How Could Elements of Live Casino Gaming Be Brought Into Console Titles
Live iGaming is extremely popular. It involves streaming the actions of a dealer who oversees online casino games. We discuss how this could be used in console gaming.
The iGaming sector is concerned with online casinos, usually slots and table games. They have always been an innovative industry, often finding new, exciting ways to reinvigorate their offerings. One of these has been by adding a live element. Proving extremely popular, we discuss how this concept could be incorporated into mainstream gaming.
What is Live Casino?
Live casino uses streaming technology to enhance the way online casino games are played. This originally started with table games. Instead of being given a pixel representation of a game and its features, players connected to a croupier in a studio through streaming technology. In these games, the dealer would deal cards, spin roulette wheels and perform other functions. Players could then bet, wager and make decisions based on these outcomes.
These games were so popular that they soon branched off into their own genre. When using them, people can take part in a pseudo-gameshow of sorts. The first part often involves the spinning of a wheel or element of chance, where cash prizes can be won. Here they will also be able to qualify for the bonus round, in which the gameshow part begins, and bigger and better cash prizes can be won.
Carlospin is one such casino that stocks these types of live games. Not only does it provide table games, but it also has live game shows. These include titles like Crazy Spin and even well-known licenses like Monopoly Live. Players can log on and play them with ease, being part of their own gameshow all from the comfort of their home. Not only this, but they still have the ability to win cash prizes while doing so.
This has proven extremely popular. The online casino industry is worth US$226.90bn across the globe. Titles like this are one way in which this growth has been facilitated. It provides the interaction and human element of going to a casino, without any of the travel and expense. Thus, in certain places like New Jersey, online casino revenues are even managing to overtake physical casinos for the first time.
The Streaming and Gambling Crossover
Gambling and streaming are not new concepts. The platform Twitch has had a very strong poker ecosystem since its early days. However, it has recently cracked down on gambling content. This has mainly been due to laws in the US, which differ from one state to another. Thus, it has been hard for them to police who was streaming legally in their state.
This resulted in many gamblers moving away to stream from places like Canada. However, they miss the key element: That watching other people make wagers isn’t really that fun, unless you are doing it yourself. A live dealer heightens the interaction, where watching a stream of someone else gamble tends to take that way.
Offshore streaming platforms have tried to bridge this gap, allowing people to watch streamers on slots games, blackjack and roulette. However, they have not had the uptake of gamers on other platforms that they really need. Thus, these sites have struggled to build the audience required for them to be a real threat to the other streaming giants.
How Could Live Elements Be Used in Console Titles?
It would require a special type of game to integrate live elements. It would be pointless to hedge them into the new Grand Theft Auto or Call of Duty, for example. These games also rely on fantasy elements and world-building. Suddenly dropping a stream to a real human in them would not work.
However, both PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo could learn a lot from the interactive elements they employ. For example, table games could be converted to card games such as Pokémon, all falling under the Nintendo brand. Popular board games such as Dungeons and Dragons could be played online. The Dungeon Master would be based in the studio, while the other players were spread out across the globe, all linked through live streaming technology.
Group or individual problem-solving is another tactic that could be employed. In the last few years, the rise of the escape room has been extremely popular as a means to get together with people and interact on a different level. Games of this nature have transferred to consoles, mainly through VR experiences. However, similar ones overseen by an escape room master or person who gives out puzzles could be done online.
Many live elements are also compensated for through streaming. Yet having a figure of authority to manage games adds an extra dimension. It may not be long before we see this integrated into console and PC titles, and we get a whole new genre to experience.
