Even in the space of a couple of decades, the online casino landscape has developed significantly. From the initial pixelated forays into online gaming to the sleek, modern graphics of today, the process of their evolution is interesting to follow.
But today we’re going to look at one facet of online casinos in particular – the live dealer game. These games – like Crazy Time slot – blend together an online user interface with elements of live casino gameplay, creating an entirely fresh experience for players.
So, how did these fusion games come about? Let’s take a dive into the development of live dealer casino games and why they’re such a popular addition to the online stable.
The early days of online casinos
Things start in the earliest days of the online casino revolution. During the 1990s many developers began to explore the potential of the internet, experimenting with the creation of an online gaming platform.
Microgaming was the first company out of the gate, launching their online casino platform in 1994. It wasn’t long before other competitors joined the fray, helping to encourage more experimentation and improvement across the board.
Like other digital casino games today, these were all reliant on random number generators (RNG) to ensure the fairness of their results. The graphics and effects of these early online casino games also left something to be desired!
The creation of live dealer games
Technology evolved rapidly over the next decade, leading to major improvements in graphics and presentation for casino games.Still, for many players, the visuals couldn’t quite match up to an in-person Roulette table or slot machine.
This helped lead to the concept of live dealer games, which first emerged in the early 2000s. However, as far as technology had come in the space of just ten years this wasn’t enough to bring the idea to fruition.
It wasn’t until internet bandwidths and broadband connectivity improved that the concept got its chance. Stronger internet signals allowed for the streaming of high-quality video, allowing the broadcast of the physical game elements in real-time.
Once the technology caught up, the opportunities for live dealer games started to catch on. By the 2010s the format had spread, with most of the popular casino games offering a liver dealer option.
The technology powering live dealer games
Aside from just high-quality video streaming, there’s some other major technology that makes live dealer games possible.
Optical character recognition (OCR) is essential when it comes to translating the physical game elements – such as cards, dice or the Roulette wheel – into data. This camera software processes images and identifies the key information, allowing this to be seamlessly transmitted to the player’s screen and user interface.
The other major part of any live dealer game setup is the game control unit (GCU). This is responsible for encoding all the game’s data and streaming it to players, ensuring that information flows smoothly.
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Thanks to advancing technology, we can now enjoy live dealer casino games with smooth gameplay and high-quality visuals. Perhaps this hybrid format could evolve further in the years ahead in response to future technological developments.
