The mobile gaming market has grown phenomenally in recent years. Smartphones now account for over 80% of active cell phones, and naturally this has made it much easier for people to access casino games when and where they wish. The growth rate has been astonishing – to put it into context back in 2012 around 3% of smartphone owners used their device as their primary gambling medium. The latest figures from 2015 suggest that the current rate is now 40%. Naturally this kind of shift in the market has led to the gambling industry literally having to place incredible effort into making their games and sites optimized for mobile devices.
Money Is Where The Market Is
Given that the current trend shows no sign of slowing, it’s safe to assume that very soon a clear majority of people will be using their mobiles as their primary means to access online gambling services. This is why casinos and game development studios are falling over themselves to ensure that their games play perfectly on mobile. On a practical/technical level this is actually quite convenient.
Most modern PC operating systems run mobile configured apps seamlessly. There’s no reason why the latest slots at Red Flush online casino won’t translate perfectly to a larger screen. Long gone are the days of game developers needing to produce both large and small screen variants of the same game, which in turn frees them up to focus even more upon overall quality of the product.
In this context the shift towards mobile configured gaming is actually a win-win for all concerned. It allows casinos and developers the opportunity to focus upon offering an enhanced user experience, while players can easily enjoy their game across a variety of devices.
The Numbers Are Astronomical
Worldwide the mobile gaming market has been basically doubling over the last two years. It’s expected to bring at least another 100m potential gambling customers to the market before the end of 2018. Given that all of these new potential customers will be playing on smartphone, this just has to be the absolute focus of all future developments within the gambling industry.
In terms of money actually wagered, conservative estimates projected for 2018 place a global figure of around $100bn in total mobile bets. Such an eye watering figure cannot be ignored, and to an extent it’s started something of an ‘arms race’ between the largest gambling companies. Remember that this rise in participation is also going to coincide with the release of Virtual Reality casino gaming – and given this historic development, casinos are desperate to deliver to best experience imaginable.
It’s not just the online casinos that are going to be affected by the emergence of mobile as the dominant means of placing a bet. Traditional sports bookies are literally having to ensure that the small screen version of their sites offers an equivalent service. Until very recently many of these companies only offered a watered down version because of the technical difficulties of displaying huge amounts of information, as well as live in play events on portable devices. That will no longer do, and now all the major bookies – with some creditable imagination – now offer complete services on the go.
Final Thoughts
There’s always going to be a place for PC based gambling as larger screens do lend themselves better to certain formats (especially poker). However for the vast majority of casino games smartphones are absolutely the future. One final point worth noting – which may have a major impact on the growth of smartphone gambling in the future – is that many people enjoy casino games on ‘free play’ mode on their mobiles. There’s a very good chance that at some stage these people will become paying customers, something that no doubt has already been well noted by the gambling industry.
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