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To an inexperienced user, slot machine games may seem relatively simple: you only insert cash, push a button, see the symbols spinning, and you find out if you won. However, if you’ve signed up for online casino platforms in the past year, you know that slot games have come a long way, and the tech behind them is nothing short of innovative. Not only have graphics become more advanced, but the user experience itself is more seamless, and online casinos now go the extra mile to ensure that slots are just as safe as they are fun. Their efforts are supported by the findings of a recent report from Mordor Intelligence, which estimates that the global online gambling market is set to grow at an 11.94% CAGR by 2025. While North America continues to be the fastest-growing market in terms of the number of operators and clients, other regions are catching up. At present, Europe is the largest market, but there’s also a lot of activity in Asia, where the regulatory landscape is now favorable, and there’s increased competition among operators.
But the rise of slot machines is definitely not arbitrary. One might argue that the number of people who play online slots has risen because people are spending more time at home, and many land-based casinos are closed, but it doesn’t just come to that. The truth is that, in the past eighteen months, the online slots market has undergone a digital transformation, and new features have completely transformed the gaming experience.
These are the five most exciting features that players can now enjoy:
- More themes than ever before
A few years ago, slots weren’t really diverse, at least as far as themes go. Players only had the classic options, and online slots had a maximum of five reels. From this point of view, slots could be quite monotonous. However, this changed in the past few years, when online casino operators such as Joy Casino started experimenting with new and interesting themes. These days, if you have a look at the online slot games at JoyCasino, you’ll see that you can choose from a wide variety of themes inspired by pop culture, movies, sports, and so on. What’s more, many of these games have five reels and new symbols, so they don’t feel like anything you’ve played before.
- Gamification
Online slots didn’t use to have the most complex mechanics, but that changed with the introduction of gamification. What is gamification? It’s a concept that introduces game-playing mechanics (which were previously scarce in online slots) and makes slots more competitive and rewarding. Again, the innovative slots you can find at JoyCasino are a perfect example because they show how immersive slots can become. If, in the past, playing slot games only meant clicking on the same button for hours, now gamification has made the experience more exciting. Gamification creates more interactive experiences while at the same time giving players the sense that they are progressing through a story. It can also include tournaments, challenges, and it can even allow players to collaborate to reach a common goal. Basically, gamification made slot games more complex.
- VR
Do you love playing casino games online, but you miss the experience of a land-based casino? Well, now you can get the best of both worlds cause VR (Virtual Reality) is coming to online casinos. Although not everyone has VR headsets at home, the number of players who can afford them is increasing, and the fact that many online casinos are now optimized for VR is a great incentive for players to invest in this technology. With VR, playing casino games online looks even more like the real thing. The experience is truly immersive, not to mention fun. Although many skeptics have said that VR adoption isn’t fast enough for it to become the next big thing in gaming, 2020 changed that. VR is now a long-term opportunity, and online casinos have enough funds to experiment with it.
- Progressive slots
According to the latest data, progressive slot machines now account for over 30% of slot machines in online casinos. But what exactly are they, and why do players love them so much? Well, in a regular slot machine, the jackpot stays the same, no matter how many bets you place. As you might imagine, this doesn’t always work in the player’s best interest. Progressive slots changed that. In their case, a certain percentage of the bets you place boosts the maximum jackpot. So, for example, if you bet an extra $1, that may raise the jackpot by $0.30. The more you play these slots, the higher the chances of winning a huge jackpot. Normally, in a brick-and-mortar casino, progressive slot machines are harder to implement because the machines have to be connected to the same central computer but online, this isn’t a problem. Operators can even link together similar slot games. As you can probably imagine, progressive slot machines offer bigger payouts and make the experience much more rewarding. Players have bigger incentives to increase their bets and, combined with the additional bonuses and promotions that online casinos offer, progressive slots can be very lucrative.
- Crypto payments
Digital currencies are here to stay. In 2020, not only did people buy crypto just to hold on to it as an investment, but also to spend it on goods and services. Services such as online casinos. Nowadays, more and more vendors accept cryptocurrency transactions, which means that people want to use Bitcoin, Ethereum, and others, in the same way that they would fiat currencies. Online casino operators have to respond to the demand and offer users a wide variety of deposit and withdrawal options, and that includes crypto. The best thing about casinos that accept crypto payments is that they have extra perks for this payment option. More often than not, withdrawing crypto funds doesn’t have additional fees, and they’re usually instant.
