The online gaming industry has been changing ever since the first online casinos appeared in the late 90s. The industry is also growing every year and new technologies help this growth. Games need to become more and more engaging and exciting to keep players interested and both online casinos and casino game developers try their best to invent new products. One of the most recent technologies that are gaining ground in online gaming, is virtual reality. 

In this article, we are digging deeper into how popular it is and what we expect from VR in casino industry in the future. A Canadian iGaming expert Michelle Thomas gave her insight into this topic (find out more about the author). 

A more realistic gambling experience

Online casinos are very handy for people who are not able or willing to visit brick-and-mortar casinos for whatever reason. Read this article about how to find a good website for gambling. Players of legal age from Canada and around the world have been able to play casino games from the comfort of their homes for more than twenty years. However, the experience is very different from the glitz and glamour of a land-based casino visit. 

The next idea game software developers came up with was live dealer games. This brought the experience more similar to that of physical casinos as flesh and blood croupiers appeared on the computer screen dealing with actual cards and throwing actual dice. You can play these games at many online casino Canada websites. But looking at a computer or mobile phone screen is still far from a 3D experience.

Virtual reality has been around for quite some time (used in education, military training, medicine, etc.) but it is very new to casino gaming. Very few games are offered with VR as of now but we expect things to develop quickly. When you put on VR goggles, you see everything in 3D plus the sounds seem more realistic. Today VR gambling is as close to land-based casino gambling as possible.

What features do VR casino games have?

Although VR casino gaming is still in its infancy there are already a few games that can be played if you have your own VR goggles. Some features that make VR games stand out are:

• You are able to walk around the virtual casino floor. You can visit the bar and sit down for a cocktail, see other people playing slots or table games, and can choose your seat at a slot machine or game table. 
• VR in slot machines makes a very realistic look as everything appears in 3D and players can experience real slot machine sounds. 
• You can read the body language of your poker opponents in VR poker. Even though you can’t see their poker face, you can see how they move, for example, their hand gestures. 
• Detailed game rooms appear just like land-based casino game rooms. It is not only the actual game table that you can see but all the furniture and decoration of the casino room. 

Limitations of VR casinos

The reason why VR casinos are not very common yet lie in their limitations such as:

• The initial investment is needed to enjoy VR games. You’ll have to buy a pricey headset, such as the Oculus Rift and you’ll need a powerful enough computer. This can set you back about $2000. 
• When you try to play VR poker often you’ll have to wait for a long time to find opponents as not many casino players play VR games yet. 
• Not so many games are available yet to play in VR mode. You’ll find quite a few slot games and poker, but many other casino games simply don’t exist yet in VR versions. 
• Potentially, VR casino games can become very addictive. When you wear VR goggles, you may not notice how much time you spend playing games. That combined with the fact that gambling does become an addiction for a few percent of people, makes it a potential problem. 

Conclusion

Virtual reality creates a very realistic gaming experience that is likely to become widespread in the future. The technology is still in its infancy but VR in games already exists.