Gaming
Gaming & iGaming trends for 2021
Gaming and iGaming industries exploded in 2020 as the pandemic has only reinforced the new edge entertainment trend. In times of massive uncertainty, the world turned to simulate reality games as a new way to connect and unwind.
According to Statista, today there are already more than 2.7 billion video gamers worldwide. The entire video gaming market is expected to be worth over $200 bln by 2023. As to iGaming, around 1.6 billion people gamble throughout the year, while the global online gambling market is anticipated to be valued at more than $92.9 bln by 2023.
Here we’re going to explore the impact of the pandemic in these domains, uncover new trends within the booming industries and learn what to expect for 2021.
Changes in the industries in the COVID times
Lloyd Richman, CEO of iBet Digital, thinks that since COVID-19 first hit, a lot of sportsbook bettors, who used to bet on a daily basis, started to look out for new things to bet on. “For sure, they were very unhappy, because almost all sports competitions had stopped at that moment. And this is why virtual sports have uplifted, as well as eSports”.
Lloyd briefly explained the difference between virtual sports and eSports.
“Virtual sports are predetermined or pre-recorded games architected by computer software. It’s very much a virtual video, that’s played out and then people can bet on that in real-time. Whereas in eSports people are competing against each other playing the likes of Counter-Strike or FIFA whether they’re playing individually or as teams. It’s streamed in real-time and viewers are able to bet on it the same way they do with sports.”
Will Mercer, venture director at Zag, a founder and CEO of Umaya Village, pointed out his favourite stats about eSports: “The entire of tennis as a sport can only support 300 full-time professional players, whereas League of Legends, which is just one of the many eSports, can support a thousand.”
At the end of 2020 Esports entertainment group acquired Lucky Dino for $30 mln, an online casino operator with its own proprietary casino platform. “You’ll probably see a lot more eSports levelling up with Sportsbook in 2021 because there’s a lot of money in that business”, says Lloyd Richman.
Poker also saw huge growth, in spite of the fact that just a few years ago, it was considered as a dying out product. Today poker products started to boom again across the whole industry. “People had time to kill while being stuck at home, sleeping patterns were changed and they were able to invest into things like 6-hours tournaments as opposed to quick Sit & Go games”, says Richman.
But all of this might change very quickly. “When poker was huge five years ago, eSports wasn’t really around. But today we’re seeing that virtual games are getting pushed a lot more. The same appeals to live casinos that boomed in the last few years. But all of it probably will go back into decline again, because the real sports are back”, noticed Lloyd.
From a technological perspective, there are several trends just coupling all together in an interesting way.
There’s a tremendous growth of the social media component in gaming. It became really important both in games and in-gaming infrastructure like Discord. “Gaming acts as the niche to hanging out and talking in comfort with your own communities and friends”, adds Vlad Beck, founder of Black Snow Games & co-founder of Sigma Software Group.
At the same time streaming has shown enormous growth compared to pre-pandemic. Twitch jumped from 9 billion hours watched in 2019 all the way to 17 billion in 2020. This is also accompanied by 5G getting up and running.
Casino in GTA V and the future of in-game experience
GTA V has sold over 110 million copies, making it one of the best-selling video games of all time, generating over $6 bln worth of revenue. In 2019 Rockstar released its Diamond Casino & Resort update, which lets players use real money to play its games. The casino’s chips can be purchased with in-game currency at a $1 to 1 chip ratio.
Richman believes that the full-time merging between online computer games and online casinos is happening right now. “It’s been happening, but very slowly. Rockstar released their Casino update six years after they released the original game.”
“In that week after they released the casino update, it was the most anticipated downloadable content (DLC) ever across PlayStation. They had more players playing GTA than they had in the previous six years”, emphasised Lloyd.
The audience wants to come on and play slots, walk up to blackjack people and watch virtual sports on horse racing. Rockstar merged into the casino and into gambling via creating slot games on an RPG computer game level. This is the accelerated change in gaming, and in the next 10-15 years merges like this are going to happen on a regular basis.
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Battle of the Tribes
POLYTOPIA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2025 BREAKS RECORD PARTICIPATION AS FINALS DRAW CLOSER
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Celebrated strategy game The Battle of Polytopia confirms its first ever World Championships has exceeded expectations with over 10,000 sign-ups in its qualifying rounds. While no stranger to tournaments, previously hosting smaller scale, local tournaments called ‘Polysseums’, developer Midjiwan’s first step into global esports has been met with extreme success. The inclusive esports event has a $10,000 prize pool and will conclude on 6 December 2025, 14:00-21:00.
