What VR could mean for the online casino sector
Yuriy SheremetIn the three decades or so since it first emerged in the early 1990s, the online casino industry has been at the forefront of many technological advances. The very earliest sites were popular just for their novelty but they were about as far removed from today’s casinos as the original video tennis games are from Red Dead Redemption 2.
All along, this has been driven by the need to give players new experiences and ways to play and it has all been underpinned by the accompanying advance of technology. As computers and mobile devices have gradually become more powerful and the software and apps available more sophisticated this has seen a rapid transformation in the player experience.
And, while online casinos are definitely a very different experience from their “bricks and mortar” alternatives, there has been a constant drive to make them as realistic as possible.
A major breakthrough in this area came with the arrival of the online live casino from leading names like Virgin Games. The combination of live streaming and the sort of automatic number recognition technology used in car parks made it possible to convert live action to an online game.
This very quickly caught on as the favourite casino experience for many people who found playing in real time and being able to interact with a real dealer a far more authentic and experience than they were used to having online.
But it still remained the case that it was like watching action on screen while not being physically involved to any real degree.
The growth of VR
For online casino operators in search of this holy grail of the truly immersive player experience, virtual reality has arrived as an answer to all of their wishes. Admittedly, it’s been a long time coming with experiments in this technology going back not just years, but centuries. But, even as recently as the 1980s, it was confined mainly to experimental efforts in universities and institutes of technology using cumbersome, and very expensive, equipment.
But the emergence of tech companies like Oculus VR in the early noughties came as a catalyst to make virtual reality suddenly much more accessible, affordable and practical.
Within a decade or so, many companies were starting to produce the headsets needed for a VR experience bringing the new tech to within the reach of far more people than ever imagined. It also meant that VR started to play a part in many different areas from education to medicine and from engineering to entertainment.
The virtual casino experience
If it might seem like online casinos themselves have been a little slow to introduce the technology but there is a very good reason for this. While it’s more affordable than it was, developing the programs for VR is an expensive and time consuming business. And, with the stakes so high, online casinos want to be sure that the experience will be as good as it can possibly be before they release it to the world.
That’s not to say that there aren’t examples out there ready for people to play, but generally they can be regarded as beta versions of the final programs. So what one will tend to find is that they are solely entertainment experiences in which players only use virtual money, not the real thing.
The most exciting thing about virtual reality is that it places the player in an all-encompassing environment and this is reflected in two of the main casino VR experiences currently being trialled. In the first of these, players are transported to the 80th floor of a swish and sophisticated casino resort to a slots room where they will find over 40 different slots machines to play. The high altitude venue has obviously been chosen to provide opportunities for players to take a little time away from the slots to go out on the balconies and enjoy the incredible views – definitely not for people with a fear of heights, though.
Another example features a poker room in which players, or their avatars, settle around the table for a highly realistic game of Texas Hold’em. In this instance, there is the added realism of a bar area in which in which players can meet before, during or even after the game for a chat and a little socialising.
The implications going forward
Although these are both very early examples of what is to come, they certainly present some very exciting prospects. For example, it’s totally conceivable that one day soon it will be possible to recreate the experience of going to a Caesars Palace-style casino in Vegas or mixing with Europe’s wealthy elite in the Casino de Monte Carlo, all from the comfort of a player’s own home.
There is one aspect of virtual reality that online casinos will need to be aware of and, hopefully, be able to overcome. It has been found that anyone immersing themselves in a virtual reality world for too long can start to feel the effects of what amounts to motion sickness. This is caused by the brain’s confusion when visual cues suggest movement but the player is actually stationary. How long this takes to come on depends both on the individual and also to the speed of motion of the surroundings. So perhaps this suggests that calmer, less frenetic, casino environments will be the order of the day – especially as it’s in the operators’ interest to keep players playing as long as possible.
This is undoubtedly an issue that will be resolved before the widespread introduction of virtual reality online casinos, and there is a real confidence that they’re on their way. One estimate made in 2016 suggests that by the end of 2021 virtual reality wagers will reach $520 billion worldwide. While this may seem a little optimistic, VR revenues are certainly set to rise, and it’s the most forward-thinking of online casino operators who will undoubtedly enjoy most of the spoils.
Yuriy Sheremet – Expert in mobile gaming and esports among shooters and MOBA games.
At EGamersWorld, Yuriy, as in 2020 when he joined the portal, works with content, albeit with adjustments to his area of responsibility.