What does the future hold for online gambling? Are our grandkids still going to be clicking away and watching virtual rolls spin on flat screens, or are they going to play in a holographic representation of a casino inside their own room, with their personal android serving as a dealer? Nobody knows for sure, but it’s always fun to look at the past and try to guess the future based on it. After all, history does repeat itself, and while there are always differences, we can always at least try to get a general idea based on what we know.

Same Old, Same Old

Most casino games have been practically unchanged for a hundred years. We’ve got roulette, which was being played during the French Revolution; blackjack, which has been around even longer; hell, even roulette – the newest casino game that’s traditionally played – was invented in 1891, more than a century ago. There hasn’t been any innovation in our games whatsoever… But then again, why should there be? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! The beauty of casino games is in their simplicity. For a lot of them, all you need is a deck of cards and a table. That’s kind of part of the charm. Everybody’s familiar with a deck of cards, everyone knows how it works and what the cards in it are, so by definition all card games build upon knowledge that we already have. Even the games that don’t involve cards – such as roulette – still use things that we’re familiar with, such as numbers. It’s easy to accept and easy to grasp when you’re in the real world. But when you’re in the virtual one, suddenly things change. The cards and the ball are all replaced by pixels that are trying to relay the same basic concepts, but are inherently foreign to us. There are no cards on your computer screen, just digital representations of them. It’s something entirely new… Yet for some reason casino developers have stuck to recreating the same old physical games, with all their physical restrictions, into this new format of infinite possibility. Because that’s what is expected of them – when people hear the words “online casino” they imagine a casino, but online, and probably wouldn’t accept anything else. But what if it wasn’t quite like that?

Boom Of The Videoslots

For the better part of the 20th century slots weren’t really all that impressive – they were loud, unreliable, easily breakable and, in my honest opinion, a little bit boring. The concept of slots was great – you put a coin in and, depending entirely on chance, you might win or you might not. There’s no skill involved, anyone can play and it was fate that determined whether or not you win. But while the idea was brilliant, the execution was not, and as a result the game felt a little bit boring. It wasn’t anyone’s fault, really – the technology of the time just didn’t really allow for anything more spectacular than a bunch of spinning reels. In the 80s, though, everything changed with the invention of the video slot. Suddenly, slots were exciting! They were no longer just about pulling a lever and hoping for the best – the player was given more agency when it came to selecting paylines and engaging in bonus games. They had video and sound effects, they gave you free spins, and I know I already mentioned the bonus games, but holy crap, you could play a game within the game! Slots turned from a kinda boring “end justifies the means” kind of game into one of casinos’ biggest moneymakers, earning more than 30% of casino revenue, all thanks to technology. Obviously, when casino games began making the transition to the world wide web, video slots fell right at home, with some even improving upon the formula with multiple bonus games and intros that organically show the mechanics of the slot, making them more complex (and thus more interesting) than ever before. Video slots have now become a staple of both online and offline casinos, proving once and for all that there is room for innovation when it comes to casino games.

So, Where Is It?

Well, that’s the million dollar question, isn’t it? In reality, online casino owners are businessmen, and businessmen notoriously hate taking chances. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, as the old saying goes. Innovation costs money, and it’s extremely risky. Even though the online space provides literally infinite possibilities for all kinds of gambling games that can be created (space that the free-to-play videogame market has already explored quite rigorously, leading to literally billions in profits), casinos prefer to simply recreate the casino games that everyone’s already familiar with because they know that people will play them. On the other hand, something brand new might be played a whole lot, or it might not be played at all – it’s a bit of a gamble, and ironically enough, casino owners just don’t want to take the risk. But who knows! As the aforementioned free-to-play market grows with every passing year, perhaps some online casinos might decide to take a page from its book and start creating brand new experiences – ones that, like video slots, are best suited to the online space. I certainly hope that this would happen, at least, but considering how many years the traditional casino games have been played for, progress might be a bit farther away than we might like. Still, we can always hope, right?

Hey there, replicants! A few weeks ago, I spent a few hours just lying in bed thinking about what the future of online casinos might hold while I was supposed to be sleeping. Sure, the next morning I could barely get up for work, as I’d only had about 3-4 hours of sleep, but considering the fact that I reached some pretty interesting conclusions which ultimately inspired this site, I’d say it was worth it! I’m going to share my ideas about the future in a series of articles, each examining a different subject. You ready? Let’s get cracking!

Online Casinos And… Videogames?

