This is the age of iGaming. Everything from online casino games to role-playing and action ones now enjoys a sizeable and diverse customer base.
One notable aspect of the rise of iGaming is the fact that bingo has retained and even grown its popularity despite increasing competition. This article will explore how the bingo industry has managed to ensure its ability to thrive in the modern gaming environment.
The Impact of Technology
Every segment of the games industry has felt the impact of developments in technology and the ones that remain popular are those that have managed the transition well. The success of the winkbingo site for example, among others is evidence that bingo is one of those to comfortably make the adjustment.
While most forms of gaming shifted into the online space when advancements in tech made it necessary, not all of them managed to find an audience. Online casino and bingo are two types of games that did, because the convenience and ease of being able to play from home opened them up to entirely new demographics.
Young people in particular are attuned to the online world and accustomed to being able to access entertainment easily over the internet. They discovered that online bingo and casino offered exciting and colourful ways of spending their free time and money.
Distinct differences have emerged in the customer bases for the two forms of gaming though. Online casino tends to appeal a bit more to men than women, although the popularity of slot games transcends that gender barrier.
By contrast, the online bingo sites attract a primarily female customer base. Of course, there are men who enjoy playing bingo games on the internet, but research indicates that they are in the minority.
The gender breakdown of female and male online bingo players is estimated to be roughly 65% to 35% in favour of women. Then again, that is following the historical trend for this game.
Bingo History
Long before anyone dreamed of online bingo, it was a very popular game to play in land-based bingo halls. At their height during the 60s and 70s, bingo halls attracted hundreds of players at weekends in particular.
Going to one of these halls for a night of bingo was one of the top options for an evening out with friends and the main user base was groups of women. UK women loved bingo, so there is a precedent for its current huge popularity among female gamers.
In the 60s, there were around 14 million regular and registered bingo players across the UK. Furthermore, even if bingo halls are no longer the lifeblood of local high streets the way they were back then, 642 of them remain standing around the country.
The traditional customer base for these halls was middle-aged and older women though. By contrast, online bingo primarily connects with young women: so how do these things square to explain its ongoing popularity?
How Online Bingo Has Affected Bingo Halls
Online bingo sites started to spring up in the 90s, during the first flush of the internet. At that time bingo was a game that appeared to be in a steep and irreversible decline.
Halls were shutting down all around the country and less people seemed interested than ever before. The game did not take off immediately among internet users, as in 2008 the customer base for it was still just 50,000, but then it exploded.
This was due to new and more impressive bingo sites like Wink Bingo appearing and the creation of fresh, hipper variants on the basic game formula. Online sites were also able to offer prizes and bonuses vastly more attractive than those provided by bingo halls, because they have fewer overheads.
All of this combined to spark a renewed bingo passion that has kept growing ever since. It was young people who discovered the pleasures of playing the game online and on mobile phones and they did not stop at that.
Live bingo parties where people play with family or friends have become a popular pastime and young women have also started playing at bingo halls. Thus the online game has revived the land-based one.
Bingo is ideally suited to this era of casual online and mobile gaming. Like slots it is a fairly simple game that can be played quickly, which makes it a perfect way to pass free moments during the day.
The Future of Bingo
The future of this game looks pretty secure from the vantage point of 2022. The total number of global bingo players is believed to be 100 million, while in the UK it is 3 million.
At the same time, up to 80% of all adults now own a Smartphone or other Smart device that is connected to the internet. That means there is still a huge untapped customer base for online bingo sites to reach in the coming years.
It suggests that the next big tech shift for the bingo industry will be an increased emphasis on mobile bingo. If that is accomplished successfully, the game is sure to remain one of the most popular iGaming choices for many years to come.
The unmatched combination of fast-paced gaming and social experience that bingo offers has helped it stay popular in the modern games era and that should continue.