When it comes to technology, little Ireland has always punched above its weight class. Although much of this is down to Ireland being seen as somewhat of a ‘tax haven’ in the European Union, Ireland has managed to attract and develop some amazing tech experts. The result has been investment in tech too. The question remains: Can this investment improve the online game sector?
AI-driven mechanics
Over the coming years, much of the investment in the online game sector is expected to be in the utilisation of artificial intelligence (AI). While much of this innovation is currently happening outside of Ireland, it is only a matter of time before we see it used within our borders. It is almost certain that some smaller companies are currently dabbling with it.
We expect many of the online slots in Ireland to be shaped by AI investment, such as slots that adapt to the player. We may also see unique bonuses and better personalisation. Obviously, this is something that will put more money in the pockets of the online casinos and other online game companies, but this is only because players will feel that their needs are better served. We suspect that this may be a significant amount of time down the road, since adaptive games that involve betting may be subject to regulatory approval.
Cloud-based infrastructure investments
Alongside AI, cloud investment is the future. We are starting to see an increasing number of server farms popping up around Ireland. Cloud-based infrastructure is expected to improve the online gaming sector in a multitude of ways.
For instance, online games will be able to handle much higher traffic volumes, as cloud-based infrastructure will scale up when required. It will also save money for online companies because when traffic falls, costs, in theory, should be much lower.
While this doesn’t necessarily apply to the betting market, online games should also see a reduction in latency or lag, because the server feeding the gameplay to the player should be located closer to them. Things are likely to improve over time, and more server farms are expected to emerge.
At the moment, cloud-based infrastructure does need some serious investment. While it is good, we are sure that you have all seen the stories of huge portions of the internet going ‘offline’ because the cloud provider they used, typically owned by Amazon or Microsoft, has an outage. This indicates that investment is needed to ensure that this doesn’t happen.
Improvements to responsible gaming technology
The betting market in Ireland is relatively fresh. It is only recently that Ireland has started to introduce new laws related to online betting. In the past, the country relied on outdated legislation.
Now that Ireland has new laws, there has been a lot of investment in harm-prevention tools, which help prevent issues in the online gaming space. For instance, AI is being used to detect risky behaviour by a player, such as overspending or spending too long betting.
We may also start to see improvements in cheat detection technology. Cheating is a major issue in the online gaming market, such as single-use bonuses being used multiple times. Reducing cheating ultimately improves the player experience and boosts player retention.
Nowadays, a lot of cheat detection is carried out by AI. However, it isn’t quite there yet and can result in some false positives. We expect additional investment in this market to have a massive impact on the online game sector.
Fintech
Investment in fintech in Ireland is expected to transform the way payments are made online. This will not be just in terms of the payments that can be made as many platforms now accept cryptocurrency, but also in how they can be used. For example, we can expect investment in fintech to improve the speed, reliability and security of transactions. This is the type of thing that will become a selling point for almost any online gaming platform.
Ireland is big on fintech right now, since many major players in the market are using the country as their route into the European Union’s market.
Ireland’s potential in the global online game marketplace
As a leader in the tech industry, Ireland is well-placed to become a key player in the global online game marketplace. Expect many of the technologies developed in Ireland to make their way onto the global scene, which will impact all online gaming.