Why Live Streaming is Essential to Esports and Online Casinos
Bogdan LashchenkoLive streaming has become completely integral to both esports and online casinos, although for slightly different reasons. The history of live streaming itself is quite fascinating, with the technology having been developed as far back as the early 1990s. Of course the capacities of the tech were very limited at the time, as were the audiences.
Esports and online casino sites were two areas crying out for live streaming technology. In the case of esports, video gaming competitions had been taking place for decades, but there was no way to bring them to a wider remote audience. Traditional broadcast networks were not interested in attempting to show the competitions, and this new type of entertainment required a new type of media to bring it to fans around the world.
For many years streaming technology failed to catch on in a big way. This is largely because YouTube, despite being a pioneer of live streaming, failed to understand just how powerful a tool it was and how to use it to its full potential. Even with plenty of evidence to the contrary, esports audiences were considered to be a small group with a niche interest.
In the face of what we know today, with audiences for esports events in the hundreds of millions annually, it seems incredible that it was not until 2011 that a dedicated streaming platform for gaming came to market. Within two years of launch, Twitch had more than 45 million monthly viewers.
While there are now many online platforms dedicated to live streaming video games, Twitch remains the original and the most popular. But what Twitch really did for esports was bring it to global audiences. The number of viewers for esports events has risen rapidly year on year, with an estimated 540 million tuning in via live streaming sites in 2023.
Without live streaming, it would never have been possible to understand just how popular esports events are. Once it started to become clear just how much potential was there, mainstream media companies started to take note. However, it was their attempts to break into esports broadcasting that definitively proved just how much esports needs live streaming. ESPN pulled the plug on their esports division after just four years, and to this day it is streaming platforms that esports fans turn to when they want to view a competition.
For the online casino market, live streaming meant something quite different. Audiences were already there, but the technology presented an incredible opportunity to change the online gambling experience forever. At the average online casino site just a decade ago, all games were virtual simulations controlled by computer software that replicates the conditions of chance found in a brick-and-mortar casino. Slot games were - and still are - extremely popular, since the online format allows for greater creativity and many more features.
Less popular were the virtual casino table games, classics such as roulette, blackjack, baccarat, craps and other similar titles. There was simply much less scope to make these games exciting in a virtual format.
Live streaming technology led to the biggest innovation in the history of the online casino industry. Live dealer casino games revolutionised the way that players use online gambling sites, allowing them to take part in real-time casino table games via the online portal. Live casino is such an important aspect of the online gambling experience today that it seems impossible that it has only really been around for the past six years or so.
Today all new online casinos have a live dealer section, with the majority of new casino sites providing a very extensive selection of live tables. Just a couple of years ago, however, players would be lucky to find ten live games available at most casino providers. The reason that live streaming took so much longer to integrate with casinos, as compared to esports, is that there is a lot more tech involved.
Esports audiences are simple spectators, watching the action but not taking part. For casino players, it is no use to watch the game unfold unless you can also participate. The development of the tech that allows players to participate remotely took many more years to perfect, and pioneers Evolution introduced their first successful live game in 2017.
Live streaming has bridged the gap between online and land-based casinos, bringing a more realistic and immersive experience to players and creating a renewed interest in traditional casino table games. Engagement has increased considerably as players can interact with the dealer and often with the other players via a chat function.
The one aspect that is perhaps valued above all else is the authenticity. While the computer programs that simulate random conditions are very close to the real thing, nothing can replace the genuine conditions of chance that are found at a real gaming table.
Bogdan Lashchenko – content manager at EgamersWorld.Bogdan has been working at EGamersWorld since 2023. Joining the company, he began fillin the site with information, news and events.