Will casino and video games fuse in the future?

Consoles for gambling: exciting new idea for online casinos

Will there soon be consoles for games of chance? Is it conceivable that the already existing consoles will also be used for online casinos? At least some experts and companies are heading in this direction. But are there excellent reasons to believe that online gambling on consoles is interesting for the gambling fans who currently use smartphones, tablets, desktop computers, and laptops? Or is it perhaps to tap into a new target group that has not been much into online gambling so far? Nevertheless, it is an exciting thought that consoles could soon be used for more than just video games.

Game consoles for online casinos – does that make sense?

In recent years, there has been an interesting trend in online gambling. Some manufacturers are putting a lot of effort into making games more and more complex. In the past, it was enough to present a player with a card risk to justify a long gaming session. But for some players, that is no longer enough these days. The crucial keyword here is “gamification”. Many gambling fans also use video games and are therefore used to digital games can be very complex. What makes a video game? There are typical elements that do not play a role in classic gambling, for example, missions, character creation, or team play.

However, it can often be seen that a large part of the customers in online casinos still prefer simple games. If a game is equipped with spectacular animations, graphics, and sounds, this excites a small part of the clientele. But most gambling fans would rather play Book of Ra Deluxe and not try too hard. This is a big dilemma for game developers because it cannot be predicted whether it is possible to inspire enough gambling fans with elaborate games. Therefore, using game consoles to represent online casinos is probably only worthwhile in the end if online gambling soon looks similar to video games. But how likely is that?

Virtual reality into the casino via gaming consoles?

Virtual reality and augmented reality are the big buzzwords when it comes to describing the future of the entertainment industry. Strictly speaking, video games have offered virtual reality from the very beginning. However, the focus is increasingly on changing the game experience so that the difference between reality becomes blurred. At present, it is at best the case with very imaginative gamers. For example, in online casinos, it is mainly the live dealer games that offer virtual reality. In the live casino, the player believes that he is in a real casino. But of course, every player knows that this is just a pretty illusion. However, this illusion works so well that live dealer games are now more popular than digital table games.

An intersection between gambling and video games already exists in the form of loot boxes. Even though loot boxes are not legally considered gambling in most states, there is a close relationship to traditional gambling. In addition, there are virtual casinos in some video games, but so far, they do not offer real-money play. The boundaries could blur at some point if demand changes accordingly. However, this will not happen quickly, as some significant hurdles need to be jumped.

Gaming regulation puts the brakes on console dreams

The more or less sharp distinction between video games and online casinos is partly because there is a separate gambling regulation. Perhaps this will change at some point in the future. But at the moment, it would be challenging to bring about this change because the gambling regulation in most countries ensures that it would not be easy to develop console games that would have a real gambling character. So perhaps it will take another generation before consoles also become interesting for gambling providers, not least because the coming generations have been socialized with video games and consoles. But until then, online casinos will mainly be found on smartphones, tablets and computers and instead not on consoles.