Online casinos have been around for decades now, with video slots and poker being a gambling scene mainstay since the mid-90s. Many people assume that the later iteration of live casino games, which feature live video technology to interact with real-life dealers, is a new invention.
While live casino games were only widely adopted over the past decade, the format itself is almost as old as online gambling as a whole. In fact, the first live casino games are thought to have come about in 1998, shortly after the first online casino was launched (back in 1996).
This means that live casinos are about to turn 25, a major milestone for any entertainment technology. So, as live casino gaming celebrates its silver anniversary, let's take a look at the trends that are driving it forward in 2022.
Destination live casinos
It is no longer enough for a casino to offer roulette and poker from a dingy, faceless studio. Nowadays, the top casinos are all working to make their live lounges worthwhile destinations in their own right, with plush furnishings and high-budget setups to create a more immersive experience.
One standout example here is The Hippodrome Online Casino site. On their live platform, you can play modern titles such as Lightning Roulette, with all of the action being broadcast live from the palatial gaming floor of the 19th-century Hippodrome Casino in London's West End. We expect other platforms to follow suit in the future.
Data-driven gaming
Now more so than ever, people want data and metrics. They want to see how a game has statistically paid out over time, and what the averages are for different wagers and outcomes. Here, live casino gaming is paying attention.
Most casinos now give players the option to view the entire range of historical data for a particular table. You can see the results of the past 1000 spins on the roulette wheel, or the past 100 winning hands at the poker table. The choice is yours.
Re-play
While live casino gaming is designed to recreate the Las Vegas experience, it is becoming more important to retain a sense of the technology. Rather than simply playing "in the moment", players increasingly want the option to watch a replay of their game, to see what could have gone differently, or to savour a particularly sweet victory. These days, live-action replays are becoming the norm at all online casinos.
Social media integration
Gaming and entertainment of all stripes have become entwined and reshaped by social media. Naturally, live casinos are not immune. One of the defining trends in recent years has been the tendency to integrate social media with live casino streams.
Nowadays, you can live stream your own gaming sessions to your followers on Twitch or Facebook. What's more, some platforms will even broadcast game sessions via their own accounts, which also works as a nifty little bit of marketing. Expect social media to continue to shape the development of online gambling more generally.
Live casinos were borne out of a desire to capture an emerging technology and create a totally new form of entertainment. The fact that the sector is continuing to embrace new tech tells us that live casinos will stick around for some time yet.
- Payton O'Brien, Gambling911.com Senior Editor
