5 Ways Online Pokies Will Change in the Next 5 Years

If you play online pokies, then you should pay close attention to this article. There are changes coming to the world of online pokies. Some of these changes will impact how you play pokies in the future while others will make gaming more accessible. Today, let’s look at 5 way online pokies will change in the next 5 years.

Slower Gameplay for Online Pokies

The first thing you will notice over the next few years is that online pokies will play slower than they presently do. That’s because the UK Gambling Commission is requiring that online pokies have a delay after each spin. This is being done to reduce potential problem gambling.

While Australian online casinos are not regulated by the UKGC, many of the software companies that offer pokies are licensed in the region. As such, many of the games you’ll see released in the future will have the necessary features to allow them to operate in the UK.

Also, you’ll start to see pokies that don’t do anything special when a spin returns less than your initial bet. The UKGC is also requiring that pokies don’t provide winning sounds and features for spins that produce less than break-even results.

No Playthrough Bonuses for Online Pokies

Another crackdown that will change the gambling industry is the crackdown against casinos that require a playthrough on bonuses. For most players, a welcome bonus that has a playthrough is impossible to clear. The UKGC and other regulators are starting to require that bonuses not have any form of playthrough or withdrawal restrictions.

As such, you will likely see playthrough bonuses largely phased out at many online casinos in the next few years. Adversely, this could mean the end of online casino bonuses outside of welcome bonuses. The verdict is still out on how this will impact casino bonuses, but if anything, we should see playthroughs become extinct.

More Crypto Bonuses

You already know that more online casinos accept Bitcoin for online casino deposits than ever. The number of Bitcoin-friendly casinos will grow over the next few years, and those that offer crypto deposits will increase the frequency they offer BTC bonuses.

While Bitcoin may be in a slump presently, just look at the coin’s history to see that it will rebound. Casinos know this and will prepare for this rebound by taking crypto now. Once prices go back up, casinos can cash out their stockpiles and earn even more money.

More Gaming Companies

Online pokies are big business and we are already seeing an increase in the number of random online pokie companies out there. Many major online pokie developers are moving away from game development and adopting a content-aggregation strategy.

Microgaming is a great example of this. Just look at many of their most recent releases. Most are partnerships with third-party content creators. This is something you will see happen much more frequently in the future. As such, you will see many more third-party companies pop up with libraries of pokie games. Instead of one company developing 100 games, there will be a dozen smaller companies offering around a dozen games each. This will give players greater variety and should result in innovative new games coming out regularly.

All or Nothing Bonus Features

We are already seeing the rise of online pokies that have bonus features that are extremely lucrative or produce paltry results. These are best referred to as “All or Nothing” bonus features. In some cases, these features trigger more frequently than standard features. Then there are games where it is hardly worth the effort to trigger the game.

Part of this trend is a trend toward higher variance pokies from some developers. This will make it harder to find lucrative pokies in the future. That’s why it is important that you pay attention to both the RTP and variance of a pokie game. That way you don’t fall into the all-or-nothing bonus feature trap.