The Next Casino Movement: Are Live Slots Gaming’s Future?

The online casino gambling industry counties to grow in size, scope, and diversity just about every day.

From time to time, though, massive trends seem to overtake the sector as a whole. This is a fascinating phenomenon! It’s not as though the tens (or hundreds) of thousands of people working in the field – as designers, developers, management, platform employees, dealers, pit bosses, IT, and brass, to name a few such positions – all get together at a conference, debate, then decide what the future will look like! These trends tend to arise organically…

… and yet, even if they were purposefully designed in a kind of monopolistic agreement, it’s hard to imagine them being any more ubiquitous!

Think about just how far-reaching recent currents have been in recent years and decades: themes like the rise of mobile gaming, RNGs, live dealers, or cryptocurrencies, all of which were once total outliers, are now accepted as standard industry practices.

As you might imagine, big firms spend a great deal of time and money hoping to successfully predict what the Next Big Thing might be! And those with their ear to the ground have a thought on that matter: it looks as though Live Slots’ time has finally come.

It’s reasonable to ask why this seems to be the moment for Live Slots to step into the spotlight.

After all, other live dealer games have been in the limelight for quite some time now! Across lobbies worldwide, live roulette and live blackjack have emerged as massive favorites of players and designers alike! Yet slots haven’t quite enjoyed the same moment in the sun. Sure, there have been some notable steps forward in recent years, perhaps most notably the launch of the first live slot offerings at the Hard Rock in Atlantic City.

So what’s changed?

First of all, there has been an onslaught of corporate news related to slot gaming with live dealers of late. When big designers and top casinos start to move, industry insiders can almost feel the tectonic plates shifting beneath their feet – these are signs of things to come, as well as indications that the operators with the best information available are investing big money in what they see as the future of our industry.

There’s a second massive reason, though, and it’s quite a bit subtler than the first.

In the earliest days of the Live Dealer movement, it made sense for the way forward to be totally clear when it came to classic table games. When playing the likes of blackjack, baccarat, roulette in a brick-and-mortar casino, there would be a physical dealer operating the machinery! It didn’t take much imagination to shift this dealer’s work to an online setting – especially as, in the early days of the COVID-19 epidemic, just about every job imaginable shifted into remote work!

Slots were a bit different, though.

There’s no professional dealer at a slot machine – in fact, the very charm of the thing has depended since its inception in the pulling of the lever (or, these days, the pressing of the button) by the player themself! What, exactly, would a slot “dealer” add to the equation?

Indeed, it took some time for the industry to figure this out.

The first attempts at Live Slots weren’t exactly runaway success stories, probably because they didn’t add anything meaningful to the gamespace. In recent years and months, however, it seems that some of the top design firms have found the winning formula!

Witness the massive success enjoyed by one particular industry leader, Playtech, for their blockbuster Buffalo Blitz slot.

It was in this release that the recipe (as well as the secret sauce) to Live Slot success became apparent. Although an excellent slot gaming experience remained at the core of the title, there was and is more to it than that. A TV gameshow approach makes up at least half of what makes this game work, and it’s in that role – the charming host and MC, who occasionally sets reels in motion – that the croupier can make a real contribution. This is the ‘friendly face’ that slot fans didn’t know they needed!

In combining the gameshow element with the classic pokie substance, Playtech hit the jackpot. There have been plenty of imitators since then, but it does seem that the right fundamental structure has been achieved. Now, the sky is the limit!

Nowadays, it’s become common for fans of gambling to watch the action streaming online, on platforms like Twitch, YouTube, and Facebook Live. Just as with Esports, the social element of an activity once considered achingly solitary has risen from a non-factor, then to a niche, and now to a central feature!

Today’s live slot releases offer that kind of social media-influenced experiences as part of the core gaming experience.

It’s an aspect that is sure to resonate with younger players – that is, one which will bring new fans to this hobby – as well as reinvigorate those who have been at it for awhile. And that promises to help the market grow!

Of course, it remains to be seen whether or not Live Slots will actually become the trend many industry actors seem to be betting big on them becoming. New, even more impressive trends may arise to steal their thunder; new platforms with new features may become popular, making the social element of this movement obsolete. Anything can happen!

One thing is certain, though…

… after a few years of lagging behind live table games in the online gambling arena, live slots have finally hit their stride – and plenty of stakeholders seem convinced that this is just the beginning. We, for one, can’t wait to see what the future holds!