Gambling trends in 2019: innovations and regulation of gambling sector

In 2018, high technologies played a critical role in the development of gambling industry: live casinos improved their interfaces, while virtual gambling venues massively adapted to mobile devices. Well, what will the gambling industry face in 2019?

Gambling business development in 2018

The study of Iovation Gambling Industry Report showed that 62% of all virtual casino users played on their mobile phones in 2017. In 2018, even more customers preferred to play on smartphones, which led to the increasing amount of apps and mobile versions of slots.

Live casinos engaged real dealers became more popular in 2018. Players more frequently addressed resources with live dealer games, as they were easy to play on mobile phones and their atmosphere were as similar to land-based gambling venues as possible.

Changes occurred in the legislative sector of several countries as well. In 2018, Sweden annihilated the government monopoly of gambling. As the result, licenses were granted to 28 firms, including GVC Holdings and Kindred. Japan and the USA were actively developing their own bills to legalize online gambling businesses.

These areas will be also changed in the new year, but the gambling sector will be marked by certain special features in 2019.

AI technologies in gambling

Live casinos will keep developing this year: resources will expand their range of products, with the majority of them shifting to multilanguage platforms that will cause the increase in customers. Medialive Casino and NetEnt have already presented their solutions during the past year.

Besides, the gambling sector will extensively use artificial intelligence technology. This will allow to create individual offers for each client, monitor and analyze their activity, as well as simplify identification and make it more reliable, in particular using voice. AI technologies will help online gambling platform owners to determine behavior patterns of players and form maximally alluring bonuses.

Virtual and augmented reality

The development and integration of VR technologies allowing users to see each other will be a trend in 2019. In September 2018, PokerStars announced the launch of the PokerStars VR video game. It will be compatible with Oculus Rift and HTC Vive headsets.

Virtual reality platforms, which allow people to interact directly, will make online gambling more realistic and attractive. For example, due to VR, poker players will be able to see each other and define who bluff. Microgaming and Novomatic are already integrating virtual reality technologies into online games.

By the way, one is rapidly developing augmented reality solutions for gambling. The example of such a platform is the AR eco system by Magic Leap. The company is working on certain tools, software, and content allowing users to experience a comprehensive participation effect.

Blockchain in the gambling industry

According to the forecasts of Slotegrator, this year will show the increasing number of gambling projects raising funds using ICOs: thus, startups will be able to compete with major operators. Moreover, similar projects are interesting to players: buying tokens on a gambling platform, they receive a range of advantages. For instance, customers can use cryptocurrency as an internal currency or sell profitably their assets if they go up in price.

Existing gambling operators will also actively integrate blockchain technology into online casinos. This allows clients to pay in cryptocurrencies and obtain a guarantee that transactions will be transparent and fast. Applying cryptocurrencies, online casino players will be able to act anonymously. Even now, gamblers can use Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin when playing roulettes or poker. Blockchain-based solutions are focused on slots this year.

Gambling regulation

According to PwC, Africa will demonstrate a rapid pace of gambling development. It is expected that total profit from gambling in South Africa will reach $1.2 billion.

The Asian region is also supposed to show a significant market growth: Japan’s gambling industry is going to establish a special supervisory body in July 1, 2019. It will help to solve licensing issues more promptly and to impose taxes on the gambling activity.

At the same time, some changes will take place in the regulation and income of online casinos in Belarus: the country’s President Alexander Lukashenko has already signed an order to legalize all Belarusian online casinos in 2019.

However, it is networking that remains the key trend of the year. This method of business communication allows to expand a list of contacts and efficiently develop gambling businesses. To establish a contact with potential investors, partners, and clients, industry representatives attend specialized events, which amount grows year by year.

Leading platforms annually feature a substantial growth of participants. In particular, the globally renowned ICE exhibition and conference in London brought together 30 213 people in 2017 and 33 538 participants in 2018. According to the forecasts for 2019, ICE-2019 will involve 40 000 people.