While many of us have experienced VR gaming, it isn’t something large numbers of people are doing regularly and this is unexpected. The technology wasn’t supposed to remain niche in 2022, it was assumed that we would all be regularly entertaining ourselves in virtual worlds by now. There are popular facilities in Canada for people to strap on a headset, step into a gaming pod and experience immersive virtual reality entertainment, but VR was supposed to be a more prevalent form of entertainment than it currently is.
There remains considerable hope and investment in VR technology and the incentive for people to buy the still expensive equipment required might come from an unexpected source.
The Reality
While major companies including Google and Apple are developing the technology that will shape the future through the metaverse, it’s the iGaming industry that could power VR entertainment to the next level. The iGaming industry is essentially online casinos and it’s no secret that these are flourishing on a global level. The major online gambling hubs have triumphed by implementing new technology and building trust. The technological elements were essentially recognizing early on the consumer shift to mobile gaming and then providing numerous transaction options, particularly digital wallets, but also crypto. The trust aspect is in the transparency provided to players as you can see when viewing the exclusive bonuses BetMGM in Ontario alongside a full review that highlights both the pros and cons of the provider. The more successful online casinos recognize that customer retention is paramount and therefore provide players with clarity about game rules, and win ratios, while also furnishing players with the tools to gamble responsibly.
Casino game developers have been busy and hugely successful by incorporating multipliers and progressive jackpots into classic casino games to make them more appealing. Providing live dealers for classic table games such as blackjack, poker, and roulette was a fairly recent trend to make online casino gaming more immersive. Yet, now it appears first-person gambling is the preferred form and the popularity of these games suggests people are inching closer to widescale VR usage.
First-person
Evolution Gaming appears to be the main player in developing these first-person casino games and they have a rich pedigree of producing stand-out games such as Gonzo’s Treasure Hunt Live and Deal Or No Deal Live. Evolution’s catalog of first-person games is growing rapidly, but they are essentially repackaging their successful live games in this new format. Indeed, each first-person title has an in-game portal that allows players to hit the ‘go live’ button and be transported to the live casino version of the game.
Every first-person game provided delivers impressive animation and 3D rendering to create an enveloping gaming experience that feels like being in a casino. The whole atmosphere envelopes you like a VR experience as you take your seat, handle your chips, view the entire table, and adjust customization settings you’re basically inside a virtual casino. As Evolution continues to develop first-person casino games it appears to be a steppingstone to VR gambling and they have already made tentative steps toward a VR casino by giving players the chance to play and bet on Gonzo’s Treasure Hunt in VR mode using a Virtual Reality headset.
With the first-person games proving so popular, it seems likely that more developers will follow suit and we’ll see the reign of live online games end as VR experiences gain ground. Currently, the first-person games replicate a brick-and-mortar casino but expect to see considerable development of avatars, effects, dealers, social aspects, and other visuals that can make a virtual casino far more alluring than anything land-based. There have undoubtedly been high-profile false dawns for VR in the past as per Linkedin, but the shift to first-person casino gaming and what developers might do next should finally make people become regular VR gamers.