VR Gambling Wagers Could Pass $520m by 2021
Published November 29, 2016 by Mike P
The world has seen casinos go mobile and live, but the next big thing will be VR gambling, with figures suggesting major growth in the coming years.
The worldwide launch of PlayStation VR has brought the concept of virtual reality (VR) closer towards the mainstream. While Oculus and HTC are still working on bringing their VR headsets to the market, Sony has provided an affordable solution for PlayStation 4 owners. Against this backdrop, Juniper Research has shared figures to suggest that major growth is ahead for this technology.
800% Growth from 2016 to 2021
Most of the discussion for this technology has focused on video games, but Juniper’s research work suggest there is major potential for gambling. By the end of 2016, Juniper believes VR gambling wagers will be worth close to $58.5 million, which highlights that the market is in its infancy.
Moving forward six years, Juniper has forecast that VR gambling wagers will rise to be worth $520 million by 2021, representing growth of approximately 800%. For reference, Juniper has estimated that the global online gambling industry will be close to $1 trillion by 2021.
In the coming years, VR gambling revenue will have the potential to grow as new games are released and players begin to acquire headsets. However, Juniper restricted its 2021 market valuation to $520 million because it believes that user adoption will be slow because of the perceived costs of getting a VR setup.
Casino Frontrunners
VR gambling has been in the conceptual stage for the past couple of years, but there are signs that the number of applications will increase in the coming months. Oculus and Samsung are two developers that have been working on creating table games that allow players to see each other in the digital realm.
Microgaming is the frontrunner among online casino developers, having already won awards for its VR innovations. After winning an award for its roulette game, Microgaming has began debuting the technology at various conferences, but a clear rollout is yet to be revealed.
