Things That Could Affect the iGaming Industry in 2022

META: Take a look at our list of things that could affect the iGaming industry in the coming years.

Like a lot of other industries, the iGaming industry is often at the whim of advances in the wider world. World events, advancements in technology and consumer trends all have some sort of effect on online casinos and other betting platforms. And, in turn, the iGaming industry will have to learn to adapt.

But it’s a lot easier to handle things when you know what’s coming. It’ll make adapting your betting stores a lot more efficient to get ahead of developing trends, instead of playing catch up with the changing waves in the industry.

So, with that in mind, take a look at our list of things that could affect the iGaming industry in the coming years, and see how your business can adapt.

Virtual Reality is being pushed

Virtual reality is a big idea that is turning a lot of heads in Silicon Valley. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg envisions a world where people hold meetings in their virtual worlds and give granny a call with an avatar.

We’re a few years away from that, and in the meantime, virtual reality developers should focus on the demographic that is most likely to love it: gamers.

There are attempts to break into virtual reality gaming, and they’re slowly gaining traction. As more games hit the market, more VR rooms showcase their potential, more VR headgear will arrive and the virtual playground will open up.

And, if history is to repeat itself, some of the first games to hit the platform and be accepted will be casino games. Online casinos are already trying to up the immersion on their games, with live dealers and chat rooms. Why shouldn’t we upgrade that to appearing as though you’re actually sitting at the casino table? It’s sure to bring down the price of flights to Vegas.

Cryptocurrency is becoming mainstream

Slowly, cryptocurrency is finding its footing. People are learning the jargon, learning to avoid the scams, and are looking for ways they can use their newfound currency.

So far, short of buying a Tesla, there aren’t many options for the practical use of cryptocurrency except converting it into the national currency – except one place: online casinos.

More and more online casinos are accepting the likes of Bitcoin, Dogecoin, BEP20 token and more to make their deposits to online casinos. The main perk can be seen right away: it’s instant. Without the red tape of the bank to go around, players only need to wait minutes to gain their betting fodder, and don’t have to wait the standard 3-5 working days to then see the results of their winnings in their account.

As crypto becomes more popular and accepted, more industries will see the use of crypto and iGaming will no longer be one of two main uses of crypto, so it makes sense to adapt your site to accepting it now.

Regulations are slackening

World government attitudes to iGaming are changing. Famously stubborn anti-gambling countries like the Netherlands are changing their minds on the idea, and their regulations to match. In 2021 the Netherlands launched their own regulated gambling market, changing the law from an outright ban of all gambling in some places, to an allowance for online gambling. Meanwhile, South Africa and other African countries are telling their citizens that no gambling businesses will open in the country, but they can gamble online.

Even in the US, more and more states are accepting online gambling. So, what gives?

Well, taking New Jersey as an example, the launch of online gambling just before the worldwide lockdowns shut all of Atlantic City’s casinos, allowed the state to gain over $300 million in tax revenue. Since then, a lot of other states have followed suit, turning to online gambling as a means of recovering the country’s economy.

eSports are taking off

eSports are incredibly popular right now – and it makes sense. Everyone was surprised when the first YouTubers started playing games, asking “Who would watch that?” Fast forward and the top YouTuber and Twitch streamer are gamers, and some of the richest YouTubers are gamers. It only stands to reason that fans who love watching games for the fun of it, are likely to come out in droves to watch gaming competitively.

We might be a while away from entering the Olympics, but when you have investors transporting teams of players all around the world to win millions of dollars, you don’t need a medal.

And this means betting opportunities. The point is competitiveness, which means betting on the outcome. The great thing about this is that there is a lot to bet on. Customers don’t need to just stick to “winner” or “loser” but most kills, fastest run and all the millions of other concepts the gaming community has come up with over the years.

A lot of sports betting platforms have already started to adapt to this, offering eSports as a category alongside football, basketball and other traditional sports in a beautiful merging of nerd and jock.