The birth and development of the online casino
You might know it as the all-new way to play your favourite games, but in actual fact, online casinos have been around since 1996, when the first internet gambling platform was launched. Granted, they’ve come a long way since their humble beginnings and are continually evolving. As technology evolves, we crave newer and more immersive gaming experiences. Because of this, it should only be a matter of time before virtual reality (VR) is incorporated into the casino gaming world and we’re all walking into our own virtual casinos wearing VR headsets.
Internet gaming has altered the way that we play our favourite casino games. You can now play hundreds of themed video slot games, which boast a wide variety of bonuses and features. If traditional table games are more your thing, you could play live casino games, where you’ll be joined by a live dealer and have the opportunity to interact with them, and other players, as if you were in a land-based casino.
To find out more about how online casino gaming reached the advanced level that it emulates now and how it was born, this article will walk you through the development of the internet casino and how it all began.
The first online casino
The very first casino website was launched in 1996, from the Isle of Man. Although computers were larger than life back then and probably weighed more than your average-sized Labrador, this was a ground-breaking release that enabled people to play some land-based casino games from their own home. This platform was named ‘The Gaming Club’ and was released by Microgaming, who at the time had a small budget and even smaller team, but have since gone on to become a giant in the online gaming sector.
Online casinos take hold
You’ll probably remember the days of inserting your favourite CD game into your computer and waiting with baited breath whilst your game took 10 minutes to load. So, it’s no wonder that internet games took the world by storm, improving the accessibility of our gaming experiences. After the launch of the first online casino, many others followed suit, which caused competition to arise. This saw an increase in game releases, as companies fought it out to become the biggest and best casino provider around.
This competitiveness within the sector saw companies realise that they needed to give back to the customer in order provide a niche that differentiated them from the crowd. Casino bonuses were therefore born, in an attempt to offer bigger and better deals to new customers, to attract them to sign up.
Live casino games
The first live dealer game was released by Playtech in 2003 and since then, the technology and interactivity of the games has improved tenfold. Live casino gaming enables you to play your favourite games, like Poker, Blackjack or Roulette, for example online, and joined by a live dealer. By employing multiple cameras, the games send a live stream of the dealer straight to your screen and take shots from a range of different angles so that you don’t miss out on any of the action.
Just like in a brick-and-mortar casino, you’re in control, so any moves that you make virtually on your device will affect the game. This is possible because the dealer has a monitor which registers your actions on your device and informs them of what you have decided, so that they can act accordingly, spinning the wheel or dealing the cards.
Casinos become mobile
Today, we expect 21st-century technology to be able to keep up with our hectic lifestyles. This expectation saw casino gaming follow the common trend of releasing apps, so that players could access slot machine or table games for example, wherever and whenever they like! Mobile games use optimised software to enable casino platforms to be compatible with multiple mobile devices, be-it your phone or a tablet. Making casino games mobile friendly has also introduced a younger audience to the scene, changing the demographic of the casino scene, by giving it a fresh new look.