No matter what else is going on in the world, time and technology march constantly onward, and companies are in a race to keep up. Everyone from the music industry to the farming industry has to be constantly on the ball with new developments.
Casino developers are no exceptions and have, in fact, kept themselves at the leading edge of entertainment tech in recent years. The most interesting part, as I see it is that different developers have been driving their products in different directions. Here’s all the info on how they are doing it.
The Latest In Graphics
The graphics in your average casino slot game have come a long way from the early days of video poker. They have evolved from basic Flash animations that just replicated an old-fashioned slot machine to fully-realized graphics productions. In many cases, they’ve taken heavy inspiration from the world of mobile gaming, and in some cases, the trade has gone both ways. After all, ‘loot boxes’ that are native to so many games are only a step away from being gambling as well.
While there are a number of developers that currently create games, there are a few that stand out for their production quality. For example, NoLimit City is well-known for having a punky, grungy style that many find incredible, with symbols and images that look almost hand-drawn.
Then there are the veterans Play’N GO, who make a variety of games but are most famous for their Rich Wilde series. This series can be tracked in production quality over the years, from the decent work in the original Book of Dead through to Rich Wilde and the Wandering City, which ups the graphics level massively.
A New Reality
The biggest jump in technology in recent years has to be the integration of both AR and VR technology. Several developers have made efforts in this regard, but the front-runners have been Evolution Gaming, the premiere creators of live casino games.
They were already able to boast of the best production quality in the business thanks to the creation of their Crazy Time series of wheel games, although they upped the ante with the introduction of Gonzo’s Treasure Hunt game.
For the first time, the host of the game was working in an almost entirely virtual environment, complete with a 3D environment that could be explored and an animated character overlayed into the scene. On top of that, the entire thing can run on a smartphone. While I’m confident that a VR headset isn’t quite necessary equipment to play slots on my phone just yet, the fact that all of this is optimized for mobile play as well is something of an achievement.
The Next Steps in Tech
The number of these games is still limited, but it’s a number that is certainly increasing. For those of us keeping an eye on the latest slot and casino game releases, we can expect to see plenty more high-tech games coming, and a lot sooner than we might expect. As for other types of technology coming into the field soon, predictions are always tricky, and even the experts don’t know for sure. Many developers felt certain that the Flash engine was going to remain the essential platform for slot games far into the future, only to see it shut down out of nowhere.
Like much of the world, when it comes to technology, I’m very much in the ‘wait and see’ situation.
