How NetEnt are Leading the VR Charge
Posted by Harry Kane on Friday, November 17, 2017
Online casino brands have never been slow to adopt and develop brand new technology, and it looks as though the market leaders are going to continue this trend with virtual and augmented reality.
This is huge news for the industry, particularly with the combined VR and AR markets set to achieve a cumulative value of $108 billion by 2021. In fact, if online casino brands begin to adopt this technology en masse, this figure could rise even higher over the course of the next five years.
With the technology increasingly refined and online gamblers fully embracing the chance to enjoy immersive, three-dimensional experiences, the race to create VR games and casino platforms is well and truly on. Developers NetEnt appear to be leading the charge at present, but how have they stolen a march on their competitors?
NetEnt and VR Slot Gaming: A Marriage Made in Heaven
In truth, it should come as no surprise that NetEnt is at the forefront of the VR, casino gaming revolution. After all, the brand has already been a pioneer in the fields of mobile and real-time gaming, while it has also brought a number of HD games to the mainstream market.
These successes have encouraged the brand to leap head-first into the VR market, despite that fact that its cutting-edge WebVR technology will not have fully matured until the end of this year.
Back in February, the company announced that it intended to launch its first WebVR casino game, with development expected to continue early into next year before an expected release in the spring of 2018. This depends on the successful refinement and application of the underlying technology, of course, but even allowing for delays the proactive approach of the brand means that it will have a significant head-start over its competitors within this space.
How Have NetEnt Stolen a March on Their Competitors?
Aside from taking a calculated risk on the maturity of its WebVR technology, NetEnt has also benefited from its simple and efficient strategy. To begin with, it has chosen to transform one its most iconic and much-loved games into a true VR experience, in a bid to control many of the variables and moving parts of the project and build from the foundation of a genuinely popular title. By also choosing one its earliest and most enduring slot titles, NetEnt will also tap into a loyal audience that will have a vested interested in trialling the new iteration of the game.
This type of simple and low-risk strategy has also been borne out by NetEnt’s reported approach to developing the gameplay. Those who have tested a primitive, offline demo of the game have suggested that the slot appears to function much like the original, while it also features the same engaging narrative and gameplay. So rather than attempting to reinvent the wheel, NetEnt has simply focused on creative a more immersive, 3D setting and establishing fluid VR controls that elevate the experience onto an entirely new level.
Like we say, the game is likely to be released next spring, while it should be made available across both online and mobile channels. It is also sure to serve as an entry point for players to experience VR casino gaming for the very first time, potentially blazing a trail for others to follow in the near-term.