Why WoW Should Integrate Online Casinos to Keep Fresh

World of Warcraft has undergone numerous changes over the years to remain fresh for players. Whether it’s regular updates or changes to how the gameplay works, Blizzard hasn’t been afraid of trying new things to make sure that players keep coming back. However, as time passes, it goes without saying that it becomes harder to continue to innovate to the same level. It’s because of this that WoW should try to look at some more unique and unusual methods to engage players. One of the best ways that it can do this is through using online casinos to provide additional services to players.

Why add casino integration?

It starts a little bit away from WoW when it comes to the reasoning regarding why this should take place. With online casinos recently being made legal in the USA, there are a lot of high-quality online casinos available for players to use. For a detailed list of available sites, check out WSN.com. The wide variety of sites means that players are able to legally play for the first time rather than using offshore sites that may not be completely trustworthy.

This means that there is a legal option available for World of Warcraft to give players the chance to play at online casinos. The ability to play at an online casino legally could be a game changer for Wow when it comes to adding additional content. After all, there’s only so many different raids that can be added to the game before people want something new.

Does it make sense?

To put things simply, it definitely makes sense. The reason for this is that WoW has long included various different forms of gambling for players, at least in an unofficial manner. Firstly, when new raids drop, the new bosses that are included in the game will randomly drop loot. This loot isn’t guaranteed, so players have to go through the process a number of times in order to get hold of the loot that they want the most.

With loot boxes also included in the game, it means that something closer to gambling is already available in the title. This is already a controversial thing, especially with gambling regulators. However, it’s not just these aspects that are available to players that want to gamble either.

There are also unofficial gambling options available in the different bars in the game. So, players might wager a piece of loot and then carry out a PVP battle. The winner will then get all the spoils. It’s clear that the game certainly has some gambling aspects included in it, and that players may well be open to the option of online casino integration.

What barriers are there?

Well, the main barrier would be making sure that players are old enough to use online casinos. This wouldn’t be too difficult though, for two reasons. Firstly, players who have an account at an online casino have to go through Know Your Customer (KYC) protocols. So, if they want to play online casino games through the game, players will already have to have an account. Without this, the games would not be available.

Secondly, if players want to set up an account through the Warcraft interface, then it would require that the KYC protocols be adhered to. So, players who are under the legal age wouldn’t be able to create an account in the first place. It would ensure that the integration could be carried out safely and securely.

How could it work?

The simplest way that it could work would be through the social areas of the game. When players make their way to these areas, they could access different online casino sites through an integrated browser. What would really make it integrated would be to use demo versions of the casino games to play with in game currency. This would be an excellent way for players to wager additional gold they have in game.

Of course, playing for real money would still require real money deposits, so the actual playing of the games for real would be no different to how the sites normally work. It would be an overall excellent way to add some extra functionality to the game without having to do too much in terms of development. As the online casinos already have their catalogues of games ready, it just needs some API work to make WoW compatible with the different online casinos. There’s no guarantee that this will take place, but it’s definitely a low-cost way to add more to WoW. It means that in theory, WoW could be a hub to access literally thousands of games.

Is it Likely?

This is perhaps the biggest question that should be asked. It doesn’t matter how much of a good idea it is, if Blizzard doesn’t think it’s viable then it won’t take place. The simple answer to this question at the moment is that no, it’s not likely. World of Warcraft still brings in significant revenue and is still popular enough for it to be a large part of the business model for Blizzard. However, this may change as revenue predictions show signs of diminishing returns.

The moment that WoW starts to show returns that don’t make it a viable proposition to keep running, then there will be two ways it can go for Blizzard. The first way will be to shut it down and look to create a completely new property to drive revenues similar to WoW at the height of its popularity.

The second way will be to look to introduce new ways of bringing in revenue in WoW. If the company chooses to go down this route, then this is when it’s possible that online casinos will become part of what the game has to offer. So, while it’s not a highly likely scenario to see online casino games within the framework of World of Warcraft right now, if revenue falls below a certain threshold, then you may see them as a big part of the game in the future.