We think of online casinos as a very recent innovation. Yet the first one opened its virtual doors in 1996. That’s a quarter of a century ago, and a whole lot has happened between then and now. Let’s take a look back at those early times and at some of the key innovations that have marked the intervening years.
Microgaming – the casino pioneers
Anyone with a fondness for online casino games is familiar with Microgaming. The software giant is behind some of the most popular casino games of all time, like Immortal Romance, Football Star and of course the classic Mega Moolah, the game that delivered a record breaking €17.8 million ($21.1 million) jackpot to one lucky winner in 2016.
Years earlier, though, in 1994, Microgaming was an Isle of Mann based startup on a shoestring budget. The company created an online community called The Gaming Club, which was effectively the world’s first online casino platform. What it lacked was a mechanism for people to bet real money. When Irish tech firm Cryptologic came up with a solution, all the pieces were in place, and 1996 saw the launch of InterCasino, the first online real money betting site and one that is still around today.
Mass popularity and the rise of online casino bonuses
Intercasino was a resounding success, and before you could say “straight flush” there were dozens, then hundreds of online casinos, all competing for the same customers. Bigger and better promotions were in order. Today, we are accustomed to seeing one casino after another offering free spins by the score and no deposit bonuses that look too good to be true. Indeed, it is such an institution that in 2021, you will find hundreds of sites such as NoDeposit.guide that aggregate online casino bonuses on a daily basis.
Yet these kinds of deals have actually been around longer than you might think. The bonuses and promos have served to make online casinos even more popular, thereby ramping up the competitive nature of the market still further. For the industry and its customers, it’s a virtuous circle, but for land-based casinos, it is a major headache. With their higher operating costs, they just can’t afford to be so generous, and the inevitable result is a reduction in footfalls.
Entering the mobile age
The early online casinos were visited using PCs and desktops. But by the late 00s, smartphones were becoming more than mere novelties. Websites started thinking more and more about being mobile friendly, and by the time Apple and Samsung were duking it out with their iPhone and Galaxy models, “mobile first” was the watchword.
This was vital in every sector, but it was especially so in the ultra competitive world of casino gaming, where a properly optimized mobile experience could provide a valuable edge. Now we are in the 2020s, mobile first is rapidly edging towards mobile only, as customers abandon their PCs in favor of their handsets in ever greater numbers.
Live dealer games
We mentioned earlier that online casinos had some significant advantages over their land-based cousins. But one area in which the traditional gambling establishments held a firm advantage was in the overall experience being offered. After all, watching a mock up of a roulette wheel or a deck of cards on a screen could hardly compare with being in a casino chatting to the dealer and watching him or her deal the cards or spin the wheel.
Live casino gaming sought to address that and add some extra realism and fun to the online gambling experience. It involves having a real casino set up in a studio and streaming it online via webcam. There were attempts at delivering live casino experiences online as far back as the 1990s, but these were experimental in nature. Over recent years, however, the technology has had time to catch up. Today, if someone wants to play a game like blackjack or roulette, the live tables are more popular than the purely virtual ones – an interesting example of technology being used to reduce automation and add human involvement rather than the other way around.
Where next for online casinos?
Over the next 25 years, the online gambling sector is going to be no less competitive. Consequently, it will continue to be at the forefront of innovation, just as it has been with online payments, live streaming and mobile optimization.
Exactly what form that innovation will take requires a degree of crystal ball gazing, but there are a couple of areas that are already being exploited for competitive advantage by early movers. These include virtual reality and the use of cryptocurrency for faster, safer and seamless transactions. These, however, will only be the beginning – and that’s one thing you can safely bet on!