The iGaming industry is one of the healthiest entertainment industries right now. Both film and television continue to struggle after the strikes, picket lines and labour negotiations that lasted for much of this year.
Traditional casinos are still building themselves back up after a frustrating start to the decade and the video game industry is healthy, but the competition between mobile games, PC gaming and console gaming has prevented there from being any staggering successes.
One of the reasons that the iGaming industry has been so successful is their approach to innovation. Instead of being reluctant to try new things, iGaming industry leaders have always been quick to embrace the latest advances and trends. This has kept the industry fresh and relevant, which is always impressive considering the repetitive and simplistic nature of most traditional forms of gambling.
Another factor in the consistent growth of the iGaming industry has been the expansion of areas where online gambling is legal. Despite challenges and pushback in some countries, more and more countries around the world are modernising their legislation to make provisions for iGaming. This has led to new markets emerging and new players being introduced to iGaming regularly, either through online casinos or online sports betting.
Increase in fast withdrawal casinos
The iGaming industry is constantly seeing brands trying to find ways to distinguish themselves from their many competitors. Some of these methods are little more than gimmicks, while others are clever innovations that are rapidly adopted by other online casinos. One of these smart innovations has been the rise of fast payout online casinos. In 2024, we’re likely to see these become the norm.
In the early days of iGaming in the 1990s, it made sense for withdrawals to take several days to process. Most players were making withdrawals through bank transfers and those using debit or credit cards had to deal with companies that weren’t accustomed to processing iGaming transactions. Now that the majority of players use digital payment methods, there is really no need for withdrawals to take any longer to process than deposits do.
Fast withdrawal casinos ensure that players are able to withdraw their funds within a short time period. They still undertake the same security checks and measures, so they remain a safe and secure options for players. These casinos are also transparent about the amount of time it will take for withdrawals to be processed, so players can take that into consideration when deciding which withdrawal method they would prefer to use.
There is also the question of player satisfaction. We live in an era when digital transactions are typically completed instantly. If we can receive money from a friend halfway around the world in the blink of an eye through the same payment app we’ve used at the online casino, why should we have to wait for our money that we have deposited or won to be released? Fast withdrawal casinos decrease the amount of frustration players often feel when making withdrawals and improve the overall player experience.
Augmented reality and virtual reality
Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technologies have been talking points among tech and software communities for quite a while. They both have a great deal of potential, and we have been gradually approaching a point where the tech possibilities become realities.
AR is already used to a limited extent in online casinos to make live casino games more engaging. These games allow players to feel like they’re have a traditional land-based casino experience as there is a live dealer they can interact with. Live casino games have been steadily growing in popularity.
One trend for 2024 will be the use of AR tech in new live casino games that go beyond the typical table games of traditional casinos. We’ve already seen some movement in this direction, with several of the top casinos partnering with classic board game brands to release live casino games that incorporate board game elements.
2024 is also likely to be the year that we begin to see the first signs of fully immersive online casinos through the use of VR. The total failure of the Metaverse scared many brands away from VR, but now this failure as being understood as a problem with the Metaverse, not with VR in general. In addition to this, the cost of VR headsets has begun to decrease as the competition rises, which has made them more accessible to a wider market.
While it will likely be at least five years before we see fully VR online casinos as a common option in the iGaming sphere, some of the things we are likely to see sooner include VR lobbies for players where you can interact, dress up an avatar for a classy night out and feel a bit more of the casino experience. Perhaps there will even be recreations of famous Las Vegas casino lobbies as an offering from brands who have an online presence and a casino on The Strip.
Cryptocurrency
Despite the recent news that NFTs have lost nearly all their initial value, the cryptocurrency world continues to grow. It attracts new traders and those interested in a form of currency that isn’t controlled and regulated by any governmental entity. The debates happening now are not whether or not cryptocurrency is a good idea, but what is the best way to trade in cryptocurrency.
The iGaming industry is one that has begun to embrace cryptocurrencies, and in 2024, it is likely that this trend will continue and accelerate. Currently, many of the major online casino brands already accept major cryptocurrencies as a form of deposit. Bitcoin and Ethereum are the most commonly accepted cryptocurrencies among regular online casinos. In 2024, it’s likely that more cryptocurrencies will enter the mainstream and be accepted at more sites.
Crypto casinos are where the cryptocurrency trend is really likely to take off in 2024. These are online casinos that online accept cryptocurrency and that use a blockchain model to function. In the next year, these have the potential to grow massively in popularity because of the benefits of the blockchain.
The benefits that appeal the most to online casino users are privacy and security. The way that the blockchain works means that players can remain completely anonymous while still being able to collect winnings, which is currently an impossibility at traditional online casinos.
Increased AI
Artificial Intelligence has been a hot topic in recent months due to its role in the strikes by actors and writers in the film and television industry. The abilities of AI are still fairly limited, but we are already seeing many signs of what these complex algorithms will be capable of the next decade. iGaming has multiple uses for AI. In 2024, we will see it being employed across the sector more frequently.
The first areas where AI will definitely be put into play in the upcoming year is in game creation. AI is already being used across the video game industry to help developers create more detailed stories and make NPCs more compelling. AI is also being used to create a more complete understanding of player experiences, expectations and behaviours.
While slot machine games don’t require a detailed story or engaging characters, AI will still be used to make these games more compelling. With so much competition in the market, AI will be used to make games more appealing to players so they are able to hold their attention for longer. AI can synthesize player data more efficiently and more cost effectively than human researchers can, making it a perfect tool for slot machine game designers.
Where AI can truly benefit online casinos in a unique way is in security. AI is already being used to a limited extent in this capacity. In 2024, that role will expand as more companies realise how much loss they can mitigate by employing AI security tools. Protecting from cyberattacks is relatively straightforward, AI is used to deal with more insidious security problems.
Security AI for online casinos isn’t a sort of Robocop, it’s much simpler, and less destructive, than that. AI is used in multiple ways to provide online casinos with security and to locate and stop fraud. Pattern recognition, geographic analysis and device fingerprinting are used together to identify suspicious behaviours and to create a profile of a problematic player or bot before it can cause serious trouble. Pattern recognition identifies normal behaviours, which can then highlight suspicious behaviours. Geographic analysis identifies when VPNs are being used and device fingerprinting flags when multiple accounts are being run from the same device.
Final thoughts
There don’t seem to be any indicators that the iGaming industry will slow down in the coming years. In 2024, most of the major trends that we’re going to see will be advances made in areas where there is already some development. It is unlikely to be a year of dramatic change, but it will help to set the stage for more tech-heavy developments in the next several years.
There’s always the chance that we’re in for some exciting surprises in the world of iGaming. We’ll just have to wait and see.