When you think about it, the video game industry is gradually increasing its bond with online casinos. Think about Twitch. It used to be a platform for video game fans alone. Today, channels that stream slot machines are incredibly popular.
GTA V was all about racing and action five years ago. Now, it also features a fully-fledged casino. It’s not the only video game with gambling themes, meaning publishers are falling in love with the iGaming sector.
In this article, we’ll delve into the relationship between new video games and online casino games. Let’s dive right in.
Setting Quality Standards
If there’s one thing all casino players can admit, it’s the fact new video games are elevating the standards of gaming. Just take a look at the top games launched this year:
- Resident Evil 4
- The Witcher 3
- The Legend of Zelda
- Moss: Book II
These games have beautiful visuals. They’re entertaining, challenging, and revolutionary. Most of them are games you can play repeatedly without getting bored.
In other words, console game publishers keep raising the bar for what great games should look like. This is something many casino software providers are emulating.
Visit any respected real money online casino in 2023, and there’s a strong chance you will find high-quality games. Modern slots resemble video games in terms of delivering epic visuals and storylines.
Live casino games are even more immersive. These games combine video technology with casino branding to deliver a realistic gambling experience.
Creating Exposure to iGaming
This might come as a surprise, but some people got interested in casino games thanks to console games. As we mentioned earlier, GTA V has a fully-fledged online casino with slots, blackjack, and poker games.
Known as the Diamond Casino & Resort, this establishment lets you simulate casino gaming by using free chips. This means you don’t really win real cash here. But it’s still money. You can use it to purchase cars or other stuff. Also, you can rob the casino—the GTA heist pays up to $10 million.
Red Dead Redemption II isn’t exactly a new game. But it’s yet another console title with casino themes. The game has six mini-games: poker, blackjack, Finger Fillet, and Dominoes.
Playing blackjack and poker in RDR is similar to playing these games at a real money casino. It’s the same rules. The only difference is that you can win money at a gambling site.
Setting New Trends
It’s no secret that console and PC games create most of the trends in the gaming sector. Let’s start with streaming. PC and console gaming made live gaming look cool. Then online casinos borrowed the trend.
To be fair, online casinos are a regulated industry. As such, there are limits on the people who can gamble. Casinos also must follow advertising guidelines. Still, the bottom line is that console gamers play an important role in trendsetting.
Think about crypto. Microsoft was one of the first gaming brands to accept Bitcoin. Within a few years, many publishers and gaming-related websites were allowing crypto.
As usual, casino players love to take advantage of new trends. You can’t really blame them. Crypto is an excellent payment option for the industry. It provides a way to complete deposits in countries where PayPal or credit/debit cards don’t work.
Free to Play Gaming
Gone are the days when you had to pay money to play online games. This applies to both video games and casino games. Most console games in 2023 are free to play. Likewise, you can play just about any casino game at no cost.
Of course, you probably know that online games aren’t entirely free. Free-to-play games are more like free-to-win. Sure, you can play a game without linking your credit card for a while. But at some point, you must spend money to win.
In the casino sector, you need to spend money to win real money. If you insist on free-to-play slots, you may win millions of dollars. But you can’t cash out the money. These games are fun to play. However, they’re not as exciting as real money casino games.
Promotions and Freebies
The iGaming sector regularly looks for marketing ideas from console games. Gamification is a case in point. For the uninitiated, gamification is the process of using gaming elements for marketing reasons.
In the casino space, gambling sites use points, quests, and other competitions to keep customers engaged. New players earn points every time they spend money on a game. Or, they have the chance to hit a small lottery if they log into their accounts for 100 days straight.
Besides gamification, many casino games are constantly working with Twitch streamers to market their brands. This is a concept kicked off by video game publishers.
ESports brands regularly work with famous streamers to promote new events. And since streamers are famous and influential, they help brands push new games and products.
That said, both console games and online casinos have other unique promotional methods. Video games love to give out free skins to new players. On the other hand, casinos welcome new customers with bonuses and free spins.
Sharing Platforms and Technologies
Console games and online casinos share many platforms. Think about this. You can play slot machines and poker on your Xbox One or PS4—The Four Kings Casino, Lynx Casino, and High Rollers Casino, to name a few.
On the other hand, you can stream your favorite Battle Royale games on Twitch, Facebook, or YouTube. Alternatively, you can use these platforms to stream slots, blackjack, or poker.
When it comes to technology, console games have the upper hand. They utilize the most advanced innovations to create sophisticated games. Online casinos don’t really need to use expensive graphics design software or animation tools to create realistic games.
In fact, online casinos prefer to keep things simple. Some of them have VR-powered slots. But in most cases, casinos create games that do not require expensive machines to play.