The finals will take place in front of a live-studio audience, with expert commentary and a chance to peek behind the scenes at Midjiwan itself. First place will receive $4,000, the runner-up will take away $2,000, the third and fourth place finishers will get $1,500, and the fifth and sixth place $500.
The Polytopia World Championship 2025 is being hosted by eSports platform, Challengermode, who Midjiwan has relied on for its monthly local tournaments since 2022. Midjiwan also partnered with Black Molly Entertainment to help organise and manage the event. Black Molly Entertainment have years of experience managing eSports tournaments, with notable events including the Geoguesser World Cup and CS:GO Pinnacle Cup Championship.
Midjiwan has worked closely with its community to ensure engagement is high with each round, building a bespoke ‘Spectator Mode’ into the game so fans can watch each game live through the game itself. In the spectator mode the viewer has visibility of all players simultaneously, with stats on how many cities, technologies, kills and more available for quick access.
Christian Lovstedt, CEO of Midjiwan commented:
“Polytopia has always been about welcoming all kinds of players into the world of 4X strategy. That’s why our championship is open to everyone – not just pros with sponsors. We’ve been thrilled at the amount of interest this tournament received from our community, reaching participation numbers way beyond our expectations. We’re excited to bring the finalists to Stockholm and can’t wait to see the strategies that emerge.”
The Polytopia World Championship 2025 kicked off in September, with its ‘Battle of the Tribes’ qualifying round – weekly battles where players competed to be the best in each of the game’s 12 tribes. After an exciting six weeks, the top player from each tribe faced-off, reducing the qualifiers to six finalists. These six winners are listed down below.
|
Tribe |
Qualifying Player |
|
IMPERIUS |
ArthurL248 |
|
BARDUR |
slimmingboy |
|
OUMAJI |
Dreamlander3000 |
|
HOODRICK |
Theetat |
|
XIN-Xi |
LeLiberateur |
|
LUXIDOOR |
Meisterlampe |
Recaps of each round of the tournament prior to the finals can be watched on the official Battle of Polytopia YouTube channel.
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Part 1: Polytopia World Championship 1st Qualifiers Wrap-Up – BARDUR, IMPERIUS, KICKOO, ZEBASI
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Part 2: Qualifiers Wrap-Up – Oumaji Hoodrick Yadakk & Quetzali – World Champoinship 2025
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Part 3: Final Qualifiers Wrap-Up – Xin-Xi, Luxidoor, Ai-Mo & Vengir – World Championship 2025
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Face-off stream: https://youtube.com/live/GnU6mWPoJiY?feature=share
To watch the finals live on December 6,visit here: https://polytopia.io/stream/
To stay up to date on the Polytopia World Championship 2025, or purchase one of the limited tickets for the live event, visit the official website or join the Official Polytopia Discord.
The post POLYTOPIA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2025 BREAKS RECORD PARTICIPATION AS FINALS DRAW CLOSER appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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Leading iGaming supplier Delasport teases a one-of-a-kind sports betting crash game called Betiator – a new in-play experience that merges live sports with the tension and excitement of crash games.
Inspired by the groundbreaking casino genre, the company once again pushes the whole industry to a new phase in evolution by allowing sports bettors to play in the same easy and fun way as fellow casino players. Crash games are booming in the casino world, showing that players crave more emotional, fast, and visually engaging formats – and Betiator brings that same adrenaline-charged energy to the sportsbook.
It changes the scene by introducing a truly innovative way to bet on sports, keeping players at the edge of their seats during the game. Designed to excite both sports bettors and casino players, it marks a defining moment for innovation.
This product comes as a logical next step in the evolution of live betting and the company’s goal to disrupt the iGaming industry. It demonstrates Delasport’s successful commitment to unique innovation: a strategy they call “Going Beyond Content” –building on the success of products and features like SuperPot, My Sportsbook, My Combo, Double My Winnings, and many more.
“Sports bettors deserve the same level of innovation and excitement that casino players get all the time,” Delasport’s CEO Oren Cohen Shwartz says. “At Delasport we’re taking the whole game to a new playing field with Betiator. Live betting won’t feel outdated anymore as we’re bringing in the thrill of the casino to sports betting.”
While details about Betiator remain under wraps for now, Delasport promises a completely new way to experience live sports. Operators and partners eager to see it in action can schedule exclusive demos and discover more at ICE Barcelona 2026, taking place January 19–21, where Betiator will make its official debut.
The post Delasport Unveils a Crash Game for Sports Betting appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Central Europe
game’s 2026 industry barometer – the mood in the German games industry is beginning to brighten
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The post game’s 2026 industry barometer – the mood in the German games industry is beginning to brighten appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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