Posted in Industry September 9, 2017
The Future of Virtual Reality in Online Gambling – Top VR Casino Developments
Virtual Reality (VR) is redefining the world of online casino. This technology allows providing players with an immersive experience that leaves regular Live dealer casinos in the dust. More and more online gambling operators adopt this tech and offer their players a variety of VR games. For now, those are mostly slots, but considering how fast VR develops, we can expect Live casinos to adopt this tech soon. When this happens, brick-and-mortar casinos will definitely experience a huge drop in customers. This has the power to change the gambling industry forever.
Virtual Reality in iGaming: Perspectives of Growth
Virtual Reality is a type of computer technology that brings digital worlds to life. Its mechanism is much more complicated, but that’s what it looks like for an average user. In the context of the online gambling industry, VR allows providing players with an incredibly immersive experience.
The person actually gets ‘in’ the game, doubling the fun and generally bringing the experience closer to what one could get at a brick-and-mortar store. In fact, when it comes to video slots, VR is actually better as you can only play slot machines in regular land-based casinos.
Although experiments with VR technology have been going for decades, it got its big breakthrough on the market only in 2016. Now, in 2017, it’s one of the biggest and fastest growing areas of iGaming. According to market predictions, the worldwide VR software market will reach almost $40.5 billion by 2020.
The online gambling industry expects the bets from VR casinos to amount to $520 billion by 2021. This means that this branch of the industry will grow by 800% compared to today. Although the numbers seem shocking, this prediction is likely to come true considering that NetEnt launched the first VR slot only in the beginning of 2017.
Today, there are over a dozen of top-quality VR casinos. Many major online gambling operators start adding VR games to their portfolio. Developers are also dedicating a lot of their time to creating new VR games. Projects on bringing Live dealer casino to VR platforms have been announced, but no one seems to have succeeded with that technology yet.
VR Casinos: Pros and Cons
Like all tech, VR casinos aren’t perfect, but they definitely have more advantages than disadvantages. It’s a remarkable feat in itself considering their history is less than a year long.
VR Casino Pros
- Multiple opportunities for social interaction
- Immersive casino experience
- Live chat feature for communicating with dealers
- Constant updates and tech improvements
- Unique and fun casino adventure
VR Casino Cons
- Tech failures due to undeveloped technology
- Increase in player spending because of the immersive experience
- Player obliviousness due to full immersion into the game
As you can see, VR casino cons don’t seem too bad. However, they might cause personal issues for players. Therefore, it’s essential to be extremely careful and use various self-control features to prevent overspending. Today, the majority of casinos allow you to set the limit of time and money you can spend in one session of the game. You can also limit the number of sessions.
Use these features to ensure you don’t get lost in the world of gambling that is made incredibly realistic with VR. This way you will be able to have fun without any risk to yourself and your wallet.
Virtual Reality Casinos FAQ
- Do VR casino games require a download?
Yes, you will need to download an app provided by the casino in order to join their VR experience. The app is offered for free and usually you’ll only need to download it once. This means that you won’t have to repeat with each new game you want to play. - Must I use specialized VR equipment to play in a VR casino?
Yes, you must use an Oculus Rift or other supported type of VR equipment in order to play in a VR casino. However, some gambling operators today offer VR games as a part of their service. This means that you can enjoy playing there even without the necessary tools. But, you won’t be able to explore the VR zone. Some of the casinos that offer both types of online gambling are SlotsMillion Casino and BGO Casino. Note that in most cases, if you try to play without VR equipment, the casino will simply transfer you to the same slot in 3D. - Do VR casino games require a special controller?
No, you can play at VR casinos using your regular controllers. - Can I interact with other players in a VR casino?
This depends on the casino and the type of game. Today, the majority of the games allow you to see other players and you can communicate via chat. - Do other players see my game screen?
No, current VR technology prevents you from seeing other players’ game screens and them from seeing yours. - Do bonuses, promotions, and responsible gaming limits apply to VR casinos?
Yes, all your responsible gaming settings should be applied to your account by default. As to bonuses, you will need to check which of them are active for VR games.
Well, now that you got more information about VR Gaming – why not try it out? You will probably get surprised by the experience!
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