Any industry that is the size of the digital gaming sector is a titanic mothership of an organization. With so many different companies that directly and indirectly benefit from the rise of this mammoth sector, keeping track of trends that help fuel the industry or show that it may be about to retract is a challenging feat.
If businesses can identify where the next trend will emerge, they could be onto a phenomenally profitable idea.
Canada’s gambling laws vary depending on the province you’re in. However, iGaming has benefitted, especially over the last few years, as online gambling facilitated via overseas companies is generally permitted. The province of Ontario has also opened its doors to online gambling, so many companies have started to operate in Canada to explore the vast potential of its gambling market.
Some of the world’s biggest casino companies offer a wide range of welcome bonuses and promotions, including popular ones such as no deposit bonuses for free, and other types of bonuses like referral and deposit bonuses. These bonuses have all played a factor in generating the sizeable profit that digital casino companies are currently witnessing in North America.
Cryptocurrency gambling
Although it’s an area of the gambling world still in its early stages, Canada’s cryptocurrency legislation is lucid and aims to generate growth within the sector. It is in direct competition with the neighbours south of the border, currently locked into multiple, unclear and scattered attacks against cryptocurrency companies that operate in the country.
Many of these companies have expressed extreme frustration at how unclear the legislation is and how it is causing the American cryptocurrency market to stifle and fall behind its competitors. Yet, in this example, Canada is light years ahead with its clear legislation.
One of the many reasons cryptocurrency gambling is starting to rise to the fore are the huge conveniences it provides to the industry. For example, if you deposit cryptocurrency with a casino website, you bypass the need for a bank to act as an authority in the middle. Instead, the transaction is verified on the blockchain, allowing cryptocurrency casinos to work efficiently.
By completely removing the possibility of a bank freezing the transaction or the requirement to hand over personal information which could be breached in the event of a security incident, you can connect your wallet directly and begin playing. It couldn’t be simpler, and we imagine this trend still has a lot of legs left in it.
Continuing to move online
This is more of a prominent societal trend than one that is unique to the iGaming sector. The casino industry has benefited enormously due to widespread internet access. In addition, the considerable breakthroughs in mobile phone accessibility have provided a tremendous profit dimension never seen before in the casino industry.
With so many people owning mobile phones globally and more countries developing more robust internet networks, all roads point to this trend continuing to dominate the sector for the rest of the 2020s. In addition, online casino gaming is starting to take up such a colossal portion of the gambling industry that it could one day be 80 per cent of the market.
While physical casinos will not die out, and they do have their customer base, more people are moving to online casinos. In addition, as new gamblers from younger generations, who have grown up with mobile phones and the internet, enter the market, they are far more accustomed to playing digital gaming than the generations that came before them.
Mobile gaming
Naturally, mobile gaming is the method that overwhelmingly dominates the market. Only a decade ago, this number was far more balanced, with many people choosing to play casino games on their laptop or PC.
However, as mobile phones became more widespread, the technology underpinning them became more sophisticated. In turn, this led to more investment, with more game designers focusing their attention on the potential of mobile gaming. As it stands in 2023, mobile gaming is fast on its way to becoming the global dominant force in the digital casino sector.
If we were to bank on any of these trends as sure to continue its seemingly inevitable rise to the top of the industry, it would have to be mobile gaming.
Esports
Traditional games within iGaming, such as roulette, blackjack and sports betting, are all so engrained into the industry’s culture that they have established a firm foothold. Now that these companies have accumulated so much profit, many are ploughing it back into research to find the next big global gambling market.
Many analysts believe that the next big gambling market is the esports market, where you can gamble on the outcome of professional video game matches and tournaments. This includes various PC and console gaming titles, such as FIFA, League of Legends and Fortnite.
The esports gambling market draws comparisons with cryptocurrency gambling because neither existed a decade ago. However, they are now multimillion-dollar operations with a solid chance of further exponential growth. In addition, esports tournaments have moved to bigger venues throughout the last decade, with many of the top competitions now played in arenas worldwide. This is another trend that Canadian gamblers may spot.
Monitor online spend
The Canadian gambling market isn’t particularly unique compared to other gambling markets worldwide, and gamblers largely face the same issues regardless of the country they’re in. As a result, they can mitigate problem gambling by following the same steps.
As long as Canadian gamblers can monitor their online spending and set time and deposit limits for their casino gaming, they will benefit from the positives of casino gaming and find entertainment and joy as they gamble.
While some of these trends may fizzle out, we’re pretty sure that at least one of the trends we have discussed today will continue to play a more prominent role in the sector throughout the rest of the 2020s.
It’s impossible to say how the iGaming industry will look in 10 years, but it is positioned in such an ideal location within such a popular and ever-expanding market that it’s challenging to see anything other than continued growth and success for the companies that operate within the industry.