Has NetEnt Scrapped Its Plans for VR Slot Games?

NetEnt is one of the oldest and most influential slot developers in the online casino market, and, when it makes moves, others tend to follow. It delved into the world of virtual reality slots back in 2016 when the technology was expected to boom, but it seems to have put this work on the backburner recently in favour of other slot game innovations.

The good news is that NetEnt is actively trying to help with the evolution of online slots. The market hasn’t expanded into VR yet, but it could happen in the future. When it does, NetEnt may be poised to revisit its VR developments.

Veteran Company Hugely Influential in Online Casino Market

It’s important to examine what NetEnt’s plans are for VR slots, as the veteran studio is an industry leader, and tends to have a huge effect on how the market evolves. Leading online casinos know that a lot of players want to play games from this developer, which is why it’s prominently listed as a game provider across a number of the top sites.

NetEnt is also particularly competitive in the landscape of casino bonuses for the many sites and casino games available online. The top bonuses typically involve giving the player a certain number of free spins, but only the biggest providers will give as many as 100, and NetEnt has historically been one of them. Promotions like these can help to increase awareness of many potentially overlooked releases, but the studio’s titles are already famous in the industry, with some of the oldest ones like Starburst still being widely played today.

The fact that NetEnt isn’t currently actively pushing its VR offerings suggests that a larger influx of the immersive technology at online casinos could still be some way off.

NetEnt Innovated With VR Slots Almost a Decade Ago

It has been almost ten years since people were first expecting VR to boom. Back in 2016, the HTC Vive and the Oculus Rift hit the market for the first time, and people thought that these would signify the beginning of the VR boom. At this point, NetEnt prepared to position itself for this by creating a couple of VR games. It developed Jack’s World VR and Gonzo’s Quest VR, which featured giant slot games set within digitalised worlds.

The VR craze didn’t happen, though, and these games never made it into the mainstream. The good news is that NetEnt is ready to adapt to VR if it becomes a popular form of technology. Experts now expect this to happen by the end of the decade, when the VR industry could be worth $435.36 billion.

Company Focusing on New Online Slot Developments

Even though VR hasn’t broken into the online slots market yet, there has been a shift towards developing more immersive games. Leading studios have also been working on bringing in new mechanics to give players different gameplay options.

NetEnt has been a leader in this trend, and has produced a few highly polished slots in recent years. Starburst Galaxy is one of its latest inventions, and it uses the Avalanche mechanic with Cluster Pays. It also comes with random modifiers, such as random wilds.

NetEnt hasn’t scrapped its plans for VR slot games, but it has moved its focus away from them for the time being. The company is likely to be waiting for VR to have a meaningful impact on the online casino industry. When it does, NetEnt is likely to adapt swiftly.