Over the past decade, the gambling industry has undergone some major transformations that have made gambling more accessible and more entertaining and more immersive than we could ever imagine. For instance, 10 years ago, you couldn’t play free slot machines games online, but now it only takes a click and you’re good to go.

However, even though we’ve already witnessed tremendous changes, the industry still holds massive potentials thanks to the continuous evolution of technology. So, what should we expect to see in 2020 and beyond in the gambling industry? Here’s a highlight of the most significant drivers of that transformation this year, and in the next decade;

Cryptocurrency

As many more online casinos allow crypto on their platforms, cryptocurrency continues to grow in popularity. Many more players are warming up to the idea of using cryptocurrency like Bitcoin, Ethereum thanks to the anonymity and security that they provide. As more players learn about the benefits of using cryptocurrencies for gaming, digital currencies are also being embraced by online gaming sites, to a point where we already have platforms that exclusively accept cryptos.

Cryptocurrency doesn’t allow anyone to provide their personal information even when they are signing up for the services in the first place. Thus, if you don’t want paper trail for your gambling, or you just want to keep things private, using digital currency comes in handy. This demand will keep getting bigger in the coming years to a point where crypto popularity will rival that of online wallets.

Player Habits That Are Quickly Changing

Now that everyone owns a mobile device, and over 3.8 billion users use social media every day, the online gambling industry is taking a different direction. Recent reports show that many people are transitioning from PC based gambling to mobile gambling and there’s also an upsurge in Free to Play (F2P) Gaming products throughout the world. Lots of players of late have been wanting to have a good time on the go, without having to spend money.

Even though F2P gambling products don’t bring direct profits, gamers usually buy in-game products like maps, powerups, and tokens among other items to improve their gaming experience. What this shows is that ironically, people are willing to pay for things considered to be free and online casino developers are adapting to these news player habits leverage them to their advantage. It’s no wonder why social casino gaming has been growing rapidly and it will continue to get bigger in the coming years.

Virtual Reality Gambling

Virtual Reality is also another ingenious invention that online casino operators have integrated to offer players more immersive gaming experiences. Given that VR accessories and devices with enough processing power are becoming more available, it is only a matter of time before every other player can gain access to VR casinos from the comfort of their couches at home and even on the go.

Net Entertainment an award-winning creator of online casino content, became one of the pioneers of VR online casino gaming by creating the VR version of its Jack and the Beanstalk slot machine game. After that, the demand for virtual reality casino games has been growing, and other software providers have followed suit as Net Entertainment continues to roll out more VR versions of other popular games.

Where Will Brick and Mortar Casinos Stand in the Future?

Since the online casinos commenced, land-based casinos have been feeling the heat. Sure enough, online casinos come with some pretty lucrative advantages which include;

• Playing online means that you are only a click away from your favorite game.
• You don’t need to have a massive budget for playing as is the case in land-based casinos
• No planning for flights and hotel bookings and lengthy travel hours if you play online
• Through mobile gaming, you can enjoy the casino games you like most on the go
• There’s more variety in online casinos as you aren’t limited to the lobby you are in. You can switch gaming sites in a split second.

However, this doesn’t mean that brick and mortar facilities will be dying out anytime soon. At first, land-based operators though that online casinos would be a passing fad after a few years, but they were wrong. When they realized that online casinos are here to stay, operators started employing new technologies to make their games more entertaining and to prevent cheating so that they can continue enjoying player trust.

Looking at slot machine cabinets, for instance, new generations of cabinets keep being released and they come with more exciting features that are good enough to rival what is available online. For security, brick and mortar facilities started adopting RFID technologies to track casino chips to prevent theft. And again, as exciting as options like live dealer games are, it’s hard to beat the real-life in-person interaction in a casino lobby!