Over the past few years online casinos have been seeing a huge surge in popularity as player numbers grow each year, it’s estimated by the end of the decade that there could be as many as 4 billion mobile gamers and that’s a sizeable number that will look towards online casinos too – more gaming options for players at sites like Wish have only been a small part of this growth, but what’s behind online casinos experiencing these record numbers and is there an expectation that this current growth is sustainable and will continue?
A changing audience is key – Where gaming was once aimed at a much younger audience with teens being the main consumer, mobile gaming has helped shift this balance as a suggested 50% of all gamers are now women over the age of 34 leading to a huge shift in the popular game types too. This older audience are more likely to consume different gaming genres with online casinos being one of them, and as the demographic change continues with an older audience being targeted more as their numbers grow, online casinos will continue to play a key role in this change and growth.
Changing attitudes towards online casinos, too – The changing audience hasn’t been the online shift, but the general publics view towards online gambling as a whole has also been seeing a lot of change in a relatively short term too as support is growing and online services move away from this grey area and into something more well represented – as support grows and most services become more trustworthy in players eyes, this will also help the shift away from those stuck on brick and mortar services to also venture into the virtual space and experience what online casinos have to offer.
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A big marketing push has helped too – Visibility has always been a key aspect of growth, and this is something online sites have done particularly well – for online betting it has been the change to see sponsorship of sports teams and events, for casinos it has been a push into marketing for different online benefits and bonuses too, and this big marketing push for visibility will be key in the long run when newer technologies like virtual reality emerge, and a continued push to have these new opportunities represented.
It’s a very exciting time for online casinos and gaming as a whole as growth doesn’t look to be slowing anytime soon, and whilst mobile will likely be the future home for all things online gambling, there may be opportunities for other platforms to grow in the same way too.