Technological growth, consumer expectations, and industrial innovation and invention are among the main factors that have prompted the rise in virtual reality gambling over the next four years, according to a new survey carried out.
Technavio’s Global VR Gambling Market, an analytic company specializing in the field, has predicted that by 2022 VR gaming tech will register an annual growth rate of close to 55 percent. The firm has predicted that the growth will be $360M between 2017 and 2022. The firm believes that despite some of the most popular operators like 888 and William Hill have finally embraced the VR technology some gamers are still not convinced.
However, it is expected that in the next few years’ operators in the gaming industry will finally embrace this technology. VR is an important tech for both online and land-based gaming companies.
A Technavio spokesperson told iGamingBusiness.com:
“The addition of gamification in the programs for games, both brick-and-mortar and online casinos are trying to make formats that are appealing to the gamers. Casinos are adopting the technology of Virtual Reality, allowing the players to compete against each other for real money prizes in lively VR tournaments. A good example is an introduction of “Virtual Zone” by Boyd Gaming, in partnership with HTC and IGT.”
The firm believes that fully grown markets such as the United Kingdom will lead the way, pointing to SlotsMillion Launching the country’s first 3D VR casino after owner ALEA was licensed. The firm emphasized that technological uptake could mean that other markets may prove to be significant. In their research they expected China to be the next market base to adopt VR technology because it has the largest customer base for the VR headsets.
Interestingly, Technavio claims that when carrying out their research they found out that VR can also be a cure for gambling addiction, and stated that “There are situations where therapists have been authorized to provide gambling addicts with a VR environment, catering to the latter’s needs.”
Last week ALEA, operator of SlotsMillion, which claims to be the world’s only 3D VR online casino, and United Kingdom brand LadyLucks, closed a deal with Greentube, which added over 50 slots to its portfolio.
