How Esports and Online Casinos Are Changing Entertainment Forever
Posted by Harry Kane on Wednesday, September 9, 2020
iGaming now accounts for more than 37% of the gambling industry as a whole in the UK alone, and this is revolutionising the way in which we think about casinos and their role in modern-day life. With the advent of esports, we’re also beginning to re-evaluate the entertainment industry as a whole, and this trend shows no sign of abating any time soon. We’ll explore this below while addressing how AI will continue to underpin these disciplines in 2024!
Esports and Online Casinos – an Introduction
Of course, online casinos and esports represent very different disciplines and marketplaces, but it cannot be denied that they’ve both enjoyed pronounced and exponential growth simultaneously. We’ll touch more on the reasons for this potential synergy later in the piece, but for now it’s important to introduce both industries and appraise their growth levels over the course of the last few years!
1. Esports
Esports combines the core elements of competitive sport and gaming, creating a scenario when participants can compete in organised, multiplayer video game competitions across an array of different disciplines. This concept promised a bright future of eSports betting.
Incredibly, the level of investment in this marketplace has also increased at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 103.1% between 2014 and 2018, with a staggering $4.58 billion committed during 2018 alone. This has increased the prize funds on offer to players, creating more competitive tournaments and greater interest from across the globe.
Since 2016, we’ve also seen a marked increase in esports viewership, including both casual audience members and keen enthusiasts. Between 2016 and 2017 alone, there was an annual viewership increase of 19.3%, resulting in a total of 192 million casual viewers and 143 million enthusiasts (for a total global audience of 335 million).
This total grew to 380 million in 2018, with more pronounced expansion forecast across the board through 2021.
According to Newzoo, the annual growth rate in the global esports market will be approximately 14%, while the total worldwide audience will peak at 557 million by the end of 2021.
This will include a high of 307 million casual viewers and 250 million enthusiasts, with the former expected to nearly double in just three years overall.
2. Online Casino Gambling (Or Igaming)
Just in case you weren’t aware, iGaming (or online gambling) refers to remote sports betting and casino gameplay, where games of chance and skill are hosted online and players are able to wager in the pursuit of viable returns.
As we’ve already touched on, the iGaming market also represents a fast-growing and lucrative industry, and one that has had something of a headstart on esports having been launched way back in the mid-90s.
Not only does this market now account for an estimated 37% of the total gambling market in the UK, but it also generates a national gross gaming yield (GGY) of £5.3 billion.
From a global perspective, iGaming is also becoming increasingly dominant and growing at an incredible rate, with its core value expected to ultimately double in just seven years between 2017 and 2024.
More specifically, the global online gambling market was worth an estimated $46 billion in 2017, while Statista claims that this figure will soar to an impressive $94 billion by the end of 2024.
This growth will largely be driven by sustained and significant expansion in parts of Europe and the US, the latter of which repealed legislation that banned sports betting at a federal level in a 2018 Supreme Court ruling and continues to debate iGaming legislation in state senates nationwide. Furthermore, some of the best online casino bonuses also became a driving force for gamblers and made this market even more appealing.
In Europe, countries like Sweden, Poland, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic are also creating increasingly progressive and maturing markets, while rolling back years or prohibitive regulations and statutes that previously banned such activity.
What Unites These Two Fast-Growing Markets?
Interestingly, these markets are united by considerably more than their size and exponential growth, despite the core differences that separate them on a daily and annual basis.
The reason for this is simple; as both entities are underpinned by the cutting-edge iGaming technology known as artificial intelligence (AI), which has also impacted significantly on the global entertainment market and a raft of additional industries in recent times.
But what exactly are these technologies, and how are they impacting on each market? Let’s find out!
Improving Coaching in the Esports Realm
Artificial Intelligence (AI) isn’t always synonymous with esports, but there’s no doubt that it’s playing an increasingly influential role in various aspects of this burgeoning marketplace.
More specifically, it’s beginning to displace humans in fields such as mentorship, sportscasting and in-game analysis, as players strive to seek out every viable competitive advantage as the available cash rewards continue to grow.
In the case of mentorship and coaching, we must remember that these linked concepts date back to the Greek Olympics, and they provide scalable ways in which competitors in any disciplines can improve and gain an edge on their rivals.
