Three Ways iGaming Has Pushed Online Innovation

As it has grown in popularity, the iGaming sector has been at the forefront of innovation. There are several possible reasons for this. Part of it may be down to competition. With so many casinos operating, providers need interesting new offerings to entice players away from competitors.

Another may be that as the industry has grown, the top talent and developers have been attracted to work on iGaming titles. This has meant top-tier talent has been pushed to create interesting new titles and features. Below, we give three ways in which iGaming has forged ahead with innovation.

Live Game Hybrids

When you sign up for a casino, you will find that many online slots and games come in two different types. These are both standard games and live games. For example, on leading platforms, offerings like Crazy Coin Flip Live mix the traditional slot game with an innovative live game show experience. You can also find similar live games among the other casino games like poker and blackjack.

Live game hybrids have pushed the boundaries of what is possible in streaming entertainment. They involve the use of a dealer in a studio, who acts as a casino croupier would. They are then video streamed to the players, and software lets them play the game from their device. As they can interact with the live dealer, it provides the interaction of a physical casino, with the convenience of a digital one.

When it comes to slot games, this has been taken one step further. These now act as pseudo gameshows, allowing players to access bonus rounds with live hosts who will increase their total. Few forms of entertainment, if any, offer this level of interaction.

Crypto Payments

Crypto has taken somewhat of a backseat in the headlines since its market crash. Yet it is still widely used and one area that has embraced it is the casino sector. There are whole casinos that operate solely on crypto payments.

Usually, a player will sign up and choose how much they want to deposit. Many of the top providers don't just accept major payments like Bitcoin and Ether, but also accept some quite niche and obscure payment types. Deposits are made and then transferred to in-game credits and winnings are paid back out to a wallet in crypto. This integration places it in a prime position to integrate with the Metaverse, should, and if, it takes off as planned.

Licensing of Intellectual Property

The licensing of intellectual property is nothing new. However, how the iGaming industry has used it is. On one hand, many games used existing properties in fairly simple ways. From eighties television shows like Knightrider to gameshows like Hell's Kitchen, it seems if a license is available, it can fit quite nicely into an existing slot game.
Yet some properties are used in very creative ways, such as Monopoly Live. Taking the classic Hasbro property, it blends the aforementioned live elements, being part board game, part game show, and part casino game. So popular has the title been that it has also spawned several variations and updates.