The Gambling Growth: How Casinos Made Their Impact on Consoles

It’s easy to think of the timeline towards gaming as a straightforward linear path, from card games to board games, to electronic casino games to video games. But when it comes to gaming, much like many other things in life, things just aren’t that simple.

Everything is cyclical in gaming, as ideas are taken from the gaming history books and brought back to today. Not only that, but games that are centuries old have been dragged into modern times with a new computer-based lick of paint and gameplay innovations.

And the two main benefactors of this shared relationship between all gaming types are clear – casinos and consoles.

As casino gaming made the jump into the digital space, console game developers were quick to adapt many of the gameplay elements that make the casino experience enticing in the first place, to further enhance and create a longer-term connection with players.

So, what are the three biggest footprints that casinos made on console gaming? While they might not be so obviously connected on the surface of things, these three are without doubt the biggest adaptations of many different casino behaviours that have made it into the video game world.

Strategy, strategy and more strategy

There was once a time when video games didn’t really possess that much strategy – simply being focussed on reacting quick to instantaneous events. The strategising elements of games like blackjack and poker hae made their way over to video games, as genres such as Real-Time Strategy and Role-Playing encourage you to make strategic chances for bigger rewards.

Not only that, but elements of gambling have sneaked into genres that were simply about quick reaction times – such as cash flow balancing in Counter Strike: Source, managing the use of perks in Call Of Duty and making calculated risks in PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds.

Free to Play

Throughout the 1990s, video games were generally viewed as a premium – meaning you paid once to gain access for life. Nowadays, things are different, as we have ushered in a new era and a more profitable model known as “Free to Play.”

In order to get as many people to play as possible, online casinos were quick to test this model – with places such as JackpotCity and Royal Vegas still giving players the chance to try before they buy, and then making sure they provide as many payment options as possible to attract more users, from traditional credit cards and PayPal to bitcoin payments or instant electronic checks – echeck options are here.

This model is alive and well in video games too, providing the addictive gameplay while encouraging you to buy the in-game content and enhance your own experience.

Loot Crates

And finally, we have the most literal of gameplay transplants from casino to console – magical mystery boxes that contain one of many prizes to greatly increase your own in-game fun.

Loot boxes have had a short history, cropping up in massively multiplayer online role-playing games around 2007, to provide an extra channel of monetisation to these games. But they recently made it into the big time through the sheer popularity in 2016’s Overwatch.

While they have their fair share of controversies, as developers get a little greedy with them (shout out to EA), but when used appropriately, the chance-based addition – along with all of the above – makes for a whole bunch of enjoyable extra layers.