Every industry sees trends develop that end up changing the entire landscape. While all members of the industry don’t necessarily have to get on board with the trend, those that identify and adapt to it early enough reap the benefits. Take the now fully blossomed game genre based on the Japanese novel Battle Royale. In the multiplayer game, players pop up in an arena to battle to be the last player standing. Fortnite: Battle Royale and PUBG Mobile, Apex Legends, and in-game modes like Battlefield V’s Firestorm and Call of Duty’s Blackout have come in to create a diverse environment for the relatively new gaming genre.
Now we turn our attention to the trends that have swayed one of the most popular gaming industries: the online casino gaming industry. Here, we’ll see which trends are, in fact, dictating the industry.
Free spins, not just bonus cash
Due to the incredibly competitive landscape of the online casino world, the many operators and gaming sites need to offer appealing welcome bonuses to attract new players. Quite often, these welcome bonuses come in the form of matched deposit bonuses. But then, having recognized that by far the most popular online casino games are slots, some started to offer free spins as a welcome bonus alongside the ever-popular matched deposit bonuses. This really took off and was a huge selling point for potential players. Now, the casino offers 20 free spins on Berry Berry Bonanza alongside a £40 bonus when a new player makes a £10 deposit.
Variety of game providers
When online casinos began, they either provided a batch of games that they had created in-house or were made to house many games from one provider. Nowadays, while people can go to specialized online casinos that boast hundreds of games from one or two very popular game developers, many of the top sites offer games from a range of different creators. When it comes to explaining the world of online casinos, the best way to describe it would be that it’s a competitive world where each operator seeks to offer players the best possible gaming experience. Many of the top-rated casinos see the best way to do this is by offering a huge range of games not just from the top names like Playtech, but also from other exciting providers, like IGT and Cryptologic.
Enhancing the mobile offering
Worldwide mobile revenue is gigantic, projected to reach $669 billion at the end of this year – and it only continues to grow. People all over the world now turn to the speed and convenience of their mobile phones to partake in internet activities. This is a trend that the online casino industry went all-in on. Initially, many providers struggled, somewhat, to adapt to the smallest screen, but over the last few years, top online casino brands have been able to make their games mobile optimized, hosting all of their titles on specialized apps. In a rather tremendous feat of technology, casino apps have even found a way to deliver live casino gaming – which is very demanding on a device – to mobile players through their apps.
What might trend down the line?
Free gaming offers, trying to get as many different games as possible for the players, and making mobile gaming as good – not just more convenient – as PC gaming will all continue to dictate iGaming in 2020. One space to keep an eye on, though, is that of live casino gaming. The live casino section has gone from being a relatively quaint section that offers classic casino games in their strictest form, but studios are starting to expand. The likes of Spin A Win, Live Hi-Lo, and even Squeeze Baccarat may just be the beginning of a wave of novel games coming to live casinos. As the online casino industry continues to grow, players will reap the benefits of better technology, more free gaming, and even better games to play.
