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| The Future of UK Gaming - Online Casino Trends for
2020 |
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2019 is coming to
a close and there is no doubt that the power of online casinos has increased
through it and shows no signs of stopping the march. Figures released in the
Gambling Commission's annual industry report that shows the amount of action
and profit for all UK gambling activity, strongly supports this. The year to
March 2019 showed that both online casino games and online slots revenue was up
6% to £3.1bn on wagers of £90bn. Profit from betting was down 10%
showing what the strength of intensive competition can do to your baseline when
there are no fixed odds.
5G
Development
Of course the first thing on developers minds at the
big software houses is how to get casino games more interactive, a tricky
problem they have failed to develop fully over 20 years of trying.
Realistically they are still going to be stuck with this problem even if VR
sets become cheap and reliable because old fashioned casino games are not
multi-player by nature, unlike poker. In poker you really can be immersed in
the action at the table with ever greater speeds and with a headset on you'll
be able to see the other players and that will become a live real life
feed.
On the other hand slots are going to be upgraded in their user
involvement by the extra level of bonus material and interaction afforded by
new levels of speed. Scientific Games for instance have got their hands on the
permissions to a great name of the late 1970s and early 80s, Space Invaders. In
mid play you get to pit your dexterity skills in an actual game of Space
Invaders where you can shoot little space invader critters to get bonus spins.
If you are over 50 you can remember, for everyone else its a piece of living
history.
Then there are all sorts of film clips in high definition that
come with themed slots. The new 2020 James Bond movie, No Time To Die, will
feature as they have sold the rights to all future films as well as all the
James Bonds of the past, present and future. And everyone else in the movies.
JB will be reeling in his grave. Expect more and more complex character based
games with detailed interactive action scene that you can participate in. Its
all about drawing the punter in and keep them wanting more by being part of a
virtual world.
Politics
One thing that is certain is that the
attraction government has had to ever increasing tax revenue from remote
gambling is going to be over-shadowed by popularist politics. Much as the
treasury wants you to lose money online so that they can take their piece of
the action, the front line politicians of all parties want sound bites and good
copy. And nothing sounds better than hurting gambling companies, whether it
makes sense or not. They don't care. Expect to hear of restrictions on the
amount of money that players can gamble on every spin of the reel, not least
because the snobs and toffs look down on people playing “slots” or
“machines”. The poor people have to be told what to do but if you
want to lose five grand a hand at Bacarrat then thats okay, after all, Sean
Conery as James Bond played it. So it must be okay.
Once unleashed the
special committee of MPs will be after other parts of online gaming ecosystem.
Gambling with money
using Paypal and credit cards is going to come under a lot of pressure and
there seems no defense the gaming lobby can put up to that. Against public
opinion its a fight that's just waiting for the result to be
declared. |
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Mobile Gaming
Whilst traditional online
casino gaming will stay with us for a long time, device specific games are the
thing of 2020. Simpler versions of existing software that make full use of the
limited screen size will be ramped up. Speeds will not be an issue with mobile
data speeds becoming faster than many a land line connection. Connecting mobile
users together so that they can see that they are playing with their friends at
the same table is very soon to be added to all the big suppliers in gaming
software.
AI for online
casino gambling
As with everything else the technicians are
trying to get
AI (artificial intelligence) algorithms to get to know
individual players habits so that they can be offered special bonuses whilst
they are online. This has been developed for some time in the sports betting
side and the transfer to casino style gaming is just a natural progression. At
some stage these will be restricted by law but for now its the wild west when
it comes to triggering the gambling interest of players.
Brexit
And so finally the
“B” word. The Europeans will suddenly have massive power to exclude
UK based online gambling firms if ever the UK leaves the European Union. And
countries like Germany and Sweden will jump at the chance because they have
never accepted the pan-European rights of gambling operators based in other
European countries, even though it is the law! |
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