Gambling games haven’t changed very much in the last century. Cards and roulette wheels go through minor aesthetic changes and slot machines add more bells and whistles, but the rules and the general feel have largely stayed the same. The most striking change has been the move from traditional land-based casinos to online casinos.
The biggest trend in gambling for the last decade has been online casinos. This shows no sign of changing any time soon. Online casinos provide a more accessible, more convenient way for players to access their favourite games and indulge in this pastime.
Real money online casinos are the present and the future of gambling. Digital games are faster to produce than physical ones and websites are easier to redesign that an actual casino floor. This means that online casinos are able to adapt to trends and adjust their styles and offerings as tastes change and technology develops.
In this article, we’re going to walk through some of the trends that we can expect to see in 2024 from real money online casinos.
More live options
Live casino games are the hottest trend in online gambling today and the next few years are likely to see game developers getting more and more creative with these games. Live casino games are popular because they mimic the feel of playing a real table game at a traditional land-based casino.
Through the use of streaming, chat functions, a series of monitors and optical character recognition (OCR) technology, players and the dealer are essentially able to be at the same table. The cards that the dealer plays are visible to the players, and they can interact with them. Chat functions make it possible for the players to talk to the dealer and the dealer can respond in real time.
What we can expect in the next year is more diversity of games and further development of the augmented reality elements. We’ve already seen many of the leading online casinos expand their live casino game offerings from variations of classic table games to games inspired by game shows and board games. These games offer easy to learn gameplay and add fun features like wheels of fortune and giant game boards.
Augmented reality (AR) technology is a major component of the success of live casino games. AR is steadily advancing, and these improvements will soon begin to impact the online casino industry. 2024 might be too early to see these advances in full; however, in the next few years, there will likely be fully immersive live casino games and possibly even fully AR online casinos.
Reflecting other trends
Slot machine games already reflect many pop culture trends and influences. It’s easy to find dozens of games inspired by movies, television shows and bands. There is a big audience for slot machine games that feature recognisable characters and features. Some are even inspired by popular memes or animation styles.
Companies have started to realise the marketing potential of slot machine games and online casinos. Instead of creating games after something has become popular, companies are beginning to understand that they can use casino games to push their product and launch it to success. In 2024, we’re going to see this trend explode.
Fad products like giant animal inflatables are a perfect example of this upcoming trend. They are an instantly recognisable product that is engaging and amusing. This means they could easily be incorporated into the aesthetics and theme of a slot machine game. Other products that have had success with social media viral marketing and influencer marketing, like makeup and meal prep services, may also see success using this method.
Alternative payment methods
Online payment methods are now the norm, and most people are familiar with several of them. Online casinos have benefited from the variety and accessibility of digital payment methods and the best online casinos now accept a huge range of payment methods for deposits and withdrawals. The most commonly used of these are digital wallets, payment apps and bank or wire transfers.
In 2024, we’re likely to see new payment methods rising in popularity. One rising method is the online bank. Online banks began to appear as a response to the outdated and exploitative practices of many of the major established banks. Online banks don’t have the same overhead since they don’t have physical locations, so they are able to offer better rates to clients. They also tend to offer better exchange rates or the ability to hold multiple currencies in a single account, which would be very convenient for the gambler on the go.
Cryptocurrencies are another payment method that is likely to increase in popularity in the coming years. While they haven’t entered the mainstream yet, cryptocurrencies are being invested in by a wide user base. One of the major reasons that cryptocurrency payments have been embraced by online casino users is the added security and anonymity that they provide. The blockchain ensures that players are able to protect themselves and their data without worry.
Green gaming
As the climate crisis worsens, everyone is looking for ways to minimise their impact on the planet and reduce their carbon consumption. There is little that players can do to lessen the impact of casino games, though playing online instead of in person does have a positive impact. Where we are likely to see improvements in 2024 is on the company side, not the player side.
The main change that online casino companies and game development studios will hopefully make in the next year is to find ways to reduce their energy consumption and to switch to using electricity created from renewable sources. There have also been intriguing moves towards alternative server cooling methods which could be very useful and economical for game development studios in particular. There are already examples of data companies using the heat from their servers to heat swimming pools on site. That’s eco-friendly and a lovely perk for employees!
David Prior
David Prior is the editor of Today News, responsible for the overall editorial strategy. He is an NCTJ-qualified journalist with over 20 years’ experience, and is also editor of the award-winning hyperlocal news title Altrincham Today. His LinkedIn profile is here.
