As fun as online casino gaming has been fun since the first online casino came aboard in 1994, we here at Slots Play Casinos pay attention to developments in the online casino market.
Developments Lead to Trends
As and example of a development, let’s look at the introduction of the wagering requirement which made deposit bonuses practical for most online casinos. Before the wagering requirement came along, some players took a deposit bonus and cashed out right away.
That was not the intent of the bonus offer but the small print gave those gamers who did the right to cash out right away. The wagering requirement was introduced as a proviso of the bonus.
Since all gamers who take a deposit bonus know that there is a wagering requirement, the wagering requirement led to a major trend in online casino gaming: namely, bonuses in four figures.
Trends that Followed from the Introduction of the Wagering Requirement
Big deposit bonuses were not the only trend that the wagering requirement led to. Here are a few others:
- As we said, it led to big bonuses in Welcome Packages.
- It led to big bonuses in promotions.
- It led many land-based casino players to come to online casinos for the bonuses.
- It led to many thousands to millions of casino players to compare online casinos with land-based casinos.
- It led many players to stop traveling to land-based casinos.
- It led to gamers “saving” money on casino travel and being able to earmark that money for “real” travel.
These are trends that are ongoing and that all came out of the introduction of the wagering requirement in bonuses.
Animation is a Major Development in Online Casino Games
Since trends follow developments, we should look to developments in online casinos to see what trends may be following them. The first ongoing development is in casino and digital technology.
Online casinos have followed the massive improvements in digital technology from the beginning. One development that we have seen in digital technology involves animation. Since all online casino games are digital, every game relies on excellent animation to be attractive to gamers.
Let’s Look at a Couple of Examples
So, in blackjack or video poker, the way the cards are dealt is an important feature of the game. The trend that has followed improvements in animation is that gamers request better animation all the time. A game like Fish Catch, where gamers hunt fish in a deep-sea environment relies heavily on animation.
But the biggest development in animation for online casino games has been in slots.
Slots Rely on Wild Symbols Which Rely on Animation
The first slot machines had ho-hum symbols. This situation continued until the first digital slot terminals arrived at land-based casinos. So, here we had a development, namely, digital rather than mechanical slots. The first trend we saw when digital slots came around was that slots could “tell a story”.
There was so much potential in slots! The trend has been to find new niche storylines for slots. With Instant Play, a development in itself, gamers can go from casino to casino at home and sample thousands of slots from many different game providers.
The going from casino to casino is a trend that came about because of trends in slots that came about from the digital revolution in slots!
We Are Witnessing a Trend in Wild Symbols in Slots
The only thing that is keeping game providers from having 20 or more ways for wild symbols to work is their imagination has not gotten there yet. We are sure that as great as slots wild symbols have become, they will get better and better as game developers keep searching for ways to make wild symbols act.
Online Casinos are Headed into the Personalization Era
At one time, the only online casino gamers who got personal service were true VIPs. A gamer had to deposit a minimum every month and that minimum was likely to be quite a bit higher than an average gamer’s maximum!
At land-based casinos, even average players had some personal contact with casino employees. He or she may be a croupier or a dealer. He or she might offer a player a free drink or a voucher to the buffet. He or she may be a character in a themed uniform.
The free alcohol and free buffet meals are a trend that we feel is less good than the trends we have discussed so far. Free alcohol leads to gambling mistakes and free food leads to drowsy players making gambling mistakes. But it is undeniable that free stuff at land-based is a trend that epitomizes the trend to personalization at casinos.
At online casinos, we are seeing developers trying to fashion slots that gamers can “enter”. There are slots that gamers whose storylines can control to some extent.
As this fits perfectly into the trend of personalization in general, we expect all ways to personalize online casino gaming to become a major trend in the future.
After all, online casino gaming is generally a very non-personal way to entertain oneself. By giving gamers the chance to control a slots game, casinos will be able to make slots a lot more interactive.
There Will be a Trend Towards Romantic Online Casino Games
One of the most important developments in online casino gaming was the introduction of mobile casino platforms. Once again, we had a development that became a trend. As a trend, mobile casino gaming is still in its infancy! We know that the trend will branch off into several sub-areas.
A proliferation of romantic games is one of those sub-areas.
Mobile Gaming Leads to Couples Sharing a Game
Mobile gaming was the development. It led to gamers playing comfortably on the sofa or in bed. This led to a trend that is still ongoing: mobile gaming is now by far the most popular way to play online casino games.
So, people are playing casino games on their mobile devices while comfortably on their sofa or in bed. What better way to play a casino game while on the sofa or in bed than with one’s most significant other? The continuation of this trend is that couples play all curled up together on the sofa or in bed.
This will inevitably lead to game developers creating online casino games, especially slots, for romantically involved couples.
Mobile Casino Gaming Has Put Land-based Casinos in a Pickle
We have just recounted how the development of mobile casino platforms led to mobile becoming the most popular way to play online casino games and mobile leading to romantic gaming for couples.
This put land-based casinos in a bind. Land-based casinos are the diametric opposite of mobile casino gaming. The solution, which is quickly becoming a trend, is for some land-based casinos to offer an in-house mobile gaming platform in the hotel!
Slots Play Casinos is a Trend in and of Itself
We watch the online casino market. We help gamers get the most fun out of gaming at an online casino. We also follow trends and like to think of ourselves as trend-setters. To get the most up-to-date information about online casino gaming…
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