Online casinos are an interesting and relevant phenomenon in itself, but besides, some new interesting tendencies appear in it every year.
Like all spheres of people’s lives in 2021, online gambling was significantly impacted by the pandemic – the coronavirus has made its adjustments in this area. Although, it won rather than lost. So, if land-based establishments suffered colossal losses due to quarantine restrictions, then online resources began to receive even more visitors.
Technologies are developing, the Internet coverage quality is improving, the leading providers are creating mobile applications, and all this contributes to the growth of the market as a whole. According to forecasts, the turnover of the gambling market in 2021 will reach $ 1 trillion for the first time.
Online gambling is becoming more and more diversified
If we talk about trends that are gaining momentum exponentially, then these are:
- VR has entered both the mainstream game industry and the world of gambling. So, the most famous version of virtual reality in the gambling industry is the opportunity to “visit” a casino. And here quarantine also played an important role: when you can’t leave the house in real life, the virtual world becomes an excellent alternative. VR elements are actively being introduced into gambling processes, making online gambling resources even more popular and visited. Of course, so far their widespread implementation is too difficult and expensive, but nevertheless, as a feature, it is already becoming very common. Especially considering that a player who wants to experience the full immersion on himself, it is enough to purchase a virtual reality helmet.
- As online platforms try to reach a younger audience, the gambling industry will continue to modernize online slots to bring in them skill elements. After all, this audience is well versed in the kind of gaming features found in almost every type of video game they grew up with.
- Games with live dealers have become more widespread and popular. Their popularity depends on their availability: it is easy to play even from mobile devices. Also, the attention of users to live casinos is due to the atmosphere, which is as close as possible to the one in a land based establishment and gives a sense of presence.
- E-sports betting. Sports betting is without a doubt the most popular form of online gambling entertainment. Players make a profit by correctly predicting the outcome of events such as football, tennis, rugby, basketball, etc. And with the surge in popularity of esports betting, the trend towards sports betting will grow even more. While physical games like soccer and rugby will continue to dominate, users will be looking to make money from competitive games like League of Legends. It is now an attractive market for online casino operators, given that there are over 1 billion video game players worldwide.
Thus, web casinos try to provide the best online content in order to meet all the expectations and attract the largest possible audience.
The trends are clearly visible on the example of the actively developing Shangri La web platform. Launched in 2016, the site offered slots, live dealer games and classic sports betting. Gradually developing and improving the quality of service, the operator offers a really large collection of games and has developed a beneficial bonus policy. And also the developers have translated the site interface into dozens of languages. Today the operator uses software from 50+ well-known providers. Here you can find scratch cards, slots with skill elements, new games with odds bets.
Fans of live casino games will discover several dozen of the most up-to-date live dealer releases. The latest innovations provide more shooting angles and additional gameplay options, and the process itself has become much faster.
Sports betting section has also changed significantly. The traditional sports section offers 100+ disciplines, as well as virtual sports and e-sports. And in addition to pre-match bets, an in-play betting format with dynamically changing odds has appeared.
Mobile gambling popularization
If a few years ago, barely a tenth of all players used mobile devices for online games, then in 2021 this figure confidently approached 51%, that is, the share of traffic from mobile devices has become more than from conventional computers and laptops. Moreover, it is expected that this is not the limit: the number of users using smartphones and tablets in order to spin the reels or play poker will only grow.
This increases not only the number of users, but also the time they spend gambling. Since mobile devices are more accessible, and you can devote your time to the game anywhere (there would be the Internet), users are happy to give themselves up to gambling every free minute. This is not to say that PCs and laptops will completely become a thing of the past, but the trend towards increased mobility is clearly evident.
So, in 2021, the Shangri La Casino and Sports web platform developed its own mobile application, after downloading which, the user will receive all the benefits of the site’s full-fledged version, but already in a mobile format.
Modern options for depositing and withdrawing funds
Increasingly, online casinos offer cryptocurrency transactions in addition to traditional deposit methods.
Naturally, gambling sites will not switch entirely to cryptocurrency. However, they can not completely ignore the interest of the whole world in bitcoins and other anonymous money, so cryptocurrency bets are accepted. Players are attracted by instant transfers of winnings to cryptocurrency wallets and the fact that the authorities are not yet too interested with blockchain payments.
