The Changing Face of iGaming Shows the Increasing Advancement of Virtual Reality

“Oculus RIft Crystal Cove prototype” (CC BY 2.0) by  pestoverde 

Virtual reality (VR) is reshaping the world around us. From the games we play to the adverts we watch, the combination of headsets and immersive graphics is making our virtual experiences more engaging and entertaining than ever. Indeed, from Facebook’s ToyBox project creating a new table tennis experience to Surgical Theater and Conquer Mobile turning CAT scans into 3D figures, companies of all shapes and sizes are embracing VR.

One industry that’s now moving further into the realms of VR is the iGaming industry. Since the industry first came to prominence in the early noughties, technology has played a huge role in the evolution of iGaming. Taking classic casino games such as roulette and blackjack and turning them into an online experience that people could play from the comfort of their own homes revolutionised the gaming community.

Casino Games Become the Latest Beneficiary of VR

“Casino Night 2.19.13” (CC BY 2.0) by  Southern Arkansas University 

In fact, the evolution of the industry can be demonstrated by one of the most popular casino games in the world, roulette. Today you’ll find three incarnations of the game at all of the major platforms. For example, inside Betway Casino you’ll find traditional online roulette in a range of variants. From American Roulette with 38 betting options to multi-wheel roulette where one bet can be multiplied by eight, the range of options at Betway has been carefully crafted to suit players of all persuasions.

Beyond its online offerings, Betway has moved with the times by creating dedicated iOS and Android apps. Offering all the same playability as their online counterparts but using touch technology to make a more efficient mobile experience, these games have opened up the genre to even more players. The final and most recent innovation from online operators is live dealer roulette.

Using the latest webcam and RFID technology, these tables essentially fuse the live and online gaming worlds in a single portal. Instead of playing against a random number generator (software that determines the result of a spin) and some animations, these games have real people spinning a real roulette wheel. Aside from being the latest step on roulette’s evolutionary ladder, it was the first movement towards virtual reality.

Although live dealer tables don’t offer a “virtual reality” experience in the same way product such as Oculus Rift do, the combination of real and virtual elements has helped to make the games more immersive. Picking up on this movement towards more realisitc gaming, Microgaming created its first VR product in late 2015. Demoed at various trade shows and titled VR Roulette, the software harnessed the power of Oculus Rift and Leap’s 3D controllers to make the first fully interactive virtual roulette game.

VR is a Game Changer for Everyone

“Samsung Gear VR” (CC BY 2.0) by  pestoverde 

While the industry is still a few years away from having VR Roulette available at every major platform, the seeds have been sown and that’s a testament to the technology. We now live in an age where gaming on its own isn’t enough. Gone are the days when a 2D platform game like Super Mario was enough to satisfy the hardcore gamer. Today we need hyper realistic scenery, online multiplayer functionality and, as is the case with roulette, real people assisting our virtual experience.

Virtual reality is the next step in this movement towards greater engagement and that can only benefit industries such as iGaming. Indeed, with analysts projecting that VR will be worth $120 billion by 2020, the range of features we’ll soon have access to will take things to levels we never even thought we possible. As we said at the top of the article, VR is reshaping the world around us. Whether it’s iGaming or advertising, our experiences are set to become virtually real in the coming years and that’s something we should be looking forward to.