Top 7 Trends in the Online Gambling Industry in 2019

Last year, the online gambling industry has made a major emphasis on the development of the introduction of high technologies. The most significant changes affected websites in the live format and projects that use VR technology. Even land-based casinos, despite their slow adaptability, did not stand aside: for example, in Spain, gambling establishments have started installing the face-recognition system, and in Las Vegas, casinos have begun to use robots to stop fraudsters and help visitors to know the area.

What other surprises does the gambling industry prepare? What are the trends that the industry will face in 2019? We will discuss all this in today's article.

New online casino trends have had a significant impact on the overall economic situation. For example, according to the consulting company H2 Gambling Capital, the share of mobile websites, by the end of 2018, has reached 62% of the total turnover of the industry. There was also a massive growth of the “white sector”: in 2018, it has occupied about 59.3% of the gambling market.

Switch From PCs to IOS and Android Platforms

Today, the online gambling market is more than 60% conquered by mobile platforms. At the end of 2018, casino operators announced that the annual growth of the sector would be about 10-11%. Also, they predict the increase in the duration of sessions and the total interaction time with the gadget.

This situation dictates the new rules of the game: the number of mobile versions of slot machines increases significantly, as well as the number of Internet resources that offer to download gambling applications, bypassing GooglePlay.

The Growth of the Niche of the Game Content

At the end of 2018, the level of profitability of online gambling divided into the types of gambling can be described as follows:

This year, the situation has somewhat changed: people started to prefer the attributes of the popular culture (famous musical groups, entertaining shows, and cult-favourite films). It is predicted that in 2019, the main focus will be on video slots with the main characters of movies or famous musicians.

Retro-themed games with recognisable characters will become a new trend. A striking example can be the solutions with the themes of Lara Croft and Indiana Jones (Robbie Jones slots from Fugaso, Indiana's Quest from Evoplay, Indiana Jane from RTG). Content developers are more often focusing on remakes of the most popular products.

Virtual and Augmented Reality

Representatives of PokerStars have announced a specialised version of PokerStars VR in the autumn of 2018. The game is compatible with the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive accessories. It is assumed that the new product will allow players not only to communicate with the dealer in the live mode but also to see their opponents.

The MagicLeap platform has become a pioneering project in the field of the development of augmented reality technology. The developer presented a unique augmented reality ecosystem, which consists of:

• a special set of accessories;
• the computer equipment;
• the software;
• a set of content for augmented reality devices.

Last year, the company received a solid investment and announced that the work on its product will be continued. The appearance of MagicLeap has become the main impulse to the full-scale development of the AR industry in 2019.

This technology has attracted a lot of attention because of its unique method of holograms that creates the effect of the full presence with a 360-degree view. Such an amount of visual information allows you to get the best impressions of the game. At the same time, the artificially modelled space becomes a part of reality: now, it is possible to find yourself in a luxury gambling hall and start playing with a live dealer even if you are sitting in pyjamas in your kitchen.

According to experts of the Goldman Sachs Group, by 2025, virtual and augmented reality technologies will occupy the online gambling market with more than eighty billion euro, while about forty-five billion will fall at the equipment sales sector, and thirty-five billion ― at software products.

Artificial Intelligence

A Telegram casino can be called the early sign of the use of this innovative technology. Chatbots have quickly turned from simple programs with limited functionality into irreplaceable helpers and sometimes very funny interlocutors that can learn from their mistakes.

In 2019, software developers are going to open up new horizons and introduce a large-scale gambling business management system. Artificial intelligence will be able to collect and analyse colossal streams of information, identify preferences of users and their behavioural nuances. Capacity for independent development has created a lot of new opportunities for the gambling industry.

For example, when entering a gambling hall, visitors will immediately be offered a set of games that they like more. And the presence of the voice recognition system will allow you to pass the identification procedure as soon as possible when contacting customer support service.

According to forecasts, AI will also be able to identify troubled players. This factor is of particular importance since, in recent years, there has been a significant increase in ludomania (addiction to gambling).

Representatives of the international consulting company PwC said that by 2030, the introduction of artificial intelligence in the gambling industry would bring about 14% increase in global GDP (about fifteen and a half trillion dollars).

