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It’s no secret that over the last 10 or 20 years, the iGaming industry has been leaping from strength to strength. An estimate of the global industry value places it at around £15-16 billion per year, and while that doesn’t sound like much compared to industries like finance or insurance, it’s staggering when you consider that the iGaming industry is less than 30 years old.
What exactly has caused this massive growth in such a short time frame? Several key factors indicate how the industry got here and where it’s going next.
Rapid modernisation
Many of the biggest names in iGaming are ones that most people would be familiar with from traditional betting industries. Well-established names like Paddy Power, for instance, have rapidly built up a major online presence, with their players now easily able to jump into a wide range of table games or play slot games for real money without ever leaving their own homes. They recognised that having that selection, beyond their normal sports betting offerings, was critical to compete going forward.
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While the old brick-and-mortar bookie offices are still around, they tend to cater now more to older generations. Younger gamblers have shifted online in droves and given the convenience, it’s hard to see them going back to in-person bookies when they can play straight from their mobiles.
Global access
Speaking of mobile phones, developers’ shift to a mobile-friendly focus in games has also played a big role in the continued growth. Analysts are predicting that global smartphone penetration is set to reach 85% by 2023, with a total of almost 7 billion users worldwide.
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Add that to a 4G and 5G network which covers almost the whole planet and extremely low data costs in developing countries, and you have a bigger pool of potential players than ever before, one that is constantly growing. Developers are jumping to take advantage of this as well, and there is a strong industry trend for mobile-friendly and data-lite games that you can find on most online casinos.
New regional casinos are also opening up across the rest of the world, with the US and Canada starting to see multiple iGaming companies being founded in the last year. Brazil has become the centre point of iGaming within South America, and there has been a lot of recent activity within South Africa, with the industry now having bases in every continent.
Constant innovation
Virtual reality, augmented reality, and cryptocurrency are all technologies that iGaming has embraced with open arms and adapted to give their players as modern of an experience as possible. Whenever there’s new digital technology available, you can be sure that an iGaming site or developer is right on top of it.
This watchful eye over the latest tech is one of the big reasons that analysts are predicting further growth, in some cases as high as 12% year-on-year through 2030. As it stands, iGaming is set to stay on top for a long time to come.
