The term iGaming is not universally known or used by members of the general public, but the industry, already mammoth, continues to grow. iGaming is any action that concerns betting online, from playing blackjack to having a bet on the outcome of a live sports event. While gambling is a timeless pursuit, the shift to online casinos over the last few decades has been monumental and iGaming games have become their own game genre generating significant interest and vast profits.
The online casinos have been swift in terms of recognizing the desire of their audience to gamble via their smartphones and developing games that pull in a wider and more diverse amount of players, but it’s not just the games that have enabled them to carve out such an exalted position at the top table of entertainment media. Existing popular entertainment continues to be incredibly influential in shaping the direction of iGaming.
Game Shows
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Perhaps a surprising starting point for outlining how popular entertainment is influencing iGaming trends, but with game shows, the online casinos are all in. We’ve seen numerous examples of game show formats and branding being used by casino game developers to create appealing twists on established casino favorites. A visit to https://bingo.paddypower.com/ will reveal Slingo games, a hybrid of bingo and slots, with a number of official game show tie-ins such as Slingo Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, as well as Slingo Deal or No Deal.
Slots have also been quick to profit from people’s love of game shows with multiple offerings developed around the familiar structure of a popular game show, but each with a slight twist in terms of the multipliers, features, or jackpots to make them more enticing. Yet, while classic casino games have gotten the game show treatment, the online casinos also see great potential in allowing players to participate in something more akin to the real thing.
The live game show experience is being heavily promoted and while these often follow the format of a popular game show from television, they are also developing their own unique titles with lavish sets and appealing hosts to guide players through the action.
Movies and TV shows
The more obvious use of popular entertainment to increase the popularity of iGaming, but surprisingly only used in slot development. Why popular movies and TV shows aren’t used to generate interest in roulette, blackjack or baccarat is unclear, but the characters, soundtracks, sound effects, and even the plot of movies and less so, TV shows do lend themselves particularly well to creating engaging slot titles. It’s gotten to the point that if you pick a title from this list https://best-action-movies/, there’s a high probability that somebody somewhere is developing a slot game around it.
When done right, the slot is developed around a popular title from the big or small screen with elements from the title used effectively to influence the gameplay, and players actually feel that the slot allows them to spend more time in the universe of their favorite movie or show.
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A lackadaisical effort by developers simply involves taking an existing slot title and crowbarring in components of the movie or show to produce something that has no connection to the source material but displays branding that might lure fans to play. The titles that game developers use for these slot tie-ins aren’t always the obvious picks, with The Goonies, The Matrix, The Naked Gun, Greece, Robocop, and The Walking Dead among the standout titles.
Game shows, movies, and TV shows are the main forms of popular entertainment exerting an influence iGaming tendencies, but this might be changing. Slot titles including Snakes and Ladders and Rubik’s Cube have been prominent in the arsenal of online casinos recently. This could indicate a tendency to leverage players’ nostalgia in attracting them to play new offerings and these forgotten gems from the 80s https://bestlifeonline.com/80s-nostalgia/ could be what inspires the next hit slot game. Watch this space, but one thing’s for sure, the iGaming industry is not resting on its laurels and will use any and all forms of popular entertainment to generate interest in their products.
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