Will Virtual Reality Take Over Online Poker?
Modern virtual reality has been evolving for about six or seven years since becoming mainstream tech. By this point though, it has begun to influence a variety of industries. We’re seeing virtual reality used in education, in business training, and in retail demonstrations. And just as we discussed the notion of artificial intelligence in finance earlier this year, there has been some application of VR in this space as well; headsets are helping traders to visualize data and make quicker and more accurate decisions.
Alongside all these areas of practical use though, VR has also carved out significant space in gaming. According to the latest statistics on virtual reality as a sort of overarching industry unto itself, the technology now accounts for a $1.4 billion gaming market. Needless to say, that’s a gigantic market, and at this point it encompasses all manner of games –– from space exploration simulators, to Minecraft adaptations, to virtual shooters and sports games. Furthermore, the consensus among those following VR gaming is that we’re likely just getting started.
This is an interesting notion, in part because it calls to mind one of the earlier predictions when VR tech first went mainstream in the mid-2010s. Around that time, countless articles were written about which games would work best in VR, with many leaning toward those types of games that require little physical movement. Accordingly, there was much early excitement about VR’s capacity to adapt card and table games –– and some even wondered if the technology might in fact revolutionize the online poker industry that has now been popular for decades. It hasn’t done so just yet, but if we really are just getting started, might it still?
Why it might: The simple reason why VR might take over online poker is that it’s the next step in making games more realistic. Since its inception, online poker has been gradually progressing toward lifelike simulation. We’ve seen better graphics, the introduction of character avatars, settings imitating real-world casinos, and of course, the infusion of live chat features between players. VR poker advances the online game to the next level by taking all of these improvements and enabling players to enjoy them in the first person.
Why it might not: The main roadblock for a runaway VR poker industry may be the same issue that haunts ordinary online poker in the United States: the struggle to legalize. At the time of this writing, there are only seven states with legal and regulated online poker –– with two of these (Connecticut and West Virginia) yet to license any poker operators. This does not stop anyone from playing “play-money” poker and accessing sites and apps accordingly. But it does limit the ”real-money” poker scene in the U.S., which may in turn stall investment in serious upgrades to how people play. It may be that until real-money poker is more widely legalized, poker platforms and game developers hold off on making a major push into a new medium like VR.
What we’ve seen so far: It’s important to note in this discussion that some VR poker games do exist already –– and they’re not half bad. PokerStars VR is perhaps the most popular title, supporting “freeplay” poker on the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. This game provides satisfying character avatars and playing environments, and makes gameplay feel reasonably realistic. Another major title is Poker VR –– an Oculus title that frankly takes a similar approach, without the PokerStars brand name backing. This game is perhaps somewhat more playful (with cartoon avatars and vaguely fantastical environments), but provides a similarly engaging poker experience.
Time will tell if games like these in fact grow enough to take over online poker as we know it. As VR’s influence continues to expand, the potential is clearly there. But we may not know how big virtual poker can become until real-money gaming options are more feasible.