Online gambling is developing at a rapid pace. Changes in online casinos over the past five years are visible to the naked eye. The global online gambling market in 2020 amounted to $ 66.72 billion, which brought the entire industry to a new level. The online gambling industry is expected to be worth $ 71.17 billion at the end of this year, and that figure will grow to $ 158.20 billion in 2028 at an 11.4% annual growth rate over the period.
New gambling categories
Today’s users are becoming more demanding and want more variety. Gambling providers and online casino operators have to find new ways to attract and retain players. And the main focus is on the development and implementation of innovative gambling formats that would be fundamentally different from the existing ones. Some of the most promising are:
- Virtual reality. This technology is one of the most popular among online casino users. Its active development is facilitated by the increasing availability of VR glasses – today there are models on the market even in the budget segment.
- Live casino. For a long time, online casino games have been criticized for lacking the atmosphere of a real casino. And there was a fair amount of truth in this, because instead of real cards, chips and bets, the player was content with the computer version. Fortunately, all of this is a thing of the past, and most of the major online casinos already have a live dealer section. The key difference is that the user is watching the actual gameplay in real time. Numerous HD cameras are located around the gaming table, transmitting the image directly to the user’s monitor. There is a chat – if desired, the player can communicate not only with the dealer, but also with other participants.
- Skill games. It is generally accepted that a casino is about luck, since it is impossible to calculate a strategy here. To some extent, this is right, therefore, operators, taking into account the users demand, offer skill games. Their main difference is the opportunity to calculate the gameplay and develop a strategy that will lead to victory. This is no longer an automatic click in the hope of fortune, but well-thought-out actions.
- Individual slots. Even the most interesting slots can get boring. So operators offer individual slots, designed taking into account the wishes of a particular player. This service stimulates interest, creates a competitive advantage and increases brand awareness. That is why special attention is now focused on the development of individual slots.
The gambling industry representatives must constantly keep their finger on the pulse of events and monitor changes in the players’ mood. Therefore, the leading online casinos today are among those platforms that demonstrate complete customer focus. In any case, this approach is applicable to a Shangri La site, which is initially aimed at studying the interests of consumers and their maximum satisfaction. The platform was launched in 2016 and started with slots, live dealer games and classic sports betting. Today, this ambitious online casino stands out from the competition with an impressive collection of games from 50+ developers – more than 2 000 releases await players on the site, including scratch cards, slots with skill elements, new games with odds, rare slots and much more. On the site, you can place bets on sports, e-sports and virtual events, both pre-match and live. The livecasino online section has changed noticeably. Today, users can start conversations with the dealer and other participants via live chat. More cameras have appeared and the gameplay itself has accelerated.
Mobile gambling
Mobile communications and the Internet have changed the face of the gambling industry. Mobile gambling has become the preferred way for many users to play, and many operators have focused on optimizing their products and services for mobile devices. The main reason for the growing popularity of mobile gambling platforms is that there are no restrictions on the location – it is easy to take online casinos with you on the road, on vacation, or enjoy the excitement during a break at work.
And in order to provide users with the most comfortable online gambling experience, Shangri La Casino and Sports launched its own mobile application. There are many additional benefits when using the application, which become immediately noticeable to both experienced users and beginners:
- Convenient menu.
- Full functionality. You can not only play, any options are available here, including financial ones.
- The loyalty program is in no way inferior to the main site version.
- You don’t need to register, but simply log in if you already have a personal account on the official website.
Almost everyone now has a smartphone, which means that gambling will be available and open to everyone. You just need to download the application and install it, and all services will immediately become available.
New ways to deposit and withdraw funds
In recent years, e-wallets and other similar services have become very popular. To keep up with today’s fast paced lifestyle, online casino operators have begun to offer innovative convenient payment services: online wallets, online debit cards or direct bank transfer. The latest trend in this area is payments in cryptocurrency. It offers anonymity, minimal fees and no ban on transactions. Now operators are gradually introducing the possibility of paying with digital currencies, and in the coming years this will become a real trend. It will be possible to pay in online casinos not only with bitcoin, but also litecoin, dogecoin, ethereum, ripple, monero and zcash. Note, in terms of anonymity, crypto is, of course, much more secure than traditional transaction methods. But in terms of rate jumps, it is unstable and much riskier compared to classic currencies, the rate of which is more stable.
