Bruce Dias 
Playing video games is fun. This we have known since the age of coin-op arcades. But as it turns out, watching others play video games is also fun. It’s more than that – it’s big business. According to some sources, it’s an almost $10 billion business in 2023. And the number of people viewing game streams continues to grow – it’s expected to reach 1.4 billion in 2025.
This number also includes those who follow online casino streams. This has led to a brilliant idea and the next wave of innovation in online casinos.
The Early Days
Nobody knows who was the first to upload a gameplay video to YouTube. We do know, in turn, that one of the first world-famous gaming YouTubers was PewDiePie, aka Felix Kjellberg. He started uploading his videos in 2010 and soon became the most famous creator on the platform.
Around the same time, Justin.tv – the original lifecasting service – spun off its gaming section into a separate website called Twitch. The service saw a meteoric rise, overtaking HBO Go in just a few years. Soon, other platforms, such as YouTube and Facebook, got into the game, so to say, with their own dedicated game streaming platforms.
There is no telling who and when made the first casino livestream. But this, too, has grown into a global phenomenon. Today, Twitch has countless channels dedicated to slot machines and poker, with millions of followers.
A Dedicated Service
Gambling is, by nature, a controversial topic. As such, many voices were raised to get it out of Twitch – especially because streamers are advertising gambling in their streams. When Twitch seemed to do away with gambling content, a new service was quick to step up.
Today, we have a live streaming platform that is not entirely dedicated to gambling streams but one that certainly has lots of them.
iGaming Innovation
Casino streaming is certainly successful, with millions following creators on various platforms. So, a company named Livespins took it to the next level: they brought casino streams into online casinos.
Casinos have been trying to turn their platforms into more social ones for ages – and Livespins’ solution might just be the thing. The casinos using their solution offer their members access to exclusive live casino streams. But not just that: they also give them the possibility to chat with each other and even “bet along” with the streamers, sharing their good fortune – and their winnings.
The idea may just be the next big thing in, so much so that Livespins won the “Innovation in slot provision” award at this year’s EGR B2B awards.
A long time has passed since the first successful gaming channel was started on YouTube. Since then, watching games live – even casino games – has become a big thing, and now it’s entering online casinos, too. It may just be the next big thing to shake up the still waters of online casinos.
