Is HTML5 the future of live casino game delivery?

According to Visionary iGaming’s CEO Martin Reiner it is.

What we the players desire is simple: high resolution video streamed in real time; no distortions, no pixelation, no latency (you know that annoying occurrence when the video lags behind the actual game as evidenced by the RNG outcome display…or where the dealer audio is not in sync with their lips) and no freeze frames (nothing is more annoying than the video freezing as a roulette ball is just about to find its pocket!).

Easy to want.  Not so easy to deliver.

Java to Flash to HTML5

As technologies available to developers advance (underpinned also by faster connection speeds) so does the quality of live game videos.  In the last 5 years alone the improvements have been dramatic – from small, low resolution videos that were more a novelty, to large TV quality streams that immerse you in the gaming experience. We have Adobe Flash to thank for these improvements. Now HTML5 promises to offer another leap forward.

Says Mr Reiner, in a company media release:

“…live dealer software has moved from java and .exe ‘heavy’ user applications to more lightweight Flash based technology…The most significant change in the technical landscape moving ahead is the launch of HTML5 as a delivery platform for live online games.”

The other great advantage of HTML5 is it’s broad browser and device compatibility.  While Flash based games can’t be played on many mobile devices, most notably iPhone and iPad, HTML5 can.  And Flash compatibility problems are only set to get worse with the announcement by Adobe just this month that they will will no longer continue to develop Flash Player mobile device browsers after Flash Player 11.1 for Android and BlackBerry PlayBook.

I guess the writing was on the wall for Flash’s demise for mobile devices when Steve Jobs wrote an open letter in April 2010 saying,

“Flash is no longer necessary to watch video or consume any kind of web content…new open standards created in the mobile era, such as HTML5, will win”

Indeed Adobe are now saying that they will be moving to ‘aggressively contribute’ to HTML5.

What it all means for players?

Better games and better video on more devices. All we have to worry about is perfecting our playing strategy so there’s some cash left over to buy one of these new-fangled devices!

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An example of a TV quality stream that immerses you in the gaming experience…Playtech’s live roulette