Inside Asian Gaming

inside asian gaming MArch 2016 28 Tech Talk Will virtual reality be e-gaming’s next big thing, or is it just an illusion? By Steven Ribet V irtual reality was touted as the next big thing in the 1990s. But it flopped after it became clear that existing technology, for consumer purposes at least, was not up to producing a convincing experience. Two decades on faster computers, better screens and graphics, and improvements in motion tracking sensors have prompted a second push. Samsung and Taiwan’s HTC have both launched virtual reality head-mounted displays (or VR headsets) for the consumer market. Virtual Reality’s Second Coming At this year’s ICE trade show in London, visitors to the booth of British e-gaming supplier Microgaming were invited to don an Oculus Rift DK2 virtual reality headset, equipped with a Leap Motion 3D Controller. Later this year Sony will follow suit. So two British e-gaming firms are taking advantage of these developments to bet that for gambling, VR is a technology whose time has come. “The idea is that you’re more involved. Everyone wants to be that footballer on the football pitch; to see it from that point of view. And instead of just betting on your team, crossing your fingers and hoping things are going to happen, you can actually impact the outcome,” says Steven Rogers, COO of Digital Games at Inspired Gaming. “With VR you’ve got money riding on yourself. We’re crossing over from passive observation to a skill-based product.” Inspired has achieved a turnover of about US$160 million as a leader in virtual sports. In some 30 countries including the UK, Italy and China, betting shops use its software to allow players to wager on 90-second matches of sports including tennis, football, horse- racing and motor racing. It’s pretty much like a HD computer game, with a choice to bet on players (or teams or horses or drivers) at different fixed odds. In Italy, where Inspired has a 95% market share, its virtual sports bring in a quarter of the turnover of betting shops where they feature. Last year, Inspired signed a 15-year exclusive deal with Mike Tyson. Virtual sports fans will be able to bet on a range of opponents pitted against the boxer in a new product launched in September. A few months later they will also be able to don a VR headset and slug it out with Iron Mike themselves. The gaming company travelled to the boxer’s personal gym in Nevada to develop its Virtual Rush Boxing game. Mike Tyson put on a special suited covered with tracker dots and sparred with his trainer. Inspired’s engineers erected a huge motion-capture rig around the ring, kitted out with over one hundred cameras. They also gave him a full body scan, to model his physique and facial features. Beating Tyson will win players the game’s jackpot, with odds at perhaps forty to one. (The chances of your average punter lasting more than ten seconds in real life would, after all, be somewhat below average.) Inspired also worked with a range of lesser fighters, to offer players a stable of twelve alternative opponents at better odds. Inspired is also developing a VR horseracing game, although it won’t be interactive. Players will see a race through the eyes of their chosen jockey; looking ahead at the track, looking behind (hopefully at all of the other horses) or looking to the side at spectators in the grandstand, without controlling the horse.