HomeGames & Tech4 ways in which online gaming is changing

4 ways in which online gaming is changing

Humans have always enjoyed entertaining themselves. From the ancient Greeks and Romans to the present day, finding ways to stave off boredom has been a key concern. In the modern world, online gaming is a massively popular way of doing this. As an industry, the global games market generated over $150 billion in 2019, and online gaming played an important part in this. Online gaming in the UK was worth over £2 billion in 2019, for example, which shows how huge it is.

As well as sheer convenience and more social gaming, this type of play remains popular as it is always moving forward. This is due to the technology behind it advancing all the time and helping to drive new innovations. Covering both online video and casino games, this niche within the entire gaming industry is sure to expand even further in the future.

With that in mind, it is exciting to look at four of the major ways in which online gaming is changing. But what are they?

Free slots

When it comes to online casino gaming, there is something of a shift happening in how players approach it. Free Slots are becoming more and more popular, as people look to try out playing online casino games without risking real money. The best free slots also come in a huge choice of themes and designs to attract players – many even use well-known movies or TV shows as their base.

As they can be played on any device and usually require no downloading, they are a convenient way to fill in any spare time you may have. The other major attraction of free online slots is that they allow you to test new games without risking real money, to see if you like them or if they are worth playing. Almost all internet casino sites offer this type of slot and they are ideal to get started with before moving onto real money versions.

Augmented reality

Augmented reality sees your real-world environment added to and made more exciting by technology. Pokémon Go led the way in terms of using AR in games and now the industry is looking at bringing it into even more online video and casino games. You may begin to see players at online casinos, for example, actually being able to see computer players sitting next to them or cards being dealt out in front of them at home, all due to AR. Online video games could begin to use this tech in much the same way. How cool would games like Fortnite be if you could actually see other players or in-game features in the real world?

Facial recognition

One thing that could change online gaming in the future is facial recognition tech being incorporated into games. One major way in which it could be used is to improve security and safety. When you log on to an online casino to play games, for example, facial recognition would be able to authenticate you with total accuracy, before logging you in to your account.

Facial recognition could also be used to inject even greater levels of personalization into online gaming. It could, for example, allow you to import your own face into video games to use as an avatar or profile pic. Casino and video games could also use facial recognition tech to ID each individual player. This would then make it much easier to give out personalized rewards or show targeted ads.

On-demand game streaming

This is a change within online video gaming that is happening right now and looks set to become massive. It all boils down to the fact that buying physical copies of video games to put in your console or PC is now old hat. Not only is it expensive but it is also time consuming. To get around this, on-demand streaming services are popping up. When using these services, gamers get access to a huge number of online titles to enjoy whenever they like. Google Stadia launched in November 2019 and is a good example of this type of service, and there are many other sites and services springing up in this niche. It seems that digital streaming and online gaming will become the main way in which people play video games. Of course, casino gaming already uses this idea well, but video gaming is catching up quickly.

Online gaming is changing fast

There is no doubt that the world of online gaming is changing quickly. That is true whether you play online video games, online casino games or both. Where things will head to in the future is open to debate but the technologies discussed here really seem to be making their presence felt within the whole sector.

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Pip Ellwood-Hughes Editor / Owner
Pip is the owner and Editor of Entertainment Focus, and the Managing Director of Piñata Media.

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