As the world becomes increasingly digitally mobilized, the online casino industry is growing. While technology becomes more readily available in far reaching corners of the world, more people than ever can now access such conveniences. As such, statistics suggest that over the next decade, online casino revenue will grow from just $5 billion to a huge $22 billion.
In line with this, consumption of online casino games is expected to grow by 28% over the next decade. One of the major factors supporting this growth is the relaxed stance that authorities are beginning to take on online gambling. As such, the US and Canada are making an increasing amount of exceptions for regulated gambling in select provinces and states.
In Canada, the law is openly interpreted when it comes to online gambling, however a variety of casino games are enjoyed by people all over the country as offshore providers and those located on native reserves can provide their services online to Canadian and US residents.
But when it comes to slots, the real question is are these games gambling, or can they be classed as games that require skill? Many people debate over whether slot games come down to skill or chance and as slots get more and more sophisticated, the debate increasingly lies towards skill.
Skill-based gaming pioneering the way in Canada
As it stands, while Canada is known for having stricter laws than Europe when it comes to online gambling, the region of Quebec has recently been the first in the world to offer a ‘pure skill real money gaming license’. The Kahnawake Gaming Commission recently granted KGC; an Australian based online gaming company, the first license of its kind.
The license has global recognition for parameters and guidelines for online skill-based gaming. This is a huge development for the online gambling industry as it enables skill-based casino games to become legal, even in some areas where pure online gambling is illegal.
The Australian based startup has been pioneering skill-based online wagering games since 2014, in which they have built up a reputation as a leader in skills-based games. As they roll out their games across Canada, the start up hope to apply to many more global jurisdictions for their games to become available.
What makes a game skill-based?
Skill-based games are much more complex than gambling games that rely purely on chance. They require the development of complex algorithms and the use of artificial intelligence to construct a game where the outcome depends on the players actions.
As skills-based gaming becomes more popular, many gamblers are beginning to see the increased benefits of skill-based gaming and are leaving behind traditional gambling games in the hope of being more successful by applying tact and skill.
Some of the benefits of playing skill-based games over traditional gambling include:
A higher chance of boosting profits
Older generation slot machines were largely uncontrollable, with the outcome being either A or B. However, today’s leading providers like online slots Canada incorporate the latest technology to offer far more outcomes, depending on how the player interacts with the game.
Simply put, the better the player is at manipulating the outcome of the game, the more prize money they can win. While the amount of winnings was previously only flexible for games like poker or blackjack, this element of flexible winnings is not driving the popularity of slot games.
Skill-based slot games allow players to control the game more, so their results are based off strategy rather than luck which can lead to a bigger prize.
Players can distinguish themselves
Backtrack to the days when slot machines were all positioned next to each other in the casino, with rows of people inserting their nickels in exactly the same way as every other player. No player in that line was more likely to win than the person next to them. The odds were simply heads or tails.
However, the introduction of skill-based slot machines is picking the more experienced and talented players from the bunch at putting them at the forefront of the skill-based slots movement. These players are the ones who can really participate in wagers, control their own odds and develop the competitive community we are seeing emerge today.
A merge of gambling and entertainment
As slot machines are becoming more skill based, it offers gaming developers the chance to be more creative with the machines they develop and add more interactive gaming elements.
Long gone are the days of flashing fruit, instead these are being replaced with real challenges, puzzles, themes and highly interactive elements that traditional slot machines just couldn’t offer.
Online slot providers are now offering a variety of strategy based games with puzzle themes.
What are some of the current skill-based slot games?
Kash Karnival
Kash Karnival is the app-based slot game that has been developed by Australian start-up, Royal Wins. Royal Wins was launched in 2016 and already has over 2M subscribers, as well as a wagering pool of around $10M.
Since Royal Wins are leading the way in already having their skill-based slot games licensed, it’s expected that this will be the most popular platform across Canada for skill-based slot games.
Other examples of skill-based gaming that currently exist include the popular video game, Grand Theft Auto, as well as popular gaming platforms like Junglee Games and Dream11.
Overall, while traditional casino slot games are still one of the most popular games to play in the casino, the licensing of skill-based gambling in Canada has created another window of opportunity for slot games to develop into something entirely different. Not to mention, it’s also opened up doors for a range of future developments within the online casino sector.
Watch this space.