Gaming is one of the biggest earning industries within the media sector, with a revenue of nearly $180 billion generated in 2020. Since the birth of the first commercial game machine in 1967, the Brown Box by Ralph Bear, it was not until the creation of Pong by Atari in 1972 that the industry began to truly grow and captivate many gamers and growing in revenue and size.

The game industry then moved onto Arcade machines which drew the competitive gamers who loved to have their records held on memory and competing with others. This added more challenge and fun into the gaming industry through taking it to the masses.

It was not long until the industry recognised the market that could from home consoles. We began to see more game consoles entering the market from the 1980s. Players could purchase a games console that could be connected to their television in your home, with the ability to play on your own or as a multiplayer. Hand-held systems were also being introduced around the same time, allowing players to take their fun games outdoors and on the road.

As home computers began being commonplace, the industry we saw the introduction of CD-ROMS instead of console cartridges. The storage capability of CD-ROMs enabled people to begin building quite a huge collection of games.

The rise of the internet and mobile phones is what led to the gaming industry increasing revenue, popularity and size exponentially. Microsoft launched the first Xbox Live in 2001 and players could now subscribe to an online gaming platform that enabled them to have voice chat and challenge other gamers. This quickly became very popular with users.

More games could now be introduced online as internet use became popular in homes and this made gaming more accessible for people. Smartphones also enabled for the innovation of gaming software which was easy to use on the handheld devices. The use of these platforms made it possible for the gambling industry, like these real money casinos, to also introduce interactive and entertaining platforms for their players. The gambling industry has been able to continue increasing their revenue as casinos and betting shops were closed in the last year due to COVID-19 restrictions.