It may be difficult to fathom that online gaming has been around almost as long as the internet itself. It was one of the first online services that launched in the mid-90s as the activity became legal via Antigua and Barbuda’s Free Trade & Processing Act, in 1994. From then on, the industry boomed and estimates say that it will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 11.5% in the next seven years.
Fueled by the proliferation of smart devices, internet coverage, and digital technologies, the prospects and the market for online gaming has skyrocketed. However, one aspect that has always slowed these digital platforms in providing an authentic casino experience is latency in live streaming. Any delays have an impact on customer satisfaction. Thus, delivering real-time gambling is essential and has remained a challenge for the world’s biggest gaming operators. Enter – WebRTC.
What is WebRTC? It’s an open-source project that helps browsers and apps with real-time communication via APIs, or application programming interfaces. It’s very similar to VoIP technology, but it’s a unique P2P solution when it comes to web browsers. With more than 5 billion people using social media, WebRTC is improving the quality of video calling in case of a poor connection and is the future of online communication and live casinos.
Facebook integrates WebRTC in both Messenger and Facebook Live. Google uses it in Google Meet and Google Hangouts, and you can find WebRTC in many popular online conference services such as GoToMeeting.
How Can WebRTC Improve Live Casinos Experience?
Delivering low latency is key to great online gambling. Speed is the name of the game and WebRTC may be the answer. It creates a point-to-point connection with the player so content can stream with little communication overhead. This encourages continued gameplay, which benefits both the player and the operator’s bottom line.
For Live Casinos to be fully immersive, the experience needs to feel natural. There can’t be a long delay between when the cards are dealt and when the player sees them. Then, again, when the player bets and the dealer registers his bet. Given that Flash is obsolete, WebRTC is the way to go, as it provides a latency of 500ms and it can encrypt all streams and hide them from hackers.
The scope of the implementation in WebRTC is very high as it is highly customizable, it provides opportunities for operators to deliver content at near real-time, in broadcast quality to any device, anywhere.
How to Install Webrtc
WebRTC does not require any external software as the technology is built-in the latest browsers. All you need to do is see if the browser you're using is WebRTC compatible. Some websites will provide this info upon access. If your browser is not WebRTC compatible, you can find and download one that is.
If you’re looking into building an app that uses WebRTC, then, you should know that the technology uses HTML5 and javascript. If you want to create your signaling server, then you can use Node.js, via the Cygwin tool. For those unaware, this is software that helps developers use Linux commands on Windows machines.
WebRTC Chrome Plugin
There is no Chrome Plugin for WebRTC as Chrome already supports the technology in both desktop and Android versions.
Users of Microsoft Internet Explorer, Edge and Apple Safari require third-party plug-ins for WebRTC.
How to Disable WebRTC
If a user chooses to disable WebRTC, the method varies depending on the browser they use. Chrome and Opera users need to install a special extension such as WebRTC Leak Prevent, Easy WebRTC Block, or WebRTC Control, and deactivate the feature using one of these add-ons.
Firefox users can disable it directly in the browser settings. All they need to do is type – about:config in the address bar and hit enter. Then type – media.peerconnection.enabled in the search bar. Double-click on the result and change the Value column to false.
Safari users need to navigate to the Preferences menu, then proceed to the Advanced tab, and check the Show Develop menu in menu bar option. Then, in the Develop table, disable the Enable Legacy WebRTC API option, if it is checked.
