By Mitch Rice
Casino gaming on the internet is seen as so much a part of the technology-driven world of the 21st century, it is easy to forget that it actually originated during the 1990s. The first website offering people the chance to bet on casino games appeared all the way back in 1996.
Of course, the internet and technology were a lot more primitive then they are now. That first site hardly compared to the sort of sophisticated online casino that people know and love in 2022 can be found on Virgin Games.
The history of virtual casino gaming has been one punctuated by advances in technology that have been adopted to improve the experience for players. So let’s take a look at some of those developments a little more closely.
The launch of the first software
For online casinos to be a viable proposition at all the software needed to make the sites and the different games run had to be created. Exactly what company was responsible for launching the first casino software is a matter of debate, but the credit is usually given to Microgaming.
This South Africa based firm is believed to have gotten there first, providing the initial software platform for online casinos. What there cannot be any dispute about though is that this was the first big tech advancement in digital iGaming history.
Without it, we would not have seen rival providers develop their own platforms to try to beat Microgaming. That competition led to rapid improvements in the quality of online casino software, even if it took until the new century for casinos on the internet to truly start to catch on among the public.
At this point there are numerous software companies battling each other for a share of a growing casino market, with Vegas Technology being one of Microgaming’s biggest rivals.
The launch of safe payment options
Alongside the fact that the internet remained relatively obscure to most people until this century, the biggest factor that held back online casino in its first days is that people did not feel safe making transactions online. The early internet was seen as exciting but lawless, often compared to a digital ‘Wild West.’
Online payments began in the mid-1990s, just like online casino, but they were a complicated procedure – complete inaccessible to the majority. It was the arrival of PayPal at the dawn of this century and the development of SSL encryption technology that helped online casinos to overcome public skepticism about providing bank details and conducting digital transactions.
The emergence of mobile casino apps
The first decade of this century saw online casino gaming grow rapidly. Back in 2000, only one of out every 10 individuals played casino games online, whereas by 2012 over 150 million people around the world were doing so.
Perhaps the single biggest technological advance that drove this growth was the emergence of mobile gaming tech. Online casino had begun to catch on among people who enjoy casino gaming because it offered them the freedom to play whenever they felt like it, rather than just when their nearest land-based casino was open.
Mobile technology took that idea of convenience and flexibility and turbocharged it. Suddenly the fans of casino gaming could play their favorite games from any location by downloading an app to their phones, so there were no real limits at all to when it could be enjoyed.
The year 2012 saw an astonishing 75% growth in the market for mobile casino and most of these mobile apps were variants of the main online casino sites. This made it firmly an offshoot of the principal digital casino industry.
Mobile gaming now makes up close to half of the entire digital casino market, so improving the customer experience on their mobile apps is very important to the big casino companies. Much of the technology is now being concentrated on that.
The latest developments
Technological advancement never stops and there are exciting new developments that casinos are adopting.
- VR
Virtual reality (VR) is probably the single most compelling of these for casino users. This offers people the opportunity to disappear into fully immersive digital worlds.
Some sites are already adopting it, offering people the chance to play poker in outer space or themed slots where those themes come to life around you.
- Data modeling and analytics
This technology is beginning to allow casino companies to get information that can improve the customer experience. That includes data about what games are the most popular and what players want from new casino games.
The effect of these advances
The technology behind online and mobile casino has improved to such a degree that it is clearly apparent to people who use the sites. Customers logging on to a site or an app now can expect smooth running games that are targeted to their interests.
They are also guaranteed that their personal and financial information will be completely secure, as the best casino sites all invest in the very latest cutting edge data encryption tech.
The clearest evidence that people are aware of how technology has improved online casino is the ever-increasing numbers who sign up to play.
The online casino industry has inevitably been driven by technology from the very start, but that has allowed it to move quickly in adopting new advances to enhance its offer.