In the digital age, it’s advanced platforms such as FalconAI that provide intuitive and personalised coaching for esports competitors, empowering participants to perform considerably better over time. This particularly applies to low and mid-level players, who have obvious weaknesses and the potential to improve considerably.
It also focuses heavily on helping gamers to outmanoeuvre their opponents in multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) games, by allowing for more meticulous preparation, making personalised recommendations and customising strategy against enemies who operate with a certain style.
One of the core advantages of AI is that it models accurate replicas of players, generating implementable actions for better and improved gameplay.
The truth about eSports betting here is that AI is enabling gamers to win more consistently and with far greater efficiency, enabling them to achieve a higher overall rank and compete for the biggest prizes.
Interestingly, the Fortune 500 company IBM is also bringing AI technology to esports in a bid to boost player performance, while also making improvements to create a far better spectator experience.
This is part of a total artificial intelligence investment that peaked at $36 billion in 2019, and it will scan hundreds of hours of esports footage and create AI-curated (and optimised) content.
It will then pass this content onto shoutcasters, in a bid to improve their live streams and create a more immersive viewing experience for both casual players and enthusiasts alike.
Playing the Field in the Igaming Space
AI is also having a huge impact on the iGaming market, across a huge range of operational aspects and disciplines.
On a fundamental level, it powers the type of intuitive chatbots that police live chat features at virtual casinos, providing tailored and real-time customer service that players have come to rely on in 2024.
The application of AI extends far beyond chatbots, however, particularly in terms of long-term odds calculations in sports betting and the estimation of profit margins for both players and operators alike.
Even more pertinently, the combination of AI and big data analytics are making it easier than ever to forecast even the most uncertain and complex outcomes, with these technologies on the brink of creating a brand new economy that accurately predicts people’s behaviour.
From the perspective of iGaming operators and marketers, this translates into unprecedented access to small and personalised triggers that can compel players to wager, whether these involve promotional offers, welcome bonuses or personalised game promotions.
Of course, there are clear ethical concerns here, as players may be enticed to wager outside of their means by targeted promotional offers.
However, this is an issue that exists outside of the realms of AI, which is why regulators are continually looking to safeguard vulnerable players and place restrictions on tech-led operators.
Currently, casinos can leverage AI to track player behaviour in greater detail than ever before, from how much you wager and the length of your gaming sessions to the precise types of game that you like to play.
This data is collated from a growing array of sources and can now be analysed in real-time, creating the potential for targeted iGaming marketing and customised gambling experiences that keep players wagering at their optimal level for longer.
Interestingly, it’s becoming increasingly apparent that AI may be playing both sides of the equation in the iGaming realm, with automated solutions powered by both artificial and blockchain proving capable of helping problem gamblers across the globe.
According to The Guardian newspaper and a raft of popular gaming websites, 61% of experts have spoken positively about the effect of such solutions on gambling addiction in the US. Most consider AI to be more of a help than a hindrance overall.
By deploying AI-led technologies, operators would certainly have an opportunity to intuitively monitor unhealthy gaming patterns and player behaviour before they begin to take hold, negating the slow descent into addiction and improving the regulations imposed over time.
This would also create a reliable safety net for those most at risk and at an earlier stage of the problem, while potentially enabling this demographic to track their own activity with greater accuracy and impact.
The Last Word
The latter point remains particularly important, not least because the connected realms of iGaming and esports are growing at an exponential rate and don’t have any viable limits.
There’s certainly no limit to the growth of these entities, while the prizes and amount of cash competed for continues to increase in line with demand and profitability.
Both entities have also spawned new careers and an entire generation of superstars, including professional esports enthusiasts and high-rolling iGaming practitioners.
In addition to sharing growth and an increased reliance on AI technology, both esports and iGaming have also added new and influential dimensions to the entertainment sector. In fact, they’ve revolutionised this space, in much the same that video gaming did during the early 1990s. The constant improvements of eSports platforms and the creation ofnew online casinos will hardly slow down in the new future.
These markets will become increasingly popular and powerful in the near-term too, with technologies including AI, big data and blockchain helping operators to capitalise on shifting consumer behaviours and create the ultimate in personalised gameplay experiences!