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Virtual and Augmented Reality have long since been hailed as the next big thing at online casinos. These technologies have already reshaped the digital landscape, with applications across gaming and entertainment to healthcare and design. Online casinos have embraced this transformation, but has it really lived up to the hype?
What was once a simple, screen-based experience is now evolving into something far more immersive, social, and convenient. VR allows players to step onto virtual gaming floors and interact with dealers in real time. AR lets users seamlessly blend digital elements with their physical surroundings.
As VR and AR technologies become more accessible, they are redefining how players engage with casino games and raising new questions around social interaction, fairness, and the future of online gambling itself. To understand how this story has unfolded, it's useful to explore the wider impact of these new technologies on gaming and how that relates to their potential at online casinos.
In Virtual Reality gaming, the user's perception is entirely computer-generated. Using a headset, players can enter immersive new worlds, take on new characters, and escape reality entirely. VR works best in games that require the player to interact physically with their environment. The number of VR games on the market is still relatively low compared to conventional video games. However, these games tend to have a longer shelf life than other games and are continuously maintained by their developers.
Half-Life: Alyx, a first-person shooter, has often been hailed as the best VR game ever. Beat Saber, the number one best-selling VR game of all time, is a more universal offering in which players slice blocks to the rhythm of the music. Operators have adopted VR to create entire simulated casinos, as well as virtual slots and table games.
Not all VR stories have been so successful. Earlier this year, Meta began laying off staff focused on virtual reality in its Reality Labs divisions. It has also shuttered several studios that had been working on VR titles. The Metaverse is widely regarded as a fad that never really took off, and Zuckerberg has since stated that the company is now focusing on AI instead.
Augmented Reality, or AR for short, overlays real-time 3D graphics into the real world through a display. This is often simply through a mobile device or tablet, but can also be used with a head-mounted display or glasses. This technology has many useful applications outside of online casinos, including allowing users to visualize how a product will look in their home and how an architectural design will sit in an environment.
AR really burst onto the mainstream in 2016, when Pokémon Go was released. In augmented reality mode, players throw a Poké Ball to capture a creature that appears to be right in front of them. Considered one of the best mobile games of all time, it has had a phenomenal impact on gaming and popular culture.
In the years after its release, businesses near Pokéstops reported an uptick in customers. The game has been credited with popularizing AR, and countless popular mobile games have followed in its wake, including Pikmin Bloom and Jurassic World Alive. It's evident that this playful mechanic has had a significant positive impact on mobile gaming, but has that impact crossed over to online casinos?
AR and VR have long been hailed as game-changers in the iGaming space, but operators have struggled to replicate the success of mobile games. That is evident in the fact that there is no equivalent to Pokémon Go in the online casino world, a game synonymous with the technology it utilizes. However, there are examples of how the technology has been used effectively within the niche, and it has proved popular amongst a small set of loyal players.
VR and AR are being used particularly effectively in live-dealer table games. While VR is used to generate full casino floors with avatars and motion controls, AR uses overlays to bring live dealers and game data into players' home spaces. Both have limited commercial use at the moment, but are slowly scaling up.
The main point of friction for VR uptake has always been cost. For players, these types of games require investing in expensive equipment. Operators, meanwhile, are hesitant to invest heavily in a specific niche without a large player base. Brand new online casinos for US players are leaning into different innovations to entice new users. However, headset costs are gradually lowering, and the number of VR offerings available to players is steadily rising.
Convenience is another significant hurdle for operators to navigate. Players want games that they can play quickly and easily, with minimum friction. VR games run counter to this trend, as donning a headset does not lend itself to brief sessions or playing on the go. VR casino offerings are better marketed to users who want to enjoy longer, immersive periods of play from the comfort of their own home. The advantage for operators is that these types of players are usually loyal and tend to have longer session times.
It's not hard to see why AR might be a more appealing option for operators. Games that use AR do not run into the same cost issues as VR. Their novel features make them appealing to players, but the products are cheaper to produce than full VR platforms. Players already prefer to play using mobile phones, the best medium for this type of offering.
AR games provide immersion and entertainment without coming at the cost of convenience. Users can enjoy social features, which are proving popular amongst the latest generation of online casino goers. AR is undoubtedly a faster path for operators to scale.
Despite the issues that have slowed AR and VR adoption to date, there is still potential for these types of games at online casinos. The online gambling world is always changing. Looking to the immediate future, AR provides a near-term growth path, scalable on more easily accessible devices like phones and smart glasses. In the future, VR will deliver deeper social, revenue-lifting experiences as low-latency streaming and headset penetration improve.
- B.E. Delmer, Gambling911.com
