The last year has been one of the broad changes in the iGaming (online casino and betting) industry. The opening up of lucrative markets, including in India and the United States, has buoyed gaming operators and developers. The latter sector, i.e., those studios that develop online casino games for the global market, has seen plenty of growth in the last few years, but it still remains a challenging market due to the huge competition among developers.
Indeed, while many developers like Playtech and Evolution are predicted to continue to see growth in the coming years, there are many challenges lying ahead for developer studios, big and small. Below we pick out five areas in which iGaming developers could meet resistance next year and beyond:
Competition
Above everything else, top casinos hang their hats on offering the best games. Sites like Genesiscasino online in India will, for instance, stock games from NetEnt, Pragmatic, Evolution, Blueprint, Microgaming, and many, many others. These are the best developers around, so it’s understandable that the best casinos will want their games to offer players. Yet, as casino collections grow in number, it’s harder for some developers to stand out. This is not an issue for the casino (nor players), but it’s increasingly difficult for some brands to get the recognition they want.
Regulation
It’s understandable that the gambling industry takes note of regulatory actions, but there are specific challenges for developers to tackle too. For instance, we saw several countries ask iGaming developers to make changes to games in recent times, mostly to encourage responsible play. This includes slowing down spins by removing turbo-button options, removing auto-play, and so on. But the difficulty is amplified by the fact that regulations are different in each country, and these games are developed for a global market.
Cryptocurrency
This is an interesting challenge. Most of the major online casinos do not accept cryptocurrency, but that might change as mainstream adoption continues. One of the main areas still lies within volatility – how do you judge the value of a cash prize if, for example, a bitcoin’s value rises or falls by 10% within the space of an hour? For the moment, it seems that the best crypto-enthusiasts can hope for is the option to deposit into a casino with cryptocurrency but still play in fiat currencies. If there are changes, iGaming developers will have to adapt.
VR Gaming
This is not so much a challenge as an ambition. You probably saw the announcement from Facebook (now Meta) that the company hoped to offer immersive experiences in the metaverse. iGaming developers also have had that in mind, with plans to offer VR/AR gaming experiences. There is a particular focus on live casino games in this sphere. And, we have already seen a shift away from traditional card and table games at some casinos. VR technology (Meta hopes to reinvigorate Oculus headsets in the near future) will help with that, and iGaming developers will have to be on the ball if they want to get ahead of the curve.
New Technology
There is an assumption that we will always have smartphones, but not everyone agrees. Apple will release its new computerized glasses in 2022 (according to predictions), and the company is said to believe that glasses will one day replace the iPhone. So, if you are a developer who believes Apple is right, now is the time to start thinking about developing casino games for wearables like smart glasses. It should be said that the casino sector was very prescient in anticipating the smartphone generations, so its actions here will be worth taking note of in the coming years.
