The iGaming industry grew exponentially in 2023, and 2024 is set to be an even bigger year. New companies are entering the market on what feels like a daily basis, and the iGaming sector is excellent at embracing change and exploring new technology in order to advance. There have been certain movements that stood out in the past few years, and so far this year there have been a few select trends that appear to be dominating.
Pay N Play Casinos
Nowadays, everybody values ease, convenience, and speed in just about every facet of daily life. Gaming is no different, which is where Pay N Play casinos come in. A Pay N Play casino allows users to partake in all of their favorite casino games without having to endure a long registration process or share any personal or financial details. Instead, they can make an instant payment using an embedded and secure payment system, and instantly play. Lots of these casinos also offer generous instant withdrawals and deposits, making onboarding instantaneous! (Source: https://instantcasino.com/)
The Rise of Virtual Reality
By now, we’ve all heard of virtual reality. It entered the mainstream years ago and has since become so popular that more people than ever are wearing VR headsets, both for entertainment and work purposes. However, its use in iGaming is still somewhat new. Virtual reality can be used to transport players into an immersive casino experience, perfectly replicating what they miss from a bricks-and-mortar casino.
Live dealer tables can even be subsumed into the VR process, further humanizing the environment. One of the most exciting things about gambling is the real-time reactions of other players, and the noises and sights that one is surrounded by when playing. Thanks to virtual reality, all of these elements are now considered and factored into gameplay by certain operators.
Global Esports Tournaments
Esports has been on the up for the past few years, and is finally becoming an internationally recognised sport. The size of competitions, the amount of people tuning in, and the money being spent on bets in crypto casinos, are all positively correlated. Some of the most popular games played in Esports include League of Legends, Fortnite, Dota 2, Call of Duty, and Apex Legends. Esports athletes battle it out with each other whilst playing these, and many other, video games in tournaments around the world. As of now, the largest competitions have been the 2023 League of Legends World Championship and the 2021 Free Fire World World Series Singapore.
AI Continues to Grow
2023 was truly the year of artificial intelligence, most notably thanks to ChatGPT and virtually every known industry embracing what it is capable of. But 2024 will see a further growth of AI, thanks to its many uses in the iGaming world. Certain AI tools are able to crack down on fraudulent activity in many games, through identifying red flags in players from the moment they have completed the onboarding process. There are hopes that, over the course of the next year or so, AI will be able to reduce the amount of fraud and money laundering that takes place in the gaming industry.
Generative AI will also take precedence in iGaming, as it is utilized in testing gameplay before release dates, and creating immersive worlds for players to get lost in. Because generative AI is able to create unique and complex environments within virtual worlds, users are able to play games that are specifically tailored to them and their preferences, therefore providing an exciting and dynamic gaming experience, unlike anything ever seen before. This type of AI can also modify and create voices, sounds, and musical scores almost instantly, enhancing the emotional and sonic offerings of a game, whilst freeing up time for developers to focus on quality improvement in other areas.
