Decades ago slot machines were very simple mechanical devices that were located in land-based casinos with 3-5 reels and fruit icons. Nowadays, thanks to technology, the online slot industry has changed drastically and now offers many other things apart from pulling the handle.
Even though the online slot industry began in the late 20th century, the technology back then wasn’t good enough to support millions of players. In the 21st century, we’ve seen a huge expansion of this new technology and now online slots are backed up by more secured systems, have many different options and features, and best of all, they are available anywhere in the world.
How Slot Machines Evolved?
From the beginning of this century, slot machines advanced in many ways. At first online slot games had a poorly designed interface and allowed players to spin the reels without too many features.
However, the industry has changed in the past couple of years offering bonus rounds, new features, and different playstyles.
Apart from slots being more available for the average user and the technology making the process more available, the biggest change in the online slot industry is the interaction of the player. Over the years, casino and software developing companies have started to notice a drop in popularity of online slots, just because they all had the same method that didn’t involve too much interaction apart from clicking the spin button.
Software development companies have started working on making slots more engaging and interactive. In other words, they focus more now on the gaming experience rather than only focusing on the financial aspect.
Nowadays, slot games have high-quality graphics, interesting and interactive gameplay, and new features that will glue players to their screens. Basically, they’ve tried to shift the whole idea of slot machines, and make them fun and interesting to play.
Additionally, with smartphone technology advancing at a high pace, the online gambling industry successfully managed to follow this trend and spread its roots in the mobile gambling sector. This made slot games more available and easily accessible by the average user. Since we now have an extremely busy lifestyle and rarely use a desktop or laptop, it is great to access our favorite slots through an app on our smartphones.
What Advanced Online Slots Offer?
Online slots have come a long way. Nowadays you can find an online casino that offers slots with many special features like free spins, which are responsible for the biggest wins. Such a thing is triggered by landing on a certain number of scatter symbols and gives you the chance to play some free spins at no cost.
Online slots also introduced us to the Wilds which are replacing any other symbol that is needed. Some slot machines can make the Wild symbol sticky, expanding, or giving you other opportunities to increase your winnings.
Another interesting way technology influenced the online slot industry is instead of showing the standard three or five reels, slot games have an ever-changing reel format that brings up new patterns. This means new ways of winning are emerging and the process is more fun.
The Future of Online Slots
With the availability of today’s technology and its fast advancement, it is expected to see online slots move to another level.
If we look back on the history of the slot industry, we can notice much more changes in the last two decades than we’ve seen in the last century. Well, there is a good reason for that. As technology moves forward it shortens the length of the innovation. In other words, we get to see new ways of using technology in our everyday lives much quicker.
When it comes to the future of the online slot industry, we expect more interaction and shifting from traditional gambling slot games to more entertaining triple-A-looking games that allow players to enjoy the gaming experience and earn some money.
Additionally, we can also see VR technology entering deeper into the slot gambling industry. Nowadays, many online slots offer virtual reality experiences, but the technology still hasn’t reached a point where we can see mass adoption.
