Online casinos have become a central part of the gaming industry, able to compete with traditional physical casinos. Their international presence is growing steadily as more countries modernize their gambling laws.
When the sectors of the online casino industry are examined individually, one thing becomes very clear: mobile casinos are driving a lot of that growth since they have become hugely popular among players. Thanks to the number of players using them consistently and the amount of revenue they generate, mobile casinos are becoming increasingly influential.
This article will dive deeper into why mobile casinos have become so popular and how exactly are they changing the gaming industry.
Rise of mobile casinos
Mobile gaming has become one of the fastest-growing parts of the video game industry. More people than ever are choosing to play their games on mobile devices instead of consoles or desktop computers, and this trend has also carried over to online casinos.
Online casinos were initially designed for desktop devices, and mobile compatibility was an afterthought. Often, if casinos had dedicated mobile sites, they had tiny libraries and limited features. As casino brands realized a lot of potential in the mobile market, they moved to creating dedicated apps for their online casinos.
That success was followed by the realization that not every potential player wants to download an app to access an online casino, especially since most players have accounts with multiple online casinos. Now, online casinos create fully optimized sites that work across mobile and desktop, which led to mobile casinos becoming the most popular way to play casino games.
Why are mobile casinos so popular?
The number of mobile casinos operating in each market around the world continues to grow steadily. There are many reasons for this. The first is convenience and accessibility. Owning a smartphone has become standard, and the majority of the world’s population now has access to a mobile device.
Mobile casinos are also very well designed and user-friendly. As people spend more time on their phones and less time on laptops, they become more familiar and comfortable with navigating mobile sites and apps. Mobile casinos are now able to offer as much variety in their libraries as regular online casinos, which has only helped their popularity.
Finally, improvements in mobile phone technology has made even lower-end phones capable of handling gameplay. They have better graphics, clearer screens, and improved battery life, all of which make playing games on mobile devices more enjoyable.
Focus on mobile first
One of the ways that mobile casinos are changing the gaming industry is not immediately obvious to players. Why? Because it is happening on a level that doesn’t immediately impact the player experience, but will shape the industry and have impacts for years to come.
Casino brands are focusing on mobile first, desktop browser performance second, which is a major shift that we’ve been seeing in numerous industries. More effort will be put into ensuring that all games and features are mobile-compatible and then adapted for desktop instead of the other way around.
Continued rise of AR and VR
Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) remain two of video games’ most exciting future features. They are already impressive in their current states, but the cost of the headsets and the limited functionality of AR devices limits how many people use them.
Mobile casinos are perfectly placed to implement AR technology to make their games and overall experience more immersive. This is part of the reason behind such a push towards creating more live dealer games. As soon as mobile casinos see success from their AR elements, regular online casinos are likely to work towards creating VR casino floors — which will be a serious area of competition.
Cryptocurrencies and the blockchain
Despite constant news of market swings and crashes, cryptocurrencies remain one of the top tech trends. Crypto casinos had a brief moment where they appeared to be the next big thing. However, due to the limited number of blockchain games and the exclusivity of the platforms, they’ve fallen behind mobile casinos.
This doesn’t mean that the iGaming industry has abandoned cryptocurrencies. More mobile casinos accept cryptocurrencies, usually through a dedicated crypto exchange platform. Many are also working to implement blockchain-based platform elements to keep their sites agile and secure.
Cryptocurrencies are particularly popular with many demographics that overlap with casino game players. As mobile casinos make it easier for players to fund their accounts with cryptocurrencies, they will likely see a rise in the number of players. Regular online casinos are going to have to adapt by offering the same services and accepting cryptocurrencies beyond simply Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Gamification
Gamification is the process of adding a game element to something unrelated to make it more engaging and enjoyable, or to put positive pressure on the user to perform. One example of gamification is the popular language learning program Duolingo, which has made learning a language into a game by adding progress bars, rankings, hearts, and challenges. The other is any fitness app or program with incentives like a progress bar, tournaments, and rewards to encourage users.
Mobile casinos are beginning to introduce gamification onto their platforms, and it gives casino players extra reasons to keep coming back. Gamification also encourages daily logins and players’ meeting targets for the amount of time spent playing, deposits, or total wagers. It can also encourage them to try new games they might not otherwise have been interested in.
As mobile casinos implement gamification elements, other parts of the gambling industry will see their success and take a similar approach.
Ease of transactions
Digital payment methods are the norm, and e-wallets are rapidly replacing traditional credit/debit cards. Mobile casinos make the payment process incredibly straightforward since you go through the whole process on the same device.
The general gaming industry should look up to how mobile casinos handle deposits and withdrawals and implement similar tools and strategies.
Social media integration
Social media dominates the internet, and most adults have at least one active social media account. Most people access their social media accounts primarily through their mobile devices, which makes the move to integrate social media into mobile casinos simple.
This move towards social media integration has already had great success in the United States at online sweepstakes casinos. These sites use social media platforms to communicate with their players, run competitions, and build communities. Mobile casino brands are learning from these sites how to become more relevant to their players’ daily lives.
Final thoughts
The massive success of mobile casinos shouldn’t have surprised anyone. We had already seen how mobile gaming took over the video game industry. The same factors contributed to their initial popularity.
As we watch the general influence that mobile casinos are having on the gaming industry, it will be interesting to see if there is any pushback from other sectors and how these developments impact other entertainment industries.
