The online gambling market keeps growing every year as new technologies and new products appear. According to Statista, the value of the global online gambling market is going to reach $92.9 billion. The explanation for the growth is a combination of several factors such as market expansion, high-tech technologies, and the gambling environment becoming safer in general.
In this article, we are going to discuss the major influencing factors with Dutch iGaming expert Jettie Oosterveen.
Market expansion
Online casinos have been operating in most European countries for decades by now. A Dutch punter can find dozens of online casinos to play at without experiencing any problems. Yet, the same cannot be said about players from the Americas and most Asian and African countries. However, very recently we have seen significant changes in the online gambling regulations in Canada (namely Ontario province) and several states of the US. Online casinos keep opening in Latin America too.
In fact, the Latin American market is one of the biggest areas of expansion for casinos and game producers such as Pragmatic Play at the moment. Latin America has a huge population and as the middle and upper class is growing, there are enough people who have the interest and the money to gamble.
Technological developments
In the past five years, the single biggest tech improvement to online gambling was virtual reality. By now, some casinos, such as PokerStars Sport have been offering VR products, yet the technology didn’t go mainstream due to the high price of the equipment (goggles, high-end computers) it requires. Now that Meta has announced the creation of Metaverse, VR and AR technologies are again in the spotlight and this new platform could become the next game changer in online poker.
Another technological trend for casino products is their availability on smartwatches. Smartwatches have become very popular in the Netherlands as well as most developed countries worldwide. You can track your fitness improvement, read and send emails, pay for your groceries, listen to music, and much more with the help of your smartwatch. Playtech has recently launched a sports betting app that is available on Apple watches.
Most likely, other game producers will follow up with different products too. Imagine, how convenient it would be to play slot games on your smartwatch. This, of course, will take some time and different watch shapes may pose a challenge in game design. However, we expect to see more casinos and game producers following suit.
New gambling products
Esports and virtual sports betting became big things around the time that the coronavirus lockdown started in Europe. Avid punters were then happy to bet on virtual football and Esports events. However, now that sports events are being held again, we have seen a decline in esports and virtual sports betting.
Micro-betting is one of the gambling trends in 2022. These are in-play events that make betting an experience that is closer to traditional gambling. Before, people used to bet on the outcome of the game and had to wait until the match’s end to see if they won or not. Now, you can make a bet any second of the game – on who is going to get the next red card or going to score the next goal. The betting pace is fast this way and this experience is comparable to playing slot games.
Safer gambling
Online gambling operators take more and more responsibility for their players. Whenever a new licensing regulation becomes available in a country they will try to get it as soon as possible so that they can comply with local regulations.
Casinos also keep implementing responsible gaming procedures. For example, some operators will warn users with a pop-up message when the player has been playing for an extended period of time. They also try to encourage punters to set their deposit limits.
A more regulated market gives players trust in the casino and can lead to customer loyalty.
Conclusion
Several factors influence the growth of the online gambling market. Some of the emerging trends are the penetration of new markets, the creation of new technologies for gambling products, and providing a safe gaming environment.