iGaming has exploded since 2020.
At the start of the decade, you’ll remember the COVID-19 pandemic happened and the entire global population got locked down. While people were stuck at home, searches for online casinos hit an all-time high and the iGaming trend has kept getting hotter ever since.
When you look at today’s online gaming space, so much of it is driven by iGaming sites. Millions of people have now joined the likes of BetMGM, DraftKings, and Stake.us just so that they can play the games on there, while Kick and Twitch (the world’s biggest streaming platforms) are dominated by casino streamers. It’s a booming industry.
The Most Popular iGaming Games
🎰 Slots
The driving force behind the recent rise of iGaming has been slots. Yep, this all-time classic casino game has suddenly caught fire again, capturing the attention of both new generation players (especially Gen Z’ers and Millennials) along with old-school players from the past. But which slots in particular are dominating the iGaming charts? Here’s a breakdown:
1. Sugar Rush (Pragmatic Play)
Sugar Rush was a serious game-changer when it first dropped back in 2022. Most online casinos wasted no time in adding it to their game catalogues and it quickly started to skyrocket. Players were hooked on the candy-themed slot’s popping symbols, bright colours, and tumbling reels. Not to mention, the free spins and multipliers thrown on top made it irresistible. And just last year, Pragmatic Play’s Sugar Rush 1000 — an updated version of this modern classic — was crowned the 2024 Bigwinboard ‘Game of the Year’. Even several years later, players and critics are still crazy about Sugar Rush — and it’s had a huge impact on the iGaming industry.
2. Big Bass Bonanza (Pragmatic Play)
Big Bass Bonanza was released right at the end of 2020 and also became an instant hit. This fishing-themed slot offers 5 reels, 10 paylines, and free spins, making for an incredibly simple (yet highly rewarding) slot experience. It’s because of this why Big Bass Bonanza is seen as one of the ‘go-to’ beginner slots, as it’s incredibly easy to pick up and get the hang of. It’s essentially the perfect example of what makes modern slots so much fun: the gameplay is incredibly simple but you find yourself hooked on every spin as if it’s your first time.
3. Buffalo King Megaways (Pragmatic Play)
Based in the plains of North America, Buffalo King Megaways is another one of the most successful ‘Megaways’ slots from recent times. If you didn’t know already, Megaways is a special type of mechanic that was introduced in 2015 and has since become one of the main features seen in today’s slot games. The way it works with Buffalo King — as well as every other type of Megaways slot — is that you get up to 117,649 ways to win. This has transformed online slots forever, as players now have more ways to win than ever before, making the gameplay that extra bit more exciting. So, when you add this feature to a slot like Buffalo King, which already has an extremely high volatility, it makes playing a no-brainer. This is why (if you speak to a typical slots player today) they’ll probably tell you that Buffalo King Megaways is one of their favourite slots of all time.
4. Starburst (NetEnt)
Starburst is what you would call an ‘OG’ in the slots world. It was first released all the way back in 2012 by NetEnt and has since established itself as one of the crowd-favourites across most major online casinos. What’s special about Starburst is that it has an epic intergalactic theme, stacked symbols, and incredibly simple gameplay. All you have to do is line up matching symbols of classic symbols (like Sevens and Bars) across the 5×3 grid and some prizes will be heading your way. Plus, some casinos are still continuing to offer welcome bonuses that are directly linked to Starburst, which is another one of the reasons why this old-school slot game is still popular over 10 years later.
5. Sweet Bonanza (Pragmatic Play)
Sweet Bonanza is another online slot that has changed online gaming following its release. After clicking on the game, players are instantly transported to a candy-filled, bright pastel, and vibrant wonderland where a 6×5 slot grid is floating in the middle of the screen. The aim is to land winning combos of symbols so that these symbols can then pop and be replaced by new symbols from above, allowing you to get some extra wins. This particular mechanic — cascading reels — has become extremely popular thanks to slots like Sweet Bonanza, leading to a point where the wider gaming community now expects cascading reels in pretty much every slot game they play. It’s arguably the best modern feature seen in slot games today — and Sweet Bonanza is the perfect game to get started with if you want to test it out.
Why Has Online Gaming Shifted to Slots?
Online gaming has changed a lot over recent times. The most surprising change is that countless people — ranging from experienced gamblers to casual gamers — have decided to start playing online slots. There are many reasons why they’ve done this, too, including:
✅ Higher RTPs
When you play traditional games, you’re just doing it for fun, right? Well, slots are a little different. The gameplay itself is fun, but you’re also putting yourself in an environment where winning prizes is a genuine possibility. And the odds of you winning are drastically increased when you play high RTP slots, which have become insanely popular. The high RTP slots on the gamble usa website — such as Book of 99 and Tropic Reels — have 99% RTPs. From a player’s perspective, this turns them into must-plays, as you’re likely to get more of the money back that you wager compared to regular slots.
