology a lot more accessible to greater numbers of people. And with online gambling so popular among users of mobile devices, it has spurred on a handful of casinos to introduce new VR versions of the likes of slot machine games.
In fact, one of the most popular slot machine games, Jack and the Beanstalk, has recently been launched into the virtual realm. Jack’s World, as the VR version of the game is known, allows players to walk around a virtual world in which they can explore and interact with things, and of course, play the slot machine game.
Even the best online casino might not offer VR games yet, but more and more are and this marks a significant development.
However, VR hasn’t taken off as well as some – such as Mark Zuckerberg – might have hoped. Accessibility to the technology still remains a big hurdle, though that’s expected to change in the future.
Embracing artificial intelligence
The world of artificial intelligence (AI) has witnessed a remarkable surge in both its utilization and capabilities. Although the prospect of AI eradicating humanity in Terminator-like fashion is far from immediate, a sense of apprehension remains regarding the technology.
Nevertheless, amid these concerns, the online casino industry has found a meaningful purpose for AI. One such application involves its integration into player monitoring systems. The purpose is to help identify individuals who might be displaying signs of addictive behavior.
Numerous countries have introduced legislation and regulations to ensure that betting companies prioritize the wellbeing of players.
However, the majority of these current methods rely on players taking proactive measures themselves, such as setting up temporary bans or credit limits. With artificial intelligence, however, companies can now detect worrisome behaviors and issue warnings or temporarily suspend accounts.
AI has also displayed some use in online casinos in combatting fraud. By scrutinizing player behaviors, it can identify potential fraudsters and respond through actions like blocking or suspending accounts and transactions.
Integrating cryptocurrencies
Over the past few years, cryptocurrencies have soared in popularity, emerging as a realistic alternative means of conducting financial transactions.
These digital currencies come with enhanced security and anonymity features, superior to those experienced even when transacting in hard cash. It’s for this reason that they have garnered attention as a tradable commodity and investment opportunity. The market is, however, volatile.
With a wider population using cryptos, a number of betting platforms have embraced them not only as a payment option among many others but as their primary form of currency. For instance, players can play casino games using the likes of Bitcoin and receive their winnings in the same virtual currency.
Cryptocurrencies don’t look to be going anywhere anytime soon, so it’ll be interesting to see what the future holds.
Increased mobile functionality
The biggest factor in enabling the innovation and development of the gambling industry is improved mobile technologies.
With mobile networks becoming more firmly established all over the world, even in the most remote regions, more and more people can connect and play games.
It’s predicted that by the end of 2030, the online gambling market will reach a turnover of around $155bn. This growth only sparked to life within the last few years, and soon it’ll have a greater value than the GDPs of many countries in the world, including Hungary, Morocco and Cuba.
If mobile technology keeps developing at pace, the gambling industry won’t be far behind.
