The online gambling industry has been rapidly growing ever since smartphones showed up on the scene. Once people could gamble from anywhere at any time, interest in this pastime blew up, and the industry began to break records year on year. Now, per an August 2021 report from the Indian market research firm Fortune Business Insights, this sector is on track to hit a global size of $158 billion in the next six years, swelling at an annual rate of 11%.
Many may think that the ongoing worldwide pandemic is the principal cause for the mentioned projected industry revenues. However, that is not entirely accurate. The truth is that gambling has become less taboo around the globe thanks to the proliferation of the internet, and more and more governments are seeking to rake in the tax revenues it can provide. Thus, many countries have begun accepting a more liberal stance towards their residents participating in games of chance and betting on sports over the internet. Already developed markets like Great Britain are also noticing a surge in player activity. In early 2020, the UKGC reported an all-time high interest in search terms like – new online casino UK platforms and UK slots.
Sector juggernauts are continuously looking to expand their operations and bring new demographics to the table. They are doing so by emulating concepts brewing in pop culture and ones that have proven effective elsewhere. Thus, below, we will look at the main trends currently engulfing the online gambling industry.
Crypto Gambling
Bitcoin is likely in contention for the word of the decade. In the past few years, it has constantly found its way into the news cycle. Contenders like Ethereum and Litecoin have also sporadically appeared in headlines. Online casinos have long sensed the potential of digital coins, and the first crypto gambling sites appeared on the World Wide Web back in 2011. Now, it seems like every month, a few dozen such platforms are hitting the internet. The main allure of these sites is that digital coins do not get monitored by financial institutions, which is beneficial for both operators and players as it speeds up money transfers. Moreover, anyone with programming knowledge can set up a provably fair gambling site that offers simple games where players can check the randomness of each result by themselves. These platforms require no regulation and more or less operate in good faith.
Metaverse Casinos
The non-fungible token (NFT) boom began in early 2021 and has maintained decently. For the uninformed, NFTs are unreproducible digital assets. They are taken the art world by storm and are essentially the basis for the popularity of virtual worlds called metaverses. One such platform is Decentraland, home to a few metaverse casinos. In that batch is a venue operated by video gaming giant Atari. These digital gambling establishments allow Etherum-token gambling on products similar to those available at brick-and-mortar locales.
Skill-Based Gambling
Multiple polls have shown that younger generations lack interest in games of chance. Main speculate that this is because they have grown up in an era where playing complex video games was a part of their childhood. Thus, they do not feel engaged when they do not have an active role in-game results. Gambling companies are well aware of this, and they are attempting to cater to those in the 20s and 30s by producing products where expertise can lower the house edge.