SOFTSWISS 2023 iGaming Trends – Live Blackjack Tops the Crypto Charts

In another interesting industry rundown by SOFTSWISS covering trends for 2023, live casino gaming became one of the highlights of the ‘Player Behaviour’ section.

One of the key points made was how popular cryptocurrency live casino games have become. In particular VIP blackjack, which is covered below.

There were also plenty of other interesting stats in the report which began with an introduction covering the ‘State of iGaming in 2022’ followed by Operations, Player Behaviour, Payments and Licensing, Gamification, and Security.

For those of you who are new to the iGaming scene, SOFTSWISS is one of the most innovative tech companies in the business right now. The company offers online casino and sports betting solutions to casino operators. If you want to start an online casino and gain a licence, SOFTSWISS provides white-label and turn-key options, which both come with a ready-made online casino platform which then requires your branding.

Want to know more? Below I cover some of the most intriguing points from the report. However, I can’t cover them all as this is a 35-page PDF – way too much for a new report. However, to get your hands on the PDF, simply head over to the SOFTSWISS iGaming Trends news here, and provide your email.

Overview of the Online Gambling Market in 2022

One of the most interesting parts of the report for us as iGaming journalists and regular online casino players was the financial overview covering 2022’s online gambling market as a whole. Just to be clear, the figures below are for online gambling in all forms, so sports betting, poker, bingo, lottery, and casino gaming.

• Annual European Online Gambling Growth Rate: The European market grew 8.23% in 2022. No COVID hangover here. And still no sign of the European market slowing down. It seems there is still plenty of growth left in Europe.
• Annual Asia Pacific Online Gambling Growth Rate: In the Asia Pacific region, which includes India, the CAGR (annual growth rate) was 11.39%. This is where lower economically developed countries (LEDCs) are. Just like GDP, we expect these regions to show higher growth rates that match their higher GDP growth. India is also part of the BRICS economy and will have contributed considerably to this growth figure.
• Annual African Online Gambling Growth Rate: Another fast-growing region for GDP that also shows a high percentile growth rate in iGaming. Africa’s online casino market’s CAGR was 12.65%.

Global Online Gambling Market: The overall figures across the globe show that global online gambling shot up from US$ 58.2 billion in 2021 to US$ 80 billion in 2022. That’s remarkable. It’s a 37.46% increase. And by 2030 the expected market size will exceed 145.6 billion.

Evolution Live Blackjack VIP – the most popular crypto game of 2022

Now the PDF report mentions only the name of the table games in its ‘Top Games Crypto’ section of the SOFTSWISS 2023 iGaming Trends. To be precise, you will find this table under the ‘Player Behaviour’ Live Casinos section. In pole position for Q1 and Q2 2022 it is VIP Blackjack, which was on second place for Q3 2022 beaten by a Live Blackjack game.

Why Evolution Live Blackjack VIP? There is only one live casino software provider that is partnered with SOFTSWISS, crypto enabled, and has a live casino table called Blackjack VIP, and that is Evolution. You can find reviews and how to play blackjack here.

Therefore, the live blackjack table that was the undisputed champ beating a variety of slots, table games, arcade casino game titles as well as other live dealer table games in the popularity ratings was VIP Blackjack by Evolution. This is a high-roller blackjack table with high minimum bets on 7-player tables. A By the way, the table game that beat Live Blackjack VIP to pole position in Q3 of 2022 must have been Evolution’s Live Blackjack table, which also came in fourth in Q2 2022.

I have to admit, this was an unexpected trend, but one that actually doesn’t surprise me. Blackjack is the king of card games across Europe and also it is popular in Asia and Africa where SOFTSWISS provides the majority of its white label and turnkey iGaming sports betting solutions.

FYI: Right now, the four live casino software providers that are partners with SOFTSWISS via iGaming B2B supply agreements and are also crypto enabled are Absolute Live Gaming, Evolution, Ezugi, and Pragmatic Play Live.

More Standout Points in the SOFTSWISS 2023 iGaming Trends

I’ve tried my best to stay informative and fit as much information in as I can just to give you some spoilers from the SOFTSWISS 2023 iGaming Trends, and a mini guide so to speak. However, forgive me in this last section as I am going to stay brief. If you are interested in reading more, I highly recommend downloading the PDF – after all it’s free!

Here are the final few highlights of the report for me and the team:

• An Abundance of Payment Options: This falls under the ‘Payments and licensing’ section and it is great news SOFTSWISS mentions areas such as offering local payment methods. For me most of the target markets here on Livecasinocentral are well catered for. However, I’d like to see more local payment options for India and South Africa. Another point I believe online casinos should address is the x3 wagering rule i.e., if you deposit, you cannot withdraw until you wager your deposit 3 times. Maybe this is a point I think should have come to light.
• Gamification: This was the stand out section for me. It covers Hybrid casino experiences (the keyword for 2023 – the Metaverse), bonuses and promotions and jackpots. What I would like to see is more casinos offering live casino games offer better wagering requirements and more live casino bonus deals. It is beginning to happen. Arguably, the most attractive of all live dealer game promos is the cashback with 1x wagering. Just this alone will attract a flurry of live casino players like myself. Speaking for myself, I rely on the weekly cashback from my casino for when I hit a cold streak, and it was this promo that made me sign up to the casino in first place.

That’s all folks: Get over to the SOFTSWISS news page and download the PDF whether you are player, an operator or supplier. The read is time well spent, and it’s also an easy read throughout! Happy gaming…