Although slots are tightly tied to technology and their history is significantly shorter than the history of other casino games like Roulette and Blackjack. Nowadays slots are by far the most popular category at any online casino, and top online casinos feature hundreds of different slot games.
History of Slots
Slots were introduced more than 100 years ago and the first slots were mechanic. The introduction of electronic slots was considered to be a sort of a revolution in the industry and then the introduction of online slots was the next big leap.
When slots went online, that gave slot creators and designers a lot more freedom and they have been pretty creative. Firstly, the classic fruity slots became a thing of the past, and while companies still produce such games, they now fall into the retro category and are far from the mainstream.
Video slots on the other hand, marked the last decade. They include great graphic and sound features and effects, animations and bonus features. Interactive games have been developed in the last few years. Players responded well to new games and it turned out that they enjoy having more options, as that makes the gameplay and the whole experience a lot more dynamic.
It’s about Dynamics
With video slots at their peak, many begin wondering what’s next, since this is a dynamic and eventful industry. And while the graphic and sound effects kept getting better, it was obvious that a more drastic change was due.
Virtual reality (VR) was the next world for the gambling industry to conquer. And while VR casino gaming is still in its infancy, it is obvious where things are going. For a while, online casino games, pretty much, mimicked conventional games, in terms of design, graphics and gameplay the most popular slots resembled standard video games available on PC and game consoles.
Game creators started introducing VR elements to games and VR headsets took the world by storm. In the third quarter of 2017, one million VR headsets were sold and it doesn’t take an expert to predict that the number is only set to grow in the future.
VR Games - Here to Stay
In 2017, the first real money virtual reality slot was released. Previously there have been free VR casino apps and the public responded well to them. Later in 2017, the first VR casino conference was held, and judging by the plans of both developers and operators, it is clear that we are going to see a lot more VR slots in the years to come.
The strongest asset of VR gaming is that it is a lot more interactive compared to standard gaming, the player is practically part of the game. That also raises the question of skill-based slot games. While there have been some attempts in that area, we can expect a lot more to be done and it is probably safe to predict that in a few years’ time we will have such games.