Gamification of Slot Machines

In 2019, there will be an increase in the number of slots with elements of traditional computer games. Applications will have interesting graphics effects and the maximum working-through of the storyline. The online gambling industry is preparing a completely new kind of entertainment for its fans: by launching the game, users will be able to independently choose quests, accumulate bonus points, participate in online drawings, and do more things.

Interactive applications were already presented by the largest suppliers. For example, Max Damage from Microgaming, Mars Attacks! from Blueprint Gaming, Steamtower from NetEnt, and Viking Runecraft from Play‘n GO. And it is only the beginning...

Moreover, almost any solution will be available for free and in demo versions. Such an approach will allow operators to reach the maximum audience and gather information on the most in-demand and promising products.

The approach to the process of creating games will also change dramatically. The whole world has started to abandon the Flash technology, preferring the HTML5 language. The Apple company was the first one. Its representative reported that some types of gadgets did not support Flash technology since the beginning. Today, it cannot be used on Mac computers, and when you are loading pages on the Safari browser, you must manually type the permission for launch.

Google has officially announced that it will not use Flash back in 2016. The last one to give grounds was Adobe. Representatives of the company reacted positively to the initiative of other flagships but stated that it is impossible to immediately and completely stop using Flash in the near future:

“The entire industries have grown around Flash ― gaming, educational, and video. We will continue to support Flash until the end of 2020 so that all users and companies have time to switch to other technologies”.

Flash products gave grounds and lose out to HTML5 in many ways:

The Blockchain Technology

In 2019, the number of gambling projects using blockchain technology to attract investment through ICO is expected to grow rapidly. According to experts from Slotegrator, in the near future, the trend will radically change the foundations of the global online gambling industry.

The ICO system opens up new perspectives for young operators and ambitious developing brands allowing them not to compare themselves with the largest manufacturers in the industry. High flexibility of management allows you to provide competition to the best modern platforms.

The blockchain technology gives players a range of additional advantages, which are not available for those who visit classic online casinos:

• complete transparency of financial transactions;
• simplicity and the high speed of calculations;
• minimum commission fees;
• an ability to stay anonymous.

By taking part in ICO projects, clients automatically acquire the status of the owner of the tokens of a gaming site. Today, components are used as the domestic currency but with the development of the project, the price of the offer will increase.

Only in 2018, ICO projects have attracted slightly less than seven billion five million dollars. Already in the first half of November of the last year, the size of investments has exceeded thirty-five million dollars.

The Development of New Gambling Markets

If in the middle of 2018, countries of the European Union were considered the largest sector of the income of the gambling industry, then, in 2019, the main attention of investors will be focused on the markets of Asia, Africa, and Eastern Europe. The rapid growth of new gambling zones can be explained by the following factors:

• mass distribution of computer technologies and mobile devices;
• the rapid development and availability of the Internet;
• large-scale development of the legislation.

The rapid growth of the markets of Eastern Europe (Romania, the Czech Republic, and Poland) is expected exactly because the regulations of the gambling industry will comply with current EU regulations.

2019 will be the year of the rapid development of the gambling industry in the African region. Representatives of PwC said that by the end of this year, the region’s gross income will be about one billion two million dollars, and the industry’s average annual growth rate will reach 2%.

Asia will become the leader among the developing regions. Despite the effect of official bans in a number of countries, in 2019, the Asian sector will be of particular interest to the largest operators. The gambling industry is legalised in Kazakhstan, Japan, and the Philippines. And in Japan, in the summer of 2019, a new legal agency will be launched, which will have control over the gambling industry. According to the Spectrum research company, additional regulation will become one of the most important factors that can influence the growth of the popularity of gambling.

Conclusion

The news in the field of online gambling in 2019 opens up new horizons and a way to a completely new world of opportunities and attractive prospects. The rapid development of new markets, interaction with artificial intelligence, fascinating entertainment in the augmented reality format, and comprehensive modernisation of the content development technologies ― each of these trends deserve special attention. By staying on top of things, operators will be able to offer customers the maximum of vivid impressions and unforgettable emotions. The introduction of innovations and trendiness will allow you to reach a huge target audience and make the game sessions much longer.

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