Many people feel that virtual reality is an inevitability, and a lot of people are already in it in the gaming space. That’s because one of the leading innovators in VR is casinos. While a lot of use cases for VR are off in the future, VR casino games make a lot of sense right now. And, I might add, they’re a lot of fun.
If you’ve been mostly playing the traditional online casino games, it’s time to step into a new world and find out what VR casino games are all about.
How Do VR Casino Games Work?
There has always been a critique of casino games that they’re not the real thing. Of course, they have tons of benefits versus the old-school land-based casinos (more convenient, can play anytime, can play anywhere), but that immersive experience of actually being there has been hard to recreate. Until now.
How VR casino games work is you pop on a headset like an Oculus Rift and step into a virtual world. In this case, you’ll find yourself in a casino. Although the technology is nascent, eventually you’ll be able to move around the casino, step up to different games, and interact with other people who are there. You’ll be able to do that from the comfort of your own home (or wherever you are), which will really make it feel like a comprehensive gaming environment.
Gaming in a VR environment: a new style of play
If you’ve seen people wearing the Apple Vision Pro, you can see how their hand gestures control certain things that are happening in their world. The same is true for these immersive casino experiences. You might use your hand to tap to gesture for another card in Blackjack rather than clicking a mouse. Or you might want to play a slot and make a gesture to spin the reels rather than click a mouse.
And when you turn your head from left to right, all you’ll see is the casino world. Right now, without the VR headset, you look around and see your office or “real” environment. One can understand how much more elevated that experience will be when you’re in that gaming world rather than just on your phone, tablet, or laptop looking at a screen.
Where is VR when it comes to online casinos?
Virtual reality casinos in Canada and the games themselves are all still very new. As a matter of fact, outside of some beta testing, you’re going to have a hard time finding any games right now.
This is clearly the future though. We can see that some of the biggest game developers such as NetEnt and Games Global are working on it. The challenge is that it requires a collaborative effort from the developers (to make the games for virtual reality), and then someone to develop a virtual casino where the games will sit.
We’ve seen a taste of what this can look like in the crypto space, as metaverses like Decentraland had casinos. A lot of heads have to come together to perfect this and make it go mainstream, though.
In terms of Canadian VR casino games, there isn’t much yet because the demand is only growing slowly. One of the challenges is that the equipment costs are so high. Not everyone has the extra cash floating around to drop a grand on an Oculus or Apple Vision Pro (although you can find cheaper ones).
The Future of VR Casinos in Canada: Expectations Vs. Reality
At the same time, everyone (or basically everyone) has a smart device or computer where they can get access to real money online casinos. Eventually, when the costs come down on these immersive devices and more people have them, the demand for VR casinos will grow. We’re heading there, but it’s not there yet.
For now, we recommend you stay tuned to our blog, as we’re going to be reporting on the developments of VR in the Canadian gaming world. As more brands release games, we’ll be there to review them, test them, and report back to you!
