How the casino industry is taking the mobile world by storm

We’re no stranger to the power of mobile gaming. Whether you’ve played them or not, everyone knows what Flappy Bird, Candy Crush and Clash of Clans are. Everyone knows the appeal of being able to pick up your phone and have a quick stint on your favourite game. Believe it or not, this isn’t something that’s only true of mobile video games from the likes of Supercell, EA and Bethesda. The casino industry has cottoned on to this incredibly lucrative market, and they have taken the mobile world by storm.

In recent years we have seen a massive boom in the number of mobile casino apps across the App Store, Google Play and even on Windows Mobile. According to Eilers Research, mobile casinos already accounted for 46% of global social casino revenue in Q1 2014 – a figure which has only continued to grow with a 43% YoY rise in sector value.Part of this is due to the obvious fact that if microtransactions are so insanely popular on a game like Candy Crush or Fallout Shelter, you can only imagine how popular they’re going to be when those microtransactions can pay you back in cold hard cash, possibly earning you a profit. The real reason that mobile casinos are taking off, however, is that they’re just really, really convenient.

Think about it – until the late 90’s if you wanted to play on a slot machine you would have to go to a physical land-based casino. Then the internet took off and people could play a range of casino games from the comfort of their (massive) desktop PC. In 2007 the iPhone took off, bringing app-based software packages into the public eye – something which took off like a racehorse. Less than 10 years later and you can now sit down, download and app and play on a slot machine all before your bus pulls up at the bus stop. You can play a round of bingo if you’re bored over your lunch break. The sheer convenience of the mobile casino means that you really don’t have to go very far if you want to place a bet, spin the slots or play a hand of blackjack.

Another reason that the mobile casino is taking the world by storm is that unlike microtransactions which give 1000 coins for a fixed price in your local currency, you can top up your account and play a game for as much or as little money as you like. This flexible betting, when paired with the convenience of carrying a casino in your pocket, is always going to be a major pulling factor, just as a game which plays on several different difficulty levels will appeal to various areas of the video game market.

The last thing to consider here is the fact that if one of these games is sitting on the iOS App Store, you know that it has undergone a fair amount of testing – Apple has always been quite stringent about its requirements when it comes to putting any software on their store. This testing is also true of Google Play, though to a much lesser extent. If someone has taken the time to build an app and get it to the top of your favourite app store, you know that their app going to be worth at least a cursory glance. Because of the way that the App Store, Google Play and even ASO (App Store Optimisation) works, you’re going to see a set of reviews attached to the most popular casinos too. You can see at a single glance what the community thinks of an app, and if the app looks like it’s not worth the investment, you can simply pick from one of their competitors. Once again, the sheer convenience of mobile casinos is completely unrivalled by what you can find on the PC.

The result of all of this combined is that mobile casinos aren’t going anywhere. With a recent relaxations of government regulations on the mobile casino marketplace around the world, the shift from PC to mobile based betting doesn’t seem to be slowing down any time soon, either. The casino industry has taken the mobile world by storm and for the time being, it looks like it is here to stay.