The UK Online Slots Conundrum
UK online slots are facing a bit of a problem, and it’s a very unique and peculiar one, a problem that really isn’t shared by a lot of other countries around the world. It’s a problem that stems from several places, and, if left unchecked, can seriously cause the slot bubble in the country to burst, which is really, really bad news considering the fact that online slots are the main source of online casino revenue in the country. The problem is that there are way too many slots, most of which are not good, and not enough variety between them to keep players satisfied.
It might not seem like a huge issue, but honestly, market oversaturation is a very real problem in any industry, not just in casino, and a single look at a site like http://www.casinoreviews.co.uk/slots/ can tell you that there’s already way more online slots than anyone could possibly need. I mean, off the top of your head, how many slots do you personally think are necessary to satisfy every possible taste? 10? 20? 50? Well, what if I told you that the number of unique slot machines playable in the UK at this very moment exceeds that number ten-fold? And what’s more, most of these slots aren’t actually any good, nor are they trying to be. They’re just fodder, they’re there to allow online casinos to display impressive numbers. So while most of us can try out Rainbow Riches online and enjoy it, the same can’t be said for all of the other practically identical slots that big developers keep churning out. The sad truth is that nobody likes nor plays the overwhelming majority of online slots being made.
“But so what”, you might be asking. “Just let them be in the background, they can be perfectly ignored and people can focus on the relatively small number of slots which are actually great, right?” Well, it’s not that simple. The hundreds upon hundreds of disposable slots don’t just stop existing because people don’t play them – they pile up, and become more and more intimidating for new players who want to get into gambling. I mean, imagine if you’re a young 20-something who has just signed up for his or her first online casino, and suddenly you’re faced with a choice of 200+ slots, most of which are terrible. Wouldn’t you feel overwhelmed and alienated? You might think that these are just hypothetical situations, but that’s literally exactly what happened during the Great Videogame Crash of ’83, which almost killed the videogame industry, which was blooming and prosperous at the time. Developers were trying to make too many games with too little effort put into them literally just to fill their deadlines and their quotas, with absolutely no regard for quality or diversity, and at the end of the day thousands of games ended up buried in landfills because no one knew what to do with them. The videogame market got so oversaturated that it crashed under its own weight.
So, what can be done to make sure slots don’t follow the same fate? Well, there are two problems here – oversaturation of the market and lack of variety. Thankfully, they both have very easy solutions. First and foremost, online casinos should place an emphasis on quality rather than on quantity. Instead of proudly proclaiming how many slots they have, the selling point should be how many of these slots are highly rated by reviewers and have proven to be financially successful. As for variety, there’s not much that can be done with the current limitations in place, but maybe very soon the limitations that prevent skill-based slots from being created will be lifted, like they were in the US. If those two conditions are met, I believe that we’re looking at a slot renaissance!