Some industries fall behind and fail to make use of revolutionary new technologies – the online casino industry, however, is not one of them. Online casinos, physical casinos and the iGaming industry has always made use of technology and has used it to stay ahead of the curve and bring customers exciting new ways to gamble.
But how exactly have they achieved this and what can an online casino offer as a result of these technological advancements? Below, we discuss five particularly important technologies that have allowed online casinos to rise in popularity and consistently draw large crowds of customers.
Live dealer streaming technology
Live dealer games are undoubtedly one of the best technological developments for online casinos in recent years. These are games that use a live streaming feed where the player connects to a real human dealer who is running a casino table game such as roulette or blackjack.
You can then interact with the dealer using a microphone or in-game chat system, and they will control the flow of play, just like in a real casino. This live experience is revolutionary and developers such as Evolution have produced some fantastic live dealer titles.
Progressive jackpot prize pools
This is something that bricks and mortar casinos have too, but online casinos have taken progressive jackpot prize pools to a whole new level. A progressive jackpot is a prize pool that players contribute to when playing a game. For example, you might play a progressive jackpot slot like Divine Fortune. If each spin costs $1.00, $0.25 of that might go into the progressive prize pool. If you want to learn a little more about how they work, you can learn all about online slots with some brilliant resources available online.
Because there are thousands of people playing these games, the cumulative prize pool builds up quickly. To create even bigger prizes, progressive prize pools are often pooled from multiple casinos under the same parent company. This cloud cooperation has led to some unbelievable prizes on games like Mega Moolah and Mega Jackpot.
Oftentimes, you can see progressive prize pools at online casinos that run into the millions!
In-platform chat systems
Historically, online casinos have not been very social, and this is where online platforms have struggled to compete with physical casinos. With a bricks and mortar location, you can go with your friends, have a few drinks and generally have a blast. The same couldn’t be said for online casinos – until the introduction of online chat systems.
Many online casinos have in-game chats and lobby chats that registered users can join. These are the social areas of online casinos and they allow gamers to come together and have a little fun in between playing games. As mentioned above, live dealer games have built on this social aspect too, as you can use a microphone or instant messaging to chat with the dealer or other players at your table.
Digital payment methods
Can you imagine the annoyance and tedium of having to ring a casino to make a deposit? This archaic process was once one of the main ways that people paid money in to online casinos, and it was incredibly slow and annoying. You’d have to read your card details and hope that the person on the other end did everything right!
That’s a thing of the past, though, and all online casinos now accept a wide range of digital payment methods. Popular payment methods include Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, Skrill, Neteller and Interac, to name a few. These payment platforms allow for instant, secure transactions using security measures like 2FA and CAPTCHA.
Downloadable smartphone casino apps
It’s well known that most people around the world have a smartphone, and this is becoming the device of choice for activities like shopping, streaming, gaming and online casino gambling. Despite setbacks like Android potentially being banned in India, most popular online casinos have capitalized on the smartphone revolution.
In most instances, the casino has an online app that you can download from the App Store or Google Play Store. It’s convenient and the games all still work perfectly. Alternatively, even if a casino doesn’t have a dedicated app, it will still have a mobile-responsive version of its website that displays properly on a smaller smartphone screen. This mobile accessibility has made casinos far more viable in the modern, smartphone-driven age.
Online casinos continue to innovate and bring fresh entertainment
Online casinos have constantly been at the forefront of new technological developments, and this has been a key part of their success and longevity. The software developers who make the games keep things fresh and deliver entertaining titles that incorporate innovative technologies like live dealer streaming and progressive jackpots.
At the same time, the casinos themselves have ensured they are available to everyone, with mobile adoption, downloadable smartphone apps and secure digital payment methods. If the past is anything to go by, we can expect online casinos to make good use of the latest tech trends and continue to pave the way in the iGaming industry.