The mobile online gaming industry has experienced exponential growth over the past few years, with some sectors such as mobile online casino gaming leading the way. In fact, many industry experts and insiders predict that mobile online casino gambling will supersede desktop gaming in 2018, and by 2019 become the number one way in which gamblers play their casino games.
But what has caused such a tectonic shift within the online gaming industry? Does it have to do with the considerable and significant advances in mobile devices over the past few years? Or is it more to do with digital gaming developers themselves, and the developments in technology now available? Before we can begin to answer these questions, it may be a good idea first to gain a basic understanding of what HTML5 is, and consequently, what it means for mobile online gaming as a whole.
What is HTML5?
Essentially, HTML5 is the latest version of the HTML code or Hypertext Markup Language. While HTML is the code that describes web pages, HTML5 is made up of three different kinds of code, all coming together to create the most advanced web technology to date. While the HTML component provides the necessary structure, CSS or Cascading Style Sheets, deals with the presentation component, and JavaScript ensures that everything can happen as it should.
At the start of HTML5’s popularity, iOS boss Steve Jobs famously refused to use Flash for his iOS operating system, insisting that HTML5 could do everything that Flash could do and more. As a result, Adobe began to lose favour and HTML5 started to become the platform preferred by gaming developers. HTML5 is designed to be able to deliver on just about every need that online users and developers may have, without necessitating the need for any additional plugins or other software components.
HTML5 is praised by many as the virtual ‘Swiss Army knife’ of programming and design, with the ability to build all sorts of highly complex in-browser applications, running everything from animation platforms, apps, movies, music and much more. Other reasons why HTML5 took off in the way that it did, include the fact that it runs on any platform. So, whether you’re using a smartphone, tablet, laptop, notebook, desktop, or even a smart TV, you can run all sorts of programs and apps that work off HTML5. It’s not a proprietary platform either, so you don’t have to have permission to use it, and you don’t have to pay royalties.
What Does this Mean for Mobile Gaming in 2018?
At the start of HTML5 and mobile gaming, developers used it to publish games on the iOS system, offering a range of mobile games to iPhone and iPad users. However, in this early stage, most online casinos were still using Flash to provide their casino games to mobile users. As more and more casinos began to shift away from Flash and adopt HTML5, things started to open up.
Today, thanks to HTML5, virtually any mobile device user can access a wide range of mobile casino games, with many making the most of its cross-platform capabilities. Top 2018 online casinos now offer their games, with continuity on all device platforms, allowing users to play precisely the same game on their laptops, and then move seamlessly to their tablets or smartphones when they are on the move. Some online casinos are also offering the ability to save progress at any point and then pick up again, regardless of which device platform is used to log back in to the site, creating the ultimate user-friendly mobile gaming experience to date.