There is not much scope to alter or adjust the gameplay of traditional casino games like roulette and blackjack, which have existed for centuries. The games have survived this long thanks to their simplicity, but also because they are iconic casino offerings that even new players are familiar with. Therefore, instead of trying to push these games in a new direction, developers have kept them at the forefront of the industry by incorporating new technology regularly.
With the success of augmented reality mobile games, could developers use these as inspiration and do something similar to casino table games?
Mobile Games Kick-started an AR Craze That Will Get Bigger
One of the biggest mobile crazes in living memory was the advent of AR in 2016. This was one of the first times most people had seen the potential of this new-fangled technology, and early games that pounced on it were unprecedented successes.
Mobile game developer Niantic released a landmark AR offering in July 2016, and by March 2019 there had been more than one billion downloads. Before the release of AR games, a commonly-held belief was that to be able to view augmented reality, users would need access to an AR headset. But these new offerings were available through the mobile screen, making the technology accessible to a greater number of people. Indeed, anyone with a smartphone was able to play.
Needless to say, the fact that Niantic made over $3 billion in revenue led other developers to work on ways to incorporate this revolutionary technology into their own games. Since then, there has been an influx of AR offerings for mobile including Jurassic World Alive from Ludia and The Walking Dead: Our World from Next Games. The online casino industry tends to follow trends in the mobile gaming sector, so it is reasonable to expect AR to come to the gambling industry soon.
AR Could Be Next Step After Live Casino
The live casino has been a revolutionary platform for online casinos, and perhaps the biggest advancement since the internet gambling sites began. It has allowed players to feel as though they are actually sitting at the casino playing table games from the comfort of their own homes. Online casinos like Royal Panda have put a heavy focus on their live casino table games, and the options are now as abundant as their virtual counterparts. There are even niche titles like Arabic Roulette and Japanese Roulette.
AR could be the next step in the natural progression of the online casino evolution. Live streaming has already brought the real casino atmosphere to people’s homes, but could it get even more immersive and realistic? Certainly, AR has the potential to enhance the experience even more. If it was done in a similar way to AR games like The Walking Dead, players would be able to hold up their phone screen or don some AR glasses and a live casino dealer would appear right in front of them in their home.
Will AR Tussle With VR for Supremacy?
There is little doubt that AR is on the horizon for online casinos, but the question is whether it will have a bigger impact than virtual reality. Up to now, the biggest developments in the industry have been with VR. Major developers including NetEnt and Microgaming have both been involved with creating content for this platform. It does seem as though AR could be set to do battle with VR to represent the future of online casinos.
Online casino developers will have seen the success of AR mobile games and found it hard to ignore. It would be reasonable to imagine that industry heavyweights will use the technology to enhance table games and make them more immersive.
