The constant growth of online video slots
Online video slots go quite far back in the history of the USA. While they were very different to the modern iterations, mostly due to the lack of video or online features, slots can trace their origins to the 1800s, when the tech first started to become known. The first slot was released in 1895 and called the Liberty Bell.
The slot featured card symbols and a cracked bell as the main symbols. Players who managed to get 3 bells on a payline would be paid out $0.50 which would be worth around $65 today.
The popularity of this first game meant that more slot machines started to appear. This lead to the development of new technologies leading to what we have available now.
Growth over the years
At first slots were kept very simple. With just three rows and a single payline, the features were also quite limited. This moved on over the years and when the internet started to become a more mainstream tool, casinos soon moved online. Online slots were soon to follow which offered much more advanced versions of standard video slots.
Improvements with technology
The internet has grown over the years and the technology behind online casinos and online video slots has also grown at a similar rate.
The areas that have grown the most in online casinos can be cut down to four specific zones.
Playing on the go. This has come from the influx of mobile devices into the everyday life of people. Almost everyone has a mobile device in the modern world. This has helped to make it much easier to play online casinos due to the vast improvements in mobile technology.
The creators of casino games have made sure that they have kept up to speed with this fast growth in hardware. The standard of mobile games has increased a lot over the years and we even sometimes get releases available on mobile first, such is the impact mobile play has had.
Augmented reality and virtual reality. This is still in its infancy. In the 90s many people believed that virtual reality would be the next big thing. However, it’s taken until the 2020s for the technology to really be on a level that offers people a truly realistic experience.
This means the AR and VR games are still a small part of the market. But they are growing in popularity and they could be the next big step forward in terms of technology in the casino industry.
Offering gamification. This is something that a lot of casinos have been pushing recently. Offering the ability for players to compete with each other means that there are now games within games which gives players two levels of enrichment.
Gamification doesn’t always offer competition though. Sometimes it can offer things such as trophies for players to earn or even unlocking new ways to play games.
Taking influence from video games. There are more and more video slot games that are offering more of a video game experience. This is to give players a sense of achievement when they play as well as the opportunity to win money.
These new kinds of game are starting to get a lot of popularity with players and could be the next wave of titles that start to be created by developers.