Why Popular Culture IP Can’t Get Enough of Live Casino Gaming

Live casino does not just stream classic table games. Some of the most popular titles now borrow ideas from real-world game shows and movies.

Log on to the live section of an online casino, and it is no longer just table games you will find amongst the offerings. A whole host of well-known franchises from television and entertainment are clambering to open up live titles. Working with top developers like Evolution and Playtech, iGaming has succeeded where streaming services failed, in bringing truly interactive experiences from the screen to players.

When Realism Meets Entertainment

Live casino games are a mainstay of online casinos. Log on to a top operator like Jackpotcity, and you will find live sections listed alongside other major verticals like slots and crash gaming. Once inside, exciting table game variations and game show-style events are all taking place, with participants from across the globe.

Originally, these games were simple ways to combine streaming with existing casino titles. Early variations even had the news playing on a television in the background, so players believed it was in real time. Thus, titles like blackjack and roulette were a mainstay.

The landscape changed with the arrival of live ‘game show’ events. They were pioneered by Evolution, a company that had begun experimenting with live dealer games back in 2007. By 2017, they had come up with the game show concept and launched Dream Catcher. A simple idea, it involved a spinning money wheel that contained sections filled with multipliers.

Yet it was the follow-up, Crazy Time, which really captured the gaming public's imagination. This added the idea of bonus rounds, four of them in fact. These included a Coin Flip, Cash Hunt, Pachinko, and the Crazy Time round. Players no longer passively bet on wheel spins or random outcomes: Landing on the right sections could catapult them into their own interactive TV game-show-style rounds.

The Benefit to IP Holders

For those holding intellectual property, these games provide a unique revenue stream in two ways. In the first instance, they can keep money coming in from a property between seasons or commissioning cycles. Secondly, they can also revive legacy content that may no longer be on television but still retains a place in the popular culture consciousness.

Another benefit is that they can transfer the format to a modern audience that consumes entertainment in a different way. Consider a title like Deal or No Deal. Its format is one that takes the old idea of episodic, standalone installments. Yet modern game shows, designed for streaming networks, have an approach that tends to vote contestants off in a head-to-head format before the next episode with a pared-down contestant pool, until only one winner is left.

For people who have grown up with these modern methods, Deal or No Deal might be a relic from the past. Yet by bringing it up to date with a new, interactive element instead of a passive one, it reaches a new audience, one that is digitally native.

Lastly, it can update something that was quite a static endeavour and has not changed for some years into a fresh format. Monopoly is a prime example of this. A board game that has remained relatively unchanged since its creation, it now has a range of live casino variations.

Why Are Casinos Eager to Onboard Popular Culture?

It is not just live casino titles that have been eager to onboard popular culture. Look through the pantheon of slot games, and everything from movies to music and sport has been used as a theme. The reason for this is that casinos can still have a reputation for intimidation. An impression of smoky rooms, with seasoned professionals in every dark corner, still lingers. A familiar brand can make people more receptive to playing, as it breeds familiarity.

People also love nostalgia, often looking at the past and experience through rose-tinted spectacles. In popular culture, titles like Stranger Things have, for example, brought about eighties revivals, making people clamour for a time when things were considered easier, before smartphones and attention economies. These properties tap into memories, triggering thoughts about favourite movies and music.

All of these can be exemplified by one case study. Jumanji: The Bonus Level Live is a sprawling title with a history that can be hard to understand. It is a movie released in 1995 that had a recent Hollywood remake for a new generation. The storyline itself is about a magical board game. This has now been transferred to a live-action casino title. It involves character selections, and then players must face off against the villain Van Pelt in bonus rounds. It really does launch the IP into every demographic possible.

Popular culture is no longer an aside in the world of iGaming. It has become indispensable. With live streaming technology and new creations such as AR to enhance titles, it is one of the most lucrative verticals in the field. As this advances even further, the line between television game shows and casinos may blur even further.