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What Does the Future of Online Casinos Look Like?
As a section of gaming, online casinos have consistently stood as some of the most progressive. From the early days of running over 56k connections to the modern age of smartphone adoption, whenever a leap in technology was made, online casinos would soon be there to follow.
Understanding this relationship, there are questions as to what the coming generation of technological updates could bring. Is this a case of simple linear improvements, or could something more game-changing be coming soon? Perhaps most importantly, what types of tech updates will the player need to stay in the game?
Casinos as they stand
The current crop of the best online casinos like those at www.topukcasinos.org.uk offer an enormous range of games over both desktop and mobile forms of access. These services commonly include slots, poker, roulette, and much more, and with the added benefits of free spins and/or deposit bonuses. Even eSports is getting involved in this front, as we reported on at www.casinolifemagazine.com. So, what could be next?
As industry speculators see it, many of these aspects are already firmly forward-facing, as some of the most popular gambling options are new entries within the online gambling realm.
The next generation and gear upgrades
The first of the major shifts expected in the future of online casinos is a movement towards total adoption of mobile-coverage. Early on in the age of smartphones, online casino access was limited, usually requiring dedicated apps to function. Today, most services have made the move into HTML5 technologies to open up unprecedented mobile browser access.
"ATWO AT121 Mobile Game Earphones" (CC BY-ND 2.0) by TheBetterDay
This has not only lowered the barriers to entry, but it has also led the way to much more in-depth coverage, owing to some of the HTML5 advantages noted at www.hostinger.com. Increasingly more casino libraries are becoming available on mobile, which might soon expand to cover every possible offering.
Luckily, developments on this front won't require anything special from most users. HTML5 adoption for many websites and services has been in operation for some time, meaning that if your mobile has been able to access the internet reliably up until this point, it should work just fine until your next regular upgrade.
Another newer technology as offered by online casinos is that of live casino streaming. This combines online players with live-streamed real dealers, effectively bridging the gap of digital and physical play. Current indications within the industry are that this area of iGaming will be an enormous focus on the future, which raises some important questions about possibly related systems.
Specifically, there is curiosity about what contributions the new generation of virtual and augmented reality headsets could make. As singularityhub.com notes, coming breakthroughs regarding latency, field-of-view, and system size could all reshape the way players look at headset gaming.
While all forms of casino gaming could benefit in this regard, it is likely that live casino games will be among the most popularly affected. After all, people turn to these games for realism, and what is more realistic than having a dealer appear virtually right in front of the player?
"LG 360 VR" (CC BY 2.0) by pestoverde
The fundamental difference between VR, AR, and the likes of new HTML and CSS tech is that VR and AR are not yet anywhere near as ubiquitous. This means that the general public's rate of adoption of many of these headset devices is low, so transferring their use into the world of casino streaming or any other type of casino gaming is not possible on the same level.
At least, with the coming generation of consoles and the announcement of games like Half-Life: Alyx, we might soon see the development of the first AR or VR killer apps. Greater adoption could lead to lower prices and greater emphasis on development, though only time will tell if this realistically becomes the case.
The future when and where
Technological evolution is not the sort of progress which waits for anyone. With so many companies on both the hardware and software side of the equation fighting to make the next big hit, better games and systems are just a matter of when.
In the case of mobile phones, this will at least mean that regular upgrade schedules could keep players updated on everything needed to play. For the next generation of virtual and augmented reality, however, players might need to widen their scopes, do a little research, and start saving up for when the first killer app drops.
At least, until then, as more markets open up all the time as noted at www.casinolifemagazine.com, no enthusiasts are exactly hurting for choice.
