The online casino industry drastically changes with each passing year. New content is being introduced to the player base every single day, making it an ever growing niche of internet entertainment that doesn’t seem like it’s going to stop evolving any time soon. As we’re slowly starting to dip our toes into the 2024 of iGaming, we thought it would be a good idea to talk about the top 5 predictions people are looking forward to for the upcoming period. Since the inception of online gambling platforms, we have seen nothing but constant progress in gameplay experience, product variety, and innovative ideas, which can lead us to the conclusion that we should expect nothing less from 2024.
Crypto Dethroning Traditional Banking Methods
We’re kicking things off with probably the safest prediction currently which anticipates cryptocurrencies replacing traditional payment options as the most popular choice amongst players. While crypto casinos aren’t necessarily considered new at this point, their rise in the past couple of months indicates that players are getting more interested in them now than ever.
Many people were skeptical and intimidated by these types of payment systems in the past, and that kind of general reaction from the iGaming public wasn’t shocking, taking into consideration that none of these environments were licensed or overseen by regulatory bodies at the time. Furthermore, there were also numerous instances of people getting scammed by malicious brands whose sole purpose was to trick players out of their crypto.
As time went on, respectable crypto casinos came onto the scene, and punters worldwide slowly started to understand that there are huge benefits to using these currencies. Fast withdrawals, no transaction fees, and anonymity were just some of the advantages these banking options offered.
Currently, thousands of reliable and trustworthy crypto iGaming environments are fully licensed and regulated. We’ve seen the regulatory body of Curacao Gaming Authority taking a step in the right direction by allowing cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin to be used as a fully approved way of executing withdrawals and deposits in casinos.
All of these events allow us to safely predict the inevitable domination of cryptos against their traditional counterparts. While credit cards and e-wallets have been used for over three decades at this point, they simply can’t offer anything remotely as useful as cryptocurrencies can.
Unlocking The Full Potential of Artificial Intelligence
Looking back at 2023 there have been many technological breakthroughs, but it’s safe to say that nothing came close to the explosion of Chat GPT and other forms of easily accessible artificial intelligence tools on the market. While AI is a field that people have been working on for decades, it has always been reserved for high-end software development companies and machine learning research centers.
All of a sudden, everyone who had basic access to the internet could utilize artificial intelligence with just a couple of clicks and a little bit of knowledge. This also led many businesses, entrepreneurs, and various entertainment industries to start benefiting from this new and cheap technology, including the world of online casinos.
Looking into this, it’s very obvious that currently most of the gambling brands and software providers aren’t using the full potential of these tools as of yet. We’ve seen casino operators using AI to enhance their customer support departments. There have also been instances of platforms increasing their data security in this way.
Probably the most interesting and exciting part for us players will be seeing how developing studios can leverage this amazing opportunity to show us a whole new perspective on how we can enjoy casino games. AI has been present in video games since their inception in one form or another, and it has gradually improved.
We anticipate that we’ll have a similar type of rise with gambling products. There is no doubt that we will see an exponential increase in AI usage throughout this and the coming years. Chances are there’ll be many small brand names and studios making a name for themselves by devising new gameplay experiences for players.
Virtual Reality Online Gambling
Another form of technology that erupted and slowly started to occupy the gambling market is virtual reality. In essence, VR should be the ultimate online casino experience, as it can provide players with an unmatched level of immersion and atmosphere. To put it simply, there is a good chance that these types of platforms will be the downfall of traditional land-based casinos.
Currently, several virtual reality gambling environments allow you to experience the most advanced way of gambling, including metaverse online casinos. Be that as it may, VR still isn’t nearly as accessible and affordable to the average punter, but that could very well change during 2024.
The technology is there, but it will have a difficult time garnering popularity amongst players until the cost of VR devices drops. Additionally, many of the current virtual reality platforms require players to spend a considerable amount of effort to set everything up, even when they end up buying the equipment.
Everything needs to be a lot more straightforward and streamlined. Punters have gotten used to being able to jump in and out of casinos with just a couple of clicks. This type of instant and snappy user experience can severely undermine the complicated setting up processes for VR casinos.
We believe that this could be the year when things turn around, and that could result in tectonic changes for the industry and land-based owners. On the other hand, things might not go as smoothly as they should, and that’s why we recommend being cautiously optimistic with this one.
Focus On the Social Aspect In Casinos
As the years went on and online casinos continued to bring new things to the table for their users in terms of gaming options and quality, we’ve come to the point where the focus is slowly shifting towards making gambling platforms a lot more social. While there are casinos out there that do have social aspects integrated on their websites, there are still plenty of those who don’t, but we think that’s going to change soon.
Chances are we might see some sort of fusion of classic online gambling environments combined with well-known social media structures. This means that instead of having an account that you can solely use for gaming and live chatting in live dealer rooms, the brand would create a space where you can add friends, compare achievements, socialize, share tips, and be a part of the community.
We’ve seen something similar with standard social casinos, but they are never targeted at real money players, but those who wish to play casino products for free without any risk involved. We think that by looking at how those platforms operate, real-money casino brands can implement the same strategies but also allow players to experience true gambling.
Now, it doesn’t necessarily mean that this process of transforming casinos will go in this direction, but it’s pretty apparent that so many punters worldwide love the idea of having a social hub incorporated into their hobby.
Increased Regulation and Player Protection
Finally, our last prediction revolves around regulatory bodies, licenses, and most importantly, responsible gambling. It’s no secret that the online casino industry is on a neverending rise, which means thousands of beginner players are trying this hobby out every single day.
Teaching these punters the crucial nature of safe gambling should be unavoidable for brands and software developers. Those who do not have any experience will be a lot more susceptible to making mistakes when it comes to their account spending, time investments, and a plethora of other pivotal things.
Regulatory bodies have been imposing stricter laws and regulations on online casinos every year, and that’s something we don’t see changing in the future, as long as the user base is growing. Safety is the number one priority that can always be further improved.
New ways of gambling like Telegram casinos for example make these tasks a lot more difficult to accomplish. There will always be risks involved with these sorts of things, so always make sure you do proper research and protect yourself at all times if you’re willing to try something new.
With all the technological advancements we’ve talked about being on the horizon, gambling addiction could take new forms and have different impacts in comparison to those that are currently on the market. This leads us to the conclusion that all segments of the regulated industry need to progress at a more or less equal rate.
Conclusion
In summary, these were some of our most probable iGaming trends predictions for 2024. Depending on how things take course we might see all of these come true, but is also possible that we won’t see a lot of new changes. If we’re going by past years and how everything grew at such a rapid pace, it is going to be very unlikely that we won’t see at least some of these predictions realized. Artificial intelligence incorporated into our daily lives seamlessly in the last year, and that’s why we think that it might be the leading force of new content and user experience for the upcoming period.
