With the advancement of civilizations from the paleolithic period, which has not been accounted for in written history, a vast number of cultures and races show the existence of Gambling as a habit that evolved with the Human Race. Gambling over thousands of years has branched into various segments and has given rise to an enormous ‘Gambling Industry’.
The most prominent of these industries, over time, became the Online Casinos. On the other hand, if we look into more recent history (nearly around 1962), where modern technology gave rise to more entertainment features to human beings, video games came into existence.
Even though different timelines and origin stories, video games and online casinos became similar in the present-day scenario. Both the industries thrive through the other developing industries as one of the most profit-generating and people-engaging industries, that also provide guaranteed customer satisfaction alongside generating billions of dollars in net profit worldwide.
Similarities Between Online Casinos and Video Games
Multiplayer Feature
With Online casinos platforms like Blackjack and Poker on one hand, and video games like Counterstrike and Resident Evil Series on the other; the two go hand in hand to create a competitive and interactive environment for real-time players. With live chat rooms and video interactions in the real-time operators, it creates an environment of interest and an opportunity of gaining profit as well.
Theme Based Games
CasinoDeps.co.nz lists some quality operators with an aim to add something that would attract gamblers to their site. Simple games on casino platforms tend to be monotonous on the gamblers. Hence, the software developers like Novomatic, Pragmatic Play, Vivo gaming, etc. offer a wide variety of quality theme-based slot machines, table games on online casinos. Games are based on movie trends, science fiction, adventure, oriental, sports, etc. Similar theme-based video game varieties can be found such as shooters, call of duty, FIFA series, etc.
Rewards and Bonuses
With a more than 350-billion-dollar profit summation of both the industries, they have a lot to offer to the customers as an alluring offer to buy more and more products. Online casinos and video games have a lot to offer to customers in terms of addictive bonuses and year-round offers.
Online casinos offer winning prices just like video games. This is what makes both platforms addictive. Offers like welcome bonuses in gambling platforms provide a great opportunity to the punters for trying out new games and winning some real money to wager on other games.
Devices and Technology
Both gaming and gambling have come a long way from where they had first started. Even a decade ago, for playing video games, we needed a particular system installed on our desktops. Similarly, gambling was also restricted to websites accessible from our desktops. Since then, gaming developers have created games that can be played from across the world on any chosen device.
At present, almost all games come with several versions, each specified for a particular device. Both casino games and video games offer an experience using virtual reality and augmented reality technology. VR mimics real objects and scenes via codes that are computer-generated whereas AR acts as a path between real life and virtual data.
Addiction
A global report showed that over two billion people regularly play video games where 1-10% suffer from addictive tendencies. Another USA-based report revealed that 1% of its adult population suffers from gambling addiction among which 6-9% belong to the teenage group.
Both the gambling industry and the video gaming industry strive to create engaging content. All the attractive features like multiplayer, VR, etc. makes players prone to addiction. Addictive tendencies are common among teens and young adults since they find the required validation in the virtual world through rewards offered to them and live chat players.
Some other striking similarities between the video gaming industry and the gambling industry include:
- The combination of visuals which enhances the gaming experience,
- Incorporation of elements of happenstance which makes gaming more engaging and exciting.
- Bonuses, offers, and promotions make a player feel invested in the game.
Conclusion
Both video games and gambling activities have intermittent reinforcement schedules and attractive features. The profitability margin of both through the customer base created by them, makes them stimulate growth on a dynamic basis.
Keeping the positives aside, both video games and gambling platforms triggered problem gambling and addictive tendencies due to the excessive amounts of time spent on these platforms. When exposed to it from a younger age, it tends to be harder to rehabilitate at a later time which causes difficulty in monetary as well as personal conditions.
Points of convergence between these two industries include loot boxes, lottery products, social casino gaming, and esports. Irrespective of the pros and cons, both industries go hand in hand and their operators need to regularly bring more advanced gaming features for their customer base.
