Simon LeonardTable of Contents
There’s no denying that the iGaming sector, particularly in America, has been nothing short of amazing. Little did business analysts know the impact that Delaware would have, ushering in the legal American Online Casino boom. To compete against the offshore sites, Delaware pushed the envelope by becoming the first state to legalize real-money casinos. In 2013, New Jersey followed suit, and the five other states soon followed.
Now that the American iGaming industry is approaching the elusive $100 billion mark, the need for expansion continues to grow. That’s where social casinos are coming to the rescue. Just in 2024, more than a dozen new social casinos are already enjoying massive memberships. If this is your first time learning about the social casino phenomenon, this guide takes you through each step, including joining one or many.
Even before the rise of the traditional online casino industry, online gaming was already thriving. Unlike real-money online casinos, online gaming is usually available in all 50 American states, territories like Guam, and outside. In fact, with the latest generation consoles, like the PlayStation 5 and Xbox One, game developers began moving most, if not all, of their gaming content to online platforms.
It was at that moment that the social gaming movement was born. Instead of gaming with a bunch of buddies and some pizza with a bunch of controls, the social video gaming boom morphed into playing against your buddies from across the world or even perfect strangers. This organization, of course, led to organized online gaming tournaments.
The Demand for More iGaming
As mentioned, even though real money casinos are thriving and worth tens of billions, they are limited to seven states. With online casino fever at an all-time high, it became a foregone conclusion that the social gaming universe would blend with iGaming. The results continue to be nothing short of remarkable, with over a dozen new sweepstakes casinos launching and more slated to launch by the end of 2024.
The best reason social casinos are launching like wildfire is that they are available in over 40 states. Such availability gives online casino players a chance to play legal casino games in heavily populated states like California, New York, Florida, and Texas, for example. Even though players can’t make real-money wagers at social casinos, their allure is so strong that even traditional iGaming players are creating accounts in droves.
There’s no question that being able to play many of their favorite casino games, especially slot games, continues to be a significant driving force in the insane rise of social casinos. That is made possible with the infusion of mainstream casino game developers, including Pragmatic Play, NetEnt, Betsoft, IGT, and Evoplay. With familiar and iconic slots like Gonzo’s Quest, Gates of Olympus, and Agent Jane Blonde available at social casinos, the barriers of resistance to joining continue to drop.
Taking Exclusive Games to the Next Level
While having well-known gaming developers solves many of the puzzles, the everlasting demand for new games has fueled massive innovation in the iGaming sphere. While it’s common to see a handful of in-house developed games at traditional online casinos, social casinos continue to gain ground by devoting almost all their time to their development. It’s hard not to visit a social casino without seeing several new exclusive games available.
You can thank Evolution Gaming single-handedly for leading to the rise of live dealer play. Playing against a professional dealer 24/7 with an almost cinematic-like resolution is enough for players to keep coming back. The newer social casinos that launch are making sure that they have a live dealer section. Beter Live is the typical developer for social live gaming. Building on the successful platform of chatting with the dealer, social live dealer play also includes chatting with the other members at the table for a more enhanced experience.
AI’s Role in Game Development
Just like AI continues to leave its prints and fuel gaming innovation for the video game sector, it continues to do so for online casino games. Social Casinos, through behavioral AI tools, have a pulse on the types of games their members prefer to play and how long they play them.
Through this data, AI and machine learning tools can combine several popular and winning elements from successful games into a new one. The results continue to drive new players to register at social casinos to take advantage of the daily promotions for exclusive games.
The Next Level of Promotions
It’s no mystery that frequent promotions fuel the growth of online casinos. After all, it’s one thing to reel them in with generous bonuses. However, social casinos go beyond the massive no-deposit bonus that comes loaded with free gold coins. Logging into accounts is enough to win thousands of free gold coins and a few sweepstakes coins. Social casinos also raise the ante for tournament play, often featuring daily races that are loaded with hundreds of thousands of free sweepstakes coins and even a million free gold coins.
Conclusion
There’s no question that the demand for iGaming is mounting. With improved technology, social casinos are on the front line to gain more ground. As mobile gaming continues to improve, more social casinos are racing to have dedicated apps to take advantage of the much broader reach compared to traditional online casinos.
James Gordan
Simon Leonard