Over the past decade, the worlds of gaming and gambling have got a lot closer together. With the boom surrounding the eSports industry, one where bookmakers can offer betting opportunities to their players and the rise of loot boxes, which gamers can buy, win or trade for, it is easy to see why.
As far as the future goes, the simple answer for what will happen is that these two are likely to grow even closer together and help each other out.
If we have realised one thing over the past few years it is that the gambling industry can be helped by the gaming industry, and the gaming industry can be helped by the gambling industry.
Like it or not, this match makes complete sense, both get something from it and it will continue.
eSports Putting Games In Front of Gamblers
The rise of eSports has seen these two industries move a lot closer together. For the gaming industry, they get additional exposure on the games they create, with eSports receiving new fans who have discovered the battles via betting platforms.
Bookmakers offer a wide variety of eSports betting opportunities, more than anything we have ever seen before. They even offer bonuses to new players as an incentive to sign up. These promotions are associated with opening a new account, allowing eSports fans to get off to a great start.
For eSports, the big concern right now is exposure, with no big TV deal to showcase their product. Betting sites give them that, they even live stream the events so gamblers can watch live and see how their bet takes shape.
This is all about eSports, but the general gaming industry also benefits through additional sales to those convinced to try out games themselves.
Gambling for Items, Prizes and Other In Game Equipment
We’ve also seen another type of gambling appear, and the only reason it has is thanks to the mass multiplayer games that we see on the market. Games that have loot boxes, such as CS:GO, can also be gambled on, but rather than money, you gamble your items to win others.
This is a new form of gambling, still taking off, but the key fact here is that it shows the gaming industry are happy to get further involved in gambling, and they see how big it could make them.
If the gaming industry wasn’t happy about gambling becoming such a big part of eSports then you wouldn’t see this kind of thing created, this confirms that both want to work together and move forward.
The Future
Talking about moving forward, and what does the future hold for these two? Whatever happens is likely to feature heavily on eSports for now. Don’t be surprised if a bookmaker steps forward to sponsor a big event and put money back into eSports, perhaps something like the Fortnite World Cup would work.
Cementing the strong relationship between bookmakers and the eSports industry is only the first part of this long-term strategy though. There will be many other ways in which these two industries can work together and help each other out.
Of course there are differences, but also the pair have a lot in common and a lot of ways to help each other out. Many players who are of the legal age to gamble will do so, and many gamblers who bet on eSports will be interested in playing the games they are betting on.
This can certainly work, and with enough effort, it is highly likely to be a fruitful partnership for many years.
