Twenty years ago the thought of using the words ‘technological innovations’ in the same article, never mind sentence, as the word ‘bingo’ would have been laughable. That’s because at the turn of the millennium bingo was a game seemingly, in terminal decline.
Fortunately for bingo lovers all around the globe, the game was saved by the decision to move it online. Since then it has gone from strength to strength, evolving constantly to keep players on the edges of their seats.
In this article, we take a look at some of the technological innovations on the cusp of release that could revolutionise online bingo in 2022. Read on to find out everything you need to know about bingo’s bright new tech future.
Virtual Reality
Let’s start with an innovation that is both the most unlikely to happen in 2022 and the most exciting – virtual reality. The technology has been talked about since the 1970s and 1980s when intrepid games developers heralded it as the future of gaming.
Half a century on we are still left waiting for VR to have any real significant impact on gaming, but that’s not for the lack of trying. Games developers all over the world are pouring money into the research and development of VR projects.
Bingo providers are getting on board with the hype too in the hopes of setting up VR bingo halls where their players could mix and socialise, closely mimicking the real-life experience of visiting bricks and mortar bingo halls.
Google ‘virtual reality bingo’ and you’ll find a whole host of articles claiming that we are only ‘months away’ from seeing them come to fruition. Fingers crossed they are right and we do end up seeing VR bingo halls in 2022.
More Bingo Devices
Mobile bingo sites have dominated the market for the past 15 years, but could their grip on the market be about to end? According to industry insiders, yes. That’s because the next big technological advancement in bingo could see people playing their favourite bingo games on a wider array of devices.
In 2020 Tesla shook the gambling world with the announcement that they would be adding casino games to their arcade facility in Tesla cars. Since then, there has been a rush to bring gambling games like bingo to an ever-increasing list of ‘devices’.
2022 could be the year in which it becomes normalised for people to play 5-Line Bingo on their Smart TV or games console. It could even be the year that we see people in their kitchens playing bingo on their smart fridges!
Modern Games
Bingo is a classic game, there’s no denying that. But it is also a game that hasn’t really changed much for the better part of a century. As its popularity increases so too does the pressure for the game too modernise and adapt to changing demographics.
In recent years we have seen many of the industry’s biggest names searching through the annals to find exciting variants of the game. 2022 looks set to be the year in which many big names cast off the shadow of the past and instead, focus on creating their own fast-paced and action-packed variants.
Crypto Payments
It’s looking increasingly likely that those friends who badgered you about cryptocurrency in the mid-2010s were right. Bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies are becoming more mainstream with every passing month.
This is something that the gambling world has not been oblivious to. In recent years a number of high-profile companies have made waves by announcing they would process deposits and withdrawals in crypto.
Bingo sites are not far behind in that regard, but what would that mean for players who didn’t get on the crypto hype train and buy Bitcoin years ago? Well, it could mean bigger payouts and more game choice. Why?
Because cryptocurrency has a huge, huge following of fans whose loyalty would put a lower league football fan to shame. Wherever cryptocurrency goes, they will follow and if bingo sites begin processing crypto transactions there will be a huge surge in playing numbers.
Consequently, we would then see more games on offer and higher payouts as a result of the increased playing numbers. The downside however would be that it would become harder to win these bigger payouts as there would be much more competition.
