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Published by Programme B
What to Expect from Online Casinos in 2021
2020 was probably one of the worst years for many people, especially the younger generations. The coronavirus pandemic caused an unprecedented lockdown and made life very much different for millions of people around the world. While many industries have suffered greatly, online gambling was left intact and in fact grew in many of its areas.
The year is slowly coming to an end and it appears that the pandemic too will become a thing of the past with vaccines set to be distributed among nations within the next six to twelve months. With all that said, we wanted to look forward and try to predict what we can expect from online casinos in 2021 and what new trends are likely to come next. Already we’ve seen even more new casinos pop up in the UK, so will the same happen elsewhere?
A Slight Traffic Downtick
This year was one of the best for online businesses of all sorts including online casinos, simply because so many people were confined to their homes. Even when going out became possible, many chose to remain isolated and help stop the spread of the virus as much as possible.
2021 is a year when vaccines will likely be distributed in many countries including Canada, so we can expect people to become more social once more and the restrictions to be made looser than before. This means real world casinos will re-open and people will have more possibility for other social pastimes, which should decrease the time they spend at their computers or on their mobile phones.
Some of Canada’s best online casinos that are shown here may end up losing a bit of traffic due to this, but should still remain quite active and continue to serve large numbers of customers on a daily basis.
Mobile Gambling Trend
More and more, mobile phones are replacing computers altogether. Gaming is one area in particular where mobile phones now rule and iGaming is no exception to that. Millennials use their mobile phones to gamble almost exclusively while older generations still use PCs but to a lower extent.
Overall speaking, mobile devices are becoming the prevalent way of reaching online casinos and many operators are focusing on reaching players on their mobile devices almost exclusively. Entire online casino platforms are designed around working well on mobile phones of all sorts and push notifications are becoming a common way to reach customers and get them to come back, making emails partially obsolete.
Mobile technologies such as HTML5 are taking over in the development sense, with slot and other game developers focusing heavily on creating games that run on all types of mobile devices. Mobile operators will likely make their instant play platforms even more player friendly and quick to play in 2021, making access nearly instant.
Instant Registration and Deposits
The trend of allowing players to register with online casinos by using their mobile banking accounts is a growing one and one that is saving time and making it even easier for players to bank online. Started a few years ago, this trend allows a player to use his or her online banking account to instantly connect with the online casino. This way, the player can make a deposit and instantly confirm his identity as well, making the KYC process obsolete.
Making identification, deposit and withdrawals easier for players online is a process that is happening not just in the iGaming world, but in other industries as well. It is for this reason that Canadian online casinos may just kick up this trend in 2021 and you may be able to sign up even more quickly and efficiently with online casinos in the next year.
Gamification Process Continues
Gamification is a trend that has been around the online casino industry for a few years now and is only growing. A growing number of operators are realizing that their casinos are too similar to others and are implementing various gamification elements into their platforms to make them more engaging and entertaining for the customers.
Gamification includes various types of progression through an online casino, leveling up as you play various games and receiving bonuses and perks when you reach certain achievements. By doing this, online casinos are allowing players to reach goals while playing common slots or casino games, which is an extra incentive to play games that may otherwise not be as interesting.
This trend will only continue to grow as time passes and 2021 is probably a year when gamification will be more present than ever before. We can only stand by and watch what kind of amazing features the top online casinos will introduce in the coming year.
Augmented and Virtual Reality
Virtual reality has been around the iGaming industry for quite some time now but is still in the developing stages. iGaming is only one of the many industries in which VR are being used today. While a few VR slots are available, for the most part online casinos have not yet adopted this technology, mostly because so few players have access to actual VR devices.
This is likely to start changing in the coming years and 2021 may be the year when online casinos take the next step towards introducing VR as a major part of their business model. It is not all up to the casinos however, as game developers will need to develop more games in order to make VR casino gaming a reasonable option.
Is 2021 going to be the year when more people will also start getting their hands on VR sets and actually using the technology in their homes? It remains to be seen, but it is not likely that it will actually be a big breakthrough year for the tech.
More Legalization around the World
While Canadian players can mostly already play at online casinos without any major issues, players in many parts of the world, including the USA, are still not completely free to gamble online. Numerous US states have now legalized online casinos or are working on bills to make it possible to play online casino games and this is a great step forward for the industry as a whole.
2021 is probably going to be a year when US players in many states will finally get a chance to take their first ever online casino account for a spin. Apart from the USA, other countries around the world, including those in Europe are also creating more comprehensive legislative frames for online casinos and we can expect the industry as a whole to be a lot more closely monitored before 2021 is over. This, in turn, also means that players will be safer when playing and online casinos will be even more fair than before.
A Great Year for Online Casinos Ahead?
The coming year is likely to be a good one for online casino operators, just as 2020 was. The pandemic is not yet over and operators can expect the increased traffic to remain in force for at least some months of 2021. In addition to that, the momentum has now shifted away from live casinos to the online arena and it will take some time before live casinos regain their customers, leaving online casinos free to experiment with new technologies and continue serving an unprecedented number of customers.