✅ Modernized Features
Traditional ‘old-style’ slots started to get boring during the 2000s and early 2010s. This is why software providers began to get creative and ramp up some new features in the years leading up to 2020, including Megaways, cascading reels, cluster pays, free spins, progressive jackpots, and more. These new features have ultimately modernized slot games and made them accessible to new audiences. Without them, the slot industry wouldn’t even be close to the popularity level it’s currently at.
✅ Kick and Twitch Influence
Kick and Twitch are two huge streaming platforms on the internet. Here, xQc, Adin Ross, and other casino streamers will broadcast themselves playing slots, making huge bets, and (sometimes) winning crazy rewards in return. When you watch them do this, it’s incredibly entertaining. Not to mention, it’s incredibly influential and has led to countless players from new generations signing up with online casinos to play these slots themselves. This is even why Stake.us — the leading sweepstakes casino — spent big bags of cash signing sponsorship deals with the leading casino streamers on these platforms.
✅ Celebrity Endorsements
Ever since 2020, we’ve seen some huge celebrity endorsements of online casinos with slots. The biggest to date has been the Stake x Drake deal, which currently involves Stake.us paying iconic rapper Drake $100 million-per-year to promote their site. Interestingly, whenever Drake promotes Stake on his streams, he usually does this by playing popular slots. Naturally, the Drake influence has been huge, which has led to thousands of new players joining Stake.us just for the slots alone.
✅ Different Types of Slots
For decades, the only type of slots you could play were the classic 3-reel fruit machines (the type you would find in Las Vegas casinos and bars). However, when online gambling exploded, retro slots quickly started to get stale. This is why online casinos started to pump out all kinds of different slots to keep players excited. And if you fast forward to today, players are now spoilt for choice. There are Megaways, Tumbling Reels, Progressive Jackpots, Bonus Buy, and all other types of different slots you can pick from. Essentially, there’s something for everyone, including the old-school and new generation players.
👤 Live Dealer Games
Whether you step inside an online casino or sweepstakes casino, live dealer games are another one of the most popular iGaming categories. In a nutshell, a live dealer game works like this: you enter a lobby (e.g. Live Dealer Blackjack), take a seat at the virtual table, and connect with a real-life human dealer via video camera. You can then communicate with the deal by in-game chat. The game itself will start and all of the rules are exactly the same, making it just like real-life.
These days, there’s a live dealer version of almost every casino game to ever exist. We’re talking Live Dealer Poker, Live Dealer Texas Hold’em, and even Live Dealer Baccarat. All you have to do is think about what your favourite game is and choose the live dealer version of it. Simple. Once you dive into a lobby, you’ll then quickly get a feel for how it works. Basically, it’s exactly like being in a land-based casino — such as one you’d find on the Las Vegas Strip — except you’re playing from home instead. Now that’s fun. Just remember to be respectful to the live dealer and other players in the lobby, as this is something that online casinos take very seriously!
🎡 Roulette
Roulette is another one of the electric iGaming categories at the moment. Naturally, roulette is popular because of how simple it is. As a player, all you have to do is pick red or black (or an individual number) and hit the spin button. If the ball lands on your colour or number, you win. And if it doesn’t, you have the option to play again.
Today’s online casinos and sweepstakes casinos understand that roulette is one of the most in-demand games outside of slots, which is why they’ve stacked their game libraries with it. From European Roulette to American Roulette, the choices are pretty much endless. Plus, some providers have even put modern spins on this all-time classic game, offering new versions of it like ‘Gravity Roulette’.
In Gravity Roulette — which you can play inside the McLuck social casino as well as several other sites — the potential payouts work differently. In traditional roulette, straight-up single number bets typically pay 35:1, whereas Gravity Roulette introduced random multipliers to certain numbers, with multipliers ranging from 50x to 1,000x. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that this means you can potentially win much bigger prizes, which is why Gravity Roulette (and several of the other new variations of roulette) are extremely popular.
Summary
From casual gamers to experienced casino fanatics, it seems like everyone is getting in on the iGaming movement. In the space of just a few years, we’ve entered an exciting new era where players from all different backgrounds are ditching traditional video games so that they can play slots, live dealer titles, roulette, and other iGaming classics, too. It’s understandable why players are so captivated by it — especially with the prize-winning element involved.