What to Expect From the Online Casino Industry in 2021

We have finally left 2020 behind us and are well into a new year that will, hopefully, treat us much kinder than the last one. Despite all of the challenges of 2020, one area of business that seemed to thrive was online gambling. While people practiced social distancing and stayed at home more, casinos on the internet generally saw a rise in activity on their sites.
Everything that happened within the online casino industry during 2020 has paved the way for what will seemingly be an exciting year for the European online gambling market.
Online Gambling More Popular Than Ever
An increase in online casinos activity hasn’t only been spotted in Europe in the last couple of years but across the globe. Gambling on the internet is becoming more popular on all continents, but there is no doubt that Europe is at the forefront of the rise.
According to EGBA (European Gaming & Betting Association), the EU makes up almost 50% of the global online market, and the European market is growing at a rate of 10% per year.
In 2019 the gross revenue for online gaming in Europe was €24.5bn; in 2020, the figure is supposed to have landed at approximately €26.3bn, and in 2021 the estimate is that the revenue will increase to €28.7bn.
Land-based gambling is by far making up the most significant part of the gambling market in Europe, but online gambling is slowly closing the gap. In 2021, online gambling is expected to make up for 29.5% of the market, and in 2025 for 33.6% of it.
Keep an Eye Open for These Trends
Based on the industry’s development during the last couple of years, a few trends have seemingly continued into 2021. One of the more noticeable trends is that mobile gambling is continuing to become increasingly popular.
Most serious gambling sites are well-suited to smaller screens, several of them have their own apps, and more and more online casinos are showing up that are exclusively being developed for phones.
As with gambling on smartphones, another trend that has been on the rise for a long time is VR (virtual reality) games. Many people see VR as the future of gaming, and the gambling industry has a strong belief in the technology as well. There are already entire VR casinos online, and an increasing number of sites offer at least some VR games to their users.
Time will tell if 2021 is the year when VR will finally see its true breakout on the scene for online gambling. Either way, the signs are that it is an area of the market that will, at the very least, continue to grow.
Lastly, another continuing trend in 2021 is casinos accepting cryptocurrencies. Since the online casino industry has always been at the forefront of accepting innovative and new transaction methods, it comes as no surprise that more of them embrace cryptocurrencies.
Much of what we can expect in 2021 is, in other words, a continuing or increase of already existing trends. With that said, if 2020 taught us anything, it is to also expect the unexpected.