I believe that videogames and online casino games have a lot of common. Obviously, there’s the whole “both are games” thing, but I’m more referring to their history. In the early 1980s, the videogame market had already crashed, and no one was really interested in videogames. To hook new players up, Nintendo decided to promote the NES – their first videogame console (well, technically second, but the first one was a Pong game, and those don’t count) – as a toy rather than as a console. Kids knew toys, so they’d also get to know this new one, right? The plan worked spectacularly, making the NES one of the most fondly remembered videogame consoles of all time (just look at how many games are coming out right now with similar 8-bit graphics) and launching a renaissance for modern gaming. Casino games actually employed many of the same tactics in order to attract their own customers – after a pretty bad start, online casinos soon began to cater to the hardcore casino crowd, as they were already familiar with the concept of casinos and would appreciate the convenience of playing from home. Both of these markets hooked their audience with familiarity, but that can only get you so far.

Diversification of the Videogame Audience

In the mid 2000s, videogames faced another crisis. The costs of developing games for newer hardware rose significantly, but the market could not support it. After all, anyone who possibly wanted to get into videogames (mostly young men – the audience that had grown up with the NES or other systems released around the same time) was already into videogames. The market was not expanding, at least not at a rate that could sustain the development cost. And then Nintendo had another brilliant idea, courtesy of its president, the great Satoru Iwata (1959-2015). While Sony and Microsoft were making their systems more powerful than ever, Nintendo developed in a different direction – approachability. Their new system, the Wii, was designed to not only appeal to gamers, but to everyone. Knowing that traditional control schemes would be too hard for most people to learn, Iwata requested that the Wii be controlled by motion, which is obviously a concept that anyone can understand. The plan was a massive success, as suddenly not only teens and young men were interested in videogames, but also young kids, girls and whole families, even senior citizens! The gaming industry was reborn, and today it is as diverse as it’s ever been, with people of all genders, ages and ethnicities enjoying it.

So, What Does This Have to Do With Casinos?

Currently, online gambling is in a very similar crisis. Everyone who could possibly be interested in it is already playing, or has attempted it and lost interest. The market isn’t growing, at least not at a desirable rate. Meanwhile, development costs rise with every year as audience expectations grow. People request stable mobile versions on multiple platforms, good-looking and technically sound games and 24/7 online support, all of which cost a lot of money on top of the already very expensive costs that come with hosting a giant casino site. Many casino sites are reporting diminished profits, with some forced into partnerships or buy-outs in order to stay in the business. But that’s a temporary solution to a permanent problem, because there’s only so many people you can appeal to by attracting the casino audience. In order to make their business sustainable, very soon casinos will need to take a page from Nintendo’s book and start to appeal to the regular Joe and Jill. Imagine a world where online casinos aren’t a niche, a world where almost everyone plays a few slots on the john before work, where your grandma asks you to set up her bingo account and you and your co-workers share tips about the best online casinos at the water cooler. That’s the world that has to happen in order for online casinos to be sustainable and profitable in the future. And, with the right marketing, perhaps it’s more real than any of us can imagine. I guess it’s only a matter of time before online gambling finds its Satoru Iwata.

-Deckard

Gamesys company’s founder and former CEO Noel Hayden has steps back and his place will be taken by the company’s COO Lee Fenton. This was announced at the staff member meeting last week. After the £425.8m acquisition of the company by the Canadian group Intertain just a few months ago, this is the second step towards the restructure of the gaming company. Noel Hayden will become Executive Chairman of the company.

Hayden is the founder of the company and he’s been serving as a CEO of the Gamesys Group since its creation in 2001. However, after the changes, Hayden will still play a leading role and will have the final call when it comes to preparing new product lines and taking company management decisions.

During his career as a CEO of Gamesys, Hayden marked some quite successful achievements, including the creation of the first real-money gambling app on Facebook in 2012. The company managed to acquire Virgin Games in a multi-million deal in 2013. Gamesys runs some of the most popular bingo sites in the UK and is a home to established brands, such as JackpotJoy and Sun Bingo. Barbara Windsor’s been the face of JackpotJoy since 2010 and they’ve created some of the most successful TV ads together. Gamesys is a multiple award-winner gaming company, utilizing their proprietary software platform.

Lee Fenton, who will take the CEO role has been with the company since 2008. He joined the team as a chief operating officer since he’s quite experienced in the field. He was previously working as a a manager of the mobile division of 20th Century Fox and he previously held the position of Global Director of Consumer Products and Content of Vodafone Group. The changes have been confirmed during the management meeting in June.