According to recent studies technology is having a huge influence in the way that people choose to play and gamble. The popularity of playing real cash games through smartphone or tablet devices has experienced a significant growth in recent years, seeing digital casinos receive more visitors than their brick and mortar equivalents.
This trend isn’t a new one. The development of smartphone technology as well as the increase in more reliable 3G connections and WiFi availability has been encouraging consumers to move towards mobile gaming for years. However, the number of players who are opting to access internet gambling sites and products through their hand held devices has swollen.
According to statistics released by BusinessDegree.net, more mobile users access game apps than news, music or social media, with 64% of phone owners playing games daily in 2012. There are a number of factors that have caused this. Not only are mobile providers offering customers more affordable data plans and application upgrades, but the mobile gaming market is becoming saturated with gambling businesses. Companies such as The Rank Group who operate the interactive gaming businesses Blue Square, Grosvenor Casinos, enRacha and Mecca Bingo, offer their customers the option to play online or in their various UK based sites and are now offering their games straight to mobile users, in the knowledge that this is where their modern consumer base is migrating. In 2011 Rank even acquired the assets of Rapid Mobile, who are a mobile technology development business, to help keep competitive in the sector.
It’s not difficult to see how profitable the mobile gaming industry is. According to BusinessDegree, mobile users are more willing to spend money on games than any other mobile applications, with 93% of players paying for their game download. A recent study from Juniper Research also reported that the mobile gambling industry generated $20 billion in revenue in 2011. And that figure is only set to increase over the next five years, with predicted revenue of $100 billion by 2017.
As mobile gaming overtakes physical establishments in terms of attracting wagers, it is also set to overtake internet gaming. Tablets now allow an improved gaming experience, resulting in players beginning to move away from their PCs. Head of Mobile Gaming at BetFred, Andrew Daniels predicts that more players will consume games on mobile devices than computers in 2013, saying: “This year will definitely be when mobile overtakes the web as the primary form of online sports betting and, in my opinion, 2013 will be the year of the tablet.”
As the smartphone gaming industry is set to double by 2016, these studies point to a future where gaming via smartphone and tablet devices dominate the gambling industry.
