The spread of the coronavirus has left many businesses in a time of uncertainty – mounting outgoing costs with little to no incoming, many are wondering whether or not this may cause them to close their doors for good – particularly those smaller businesses.
Within the UK, it’s expected that many of these businesses will only get the opportunity to reopen in July if current numbers hold, but there also is the chance that numbers will rise once again and that date is pushed further back – this is providing a unique opportunity for mobile game operators.
Mobile gaming as a whole has been on the rise year on year as the market audience has evolved, largely in part due to social media and a changing attitude towards gaming as a whole – but the new market is that of middle aged adults with a disposable income – and also where an opportunity may be found for these operators. Prior to the outbreak of the coronavirus, the mobile gaming industry was expected to reach a value over $165 billion in 2020, but many games within the industry have been seeing a surge in traffic as lockdown methods are extended throughout March and April. With that, it is also expected that social distancing measures will stay in place for quite some time to come, with suggestions leaning toward measures being in place until a vaccine is developed which could be well over eighteen months which may lead to a business shift similar to what may have been previously seen with the growth of e-commerce.
(Image from businesswire)
The center of this may be within the mobile casino and betting market – both betting stores and casinos are busy places with a lot of foot traffic, but also require people to interact with machines and stationary that others may have used before them, if social distancing measures are upheld we may see a changing in attitude toward attendance at these locations.
The gaming apps for these have also come a long way from their rudimentary beginnings, there are a large number of these online casinos accepting credit card, but many also offer alternative forms of payment such as crypto – as well as an evolving style of gameplay as live dealers and other social methods of gameplay become more common.
With growing popularity and shifting social outlook as social distancing becomes the norm, it’s expected that there will be a reduction in attendance to physical locations as mobile and online use continue to grow – it make take some time for this to be fully realised as there is still an ongoing transition period, but as locations begin to reopen and figures start to come in, the full impact may start to be realised – many online operators have been blocked from advertising during the lockdown to prevent an increase in problem gamblers, but if they are able to get out of the gate early with a strong approach, a shift may be found to primary online or mobile gaming use.