Mobile gaming has been moving from strength to strength over the big growth period seen in the past five years or so, and online gambling has been at the heart of that – mobile betting sites and online casinos have continued to find surges of new players, even recently despite the pandemic where a number of measures were put in place to reduce the exposure of these sites, a short term ban on advertising of these sites and the increased presence of initiatives such as Gamstop have aimed at reducing the number of players but as many operators choose to register elsewhere these this site continue to grow in popularity – but what has led to this huge growth, and big boon in online gambling?
(Image from thecasinowizard.com)
A changing audience – One of the big factors has been within a changing core audience for mobile gaming – research now suggests that over half of all players on mobile games are women over the age of 34, shifting away from the previous majority in younger teen males. With the free time to be able to play these more casual games and a disposable income, a shift away from more dedicated games on other platforms to the more casual and fast to play online casinos had been expected.
Increasing accessibility – A limiting factor for many platforms has always been the increased investment required to access them, the hundreds of dollars to buy a new console and the forty to sixty dollars required to buy a game has made it difficult for some to invest but mobile gaming removes that requirement. With fewer hardware requirements and the fact we all have our smartphones, the barrier to entry has been removed and made these online casinos more accessible than ever, helping grow the already big audience further.
Reduced time requirement – Another limiting factor for many players is the amount of time needed to play some games, with a job and a family it may be difficult to invest forty hours a week to make progression but online gambling doesn’t share that requirement – simply tapping a button to enter a game and tapping to exist the game when you’re finished has been a perfect middle ground for many and has allowed players who’d previously feel at a disadvantage experience a level playing field.
Because of these factors, online gambling has also become a leader in innovation for many as increased player base and capital has helped lead to some fast changes, one of the most ambitious being seen in the proposed introduction of virtual reality online casinos for our devices, amongst other regular changes and updates that come to the market. With mobile gaming rapidly expanding through the different emerging markets too the expectation that this trend will continue, and many operators have also suggested they expect to retain many of the players captures during the pandemic too, it’s an exciting time for online gambling as a whole, and there’s no signs it’ll slow down any time soon.