Rise of Virtual Reality Casinos

Virtual reality (VR) technology has advanced rapidly in recent years, and the online gambling industry has been quick to embrace the opportunities it provides. VR casinos, like Rubyfortune Online Casino, aim to recreate the experience of being inside a real physical casino, with the key difference that players can access the games and environment from the comfort of their own homes.

Steady Growth and Mainstream Appeal

While still an emerging niche, virtual reality casinos have seen steady growth and are beginning to gain more mainstream appeal. An industry report valued the global VR gambling market at $921 million in 2021, with forecasts predicting it could grow to over $92 billion by 2028.

Several factors are driving the adoption of VR casino gaming:

• Improved VR tech – VR devices are becoming more advanced and affordable, with better graphics, processing power, and mobility. The Oculus Quest 2, released in 2020, retails for just $299. This expands the target audience that can realistically access VR casinos.
• Millennial interest – Younger millennials and Gen Z gamers have grown up with virtual reality and online gaming as part of mainstream culture. They are primed to eagerly adopt innovations like social VR casinos.
• COVID-19 lockdowns – Lockdowns, travel restrictions, and casino closures during 2020 led more gamers to try out VR gaming out of convenience and necessity. This introduced new demographics to VR and helped prove market demand.

The Technology Behind VR Casinos

VR casinos utilize special VR headset devices to immerse users in a computer-generated casino environment. Popular headsets used to access VR casino games include:

• Oculus Rift
• HTC Vive
• Samsung Gear VR
• Google Daydream View
• PlayStation VR

These headsets display stereoscopic 3D graphics and use motion-tracking technology to allow players to interact with the VR environment. Gamers can look around the virtual room, approach tables and machines, place bets, and play games as if inside a real klarna kasino.

Headsets like the wireless Oculus Quest 2 feature 6 degrees of freedom motion tracking and hand controllers, taking the experience to another level compared to devices that require a smartphone or cables.

Major Players Paving the Way

A number of sizable companies have begun to carve out a niche by offering virtual reality online casinos or related services:

VR Casino Game Studios

• Worldpay3d – Provides a turnkey “VR gambling platform” solution used by brands like Gamdom. Their signature offering is the Neverland Casino bundled with VR tools needed to build a tailored virtual reality casino.
• Microgaming – A well-known online casino game developer that has aggressively moved into the VR gaming vertical. They license VR-enabled slots like Jungle Jim and the Lost Sphinx to major platforms.

Hardware Partners

• Facebook – Facebook-owned Oculus is a dominant force in VR headsets for consumers. Oculus devices like the Quest 2 enable many users to conveniently access browser-based WebVR casino sites.
• HTC – HTC’s Vive headset is popular with VR arcades and location-based venues, where virtual reality gambling machines are appearing.

Innovations on the Horizon

Here are some near-future innovations that could expand the appeal and capabilities of VR casino gaming:

• Photorealistic environments – Ray tracing and graphics will continue improving to the point VR is nearly indistinguishable from real life.
• Multiplayer experiences – Social interaction is the next big trend. Shared virtual spaces will allow poker nights with friends or interacting with other players on a VR casino floor.
• Cross-device play – Playing the same titles across VR, desktop, and mobile without isolation will help user numbers grow.
• 5G connectivity – As 5G rolls out, mobile VR casinos can offload processing to the cloud, enabling richer graphics without onboard computing limitations.

Lingering Challenges Facing Growth

While the long-term upward trajectory seems assured, VR gambling still faces challenges to address before hitting the mainstream:

• Hardware costs – Quality VR rigs remain expensive for average consumers, like the $999 HTC Vive Pro. All-in costs can approach $2000+ for a PC setup. Mainstream adoption requires more affordable all-in packages.
• Clunky UX – Many users still find even refined VR systems too isolating or challenging to interact with for long sessions. User experience improvements towards more intuitive and natural inputs will help.
• Lack of content – Large third party developers are still playing catch up in building libraries of quality VR titles. More innovation funding for indie studios can help fill the gap.

Bottom Line

Virtual reality casinos represent an exciting intersection between gambling and emerging immersive technologies still in their infancy. While adoption is still early, the foundations have been laid for substantial VR gambling growth in the 2020s once hardware and software mature. Forward-looking casino operators and internet gambling sites are wise to start experimenting with virtual reality to stake their place in the future.

Those intrigued by the prospect of VR casinos can anticipate continued innovation that inches the experience closer to a real casino visit each year. For developers and hardware makers, there are clearly massive opportunities still untapped in the VR gambling space as the technology progresses.