Trends transforming the online casino industry in 2022

Players enjoy an entertaining experience, all from the comfort of their own homes. And things don't look to be stopping there – great shifts are predicted to hit the online casino industry, with players set to benefit.

Below, we'll take a look at the new trends transforming online casinos. We'll look at virtual reality, the growth in live casino games and the huge investment in creating a better mobile experience.

But first, let's look at some of the latest ways people can play online casino games.

Picture 1 of Trends transforming the online casino industry in 2022

New ways of playing

The past year has seen new ways for online casinos to operate. One such way is by embracing cryptocurrencies. Not all betting sites accept crypto coins – some, however, are devoted solely to them.

There has also been a rise in the likes of social casinos. These types of betting sites, such as Pulsz Casino, can offer great introductory bonuses. They reward players with Sweepstakes Coins (SC). Players can use Pulsz Casino free SC to play slot machines or they can be cashed in for prizes.

Virtual reality

The explosion of virtual reality has taken the world by storm. The technology is being adopted in sectors ranging from sports and gaming to art and betting.

Steps have been taken by online casinos to offer a virtual reality experience, delivered through the devices that people are able to obtain for their mobile phones or desktop computers.

Recently, games developer NetEnt released a virtual reality version of the slot game Jack and the Beanstalk. The game is called Jack's World and includes an exploratory world that players can enjoy before playing the slot game.

The biggest hurdle to the success of virtual reality is accessibility. At the moment, the devices required are only compatible with the latest and best mobile phones or computers.

But imagine the possibilities – playing poker under the glittering, virtual lights of Las Vegas, at home.

Live casino games

If anything accelerated the growth in live casino games, it was the global pandemic that forced brick-and-mortar casinos to close their doors.

Deprived of their usual haunts, players took to their mobile devices and found a similar experience in live casino games.

This feature allows mobile players to watch and play games taking place in real-time in a casino somewhere in the world.

It's perhaps one of the most immersive experiences and certainly the closest that mobile players can get to the feel of a real casino.

So far, online casinos offer live table games for blackjack, poker, roulette, baccarat and bingo. No doubt, more types of games will follow until online casinos are as similar as possible to brick-and-mortar establishments.

Better mobile experience

Linked to this surge in the use of mobile devices like Androids or iPhones to play online casino games is greater investment by betting companies in their apps and websites.

By the end of 2030, the mobile gambling market is expected to reach an estimated turnover of $155bn. In 2019, before the pandemic, around 50% of all gamblers played casino games on their mobile device.

With such stark statistics, betting companies have had to spend big on their user interface, making it simple to use and enjoyable to browse around.

They've also invested money in making their apps run smoothly, with as few bugs as possible, so they can support the best games. Failure to do this could see them being outstripped by their competitors.

Focusing on developing games is something that many betting sites have begun to do. With mobile devices more powerful than ever, online casinos have enlisted the help of AAA game developers to create immersive and engaging casino games.

The upgrade of slot machine games

Technological advances in the gambling industry have also spread to one of the simplest games of all – slots.

As we've seen above with Jack's World, betting sites have contracted leading games developers like Konami, which specialize in the likes of console games or VR games, to create the best experiences possible for their players.

Few people would imagine playing virtual reality slot machines, but the technology is there – it's just a matter of achieving greater accessibility.

And this is the biggest issue with many of these new trends for 2022, in that certain advancements such as VR could exclude people rather than include them.

Marvin Fry

Update 23 June 2022