For years, Las Vegas was the world’s most prosperous gambling city. The desert town was only founded in 1905, but by 1950 it was recognized as a haven for high stakes gambling. Thanks to celebrities like Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley, along with repeated representation in Hollywood blockbusters like Ocean’s Eleven, Sin City became world famous. But recently, it has been overtaken by Macao, China, which raked in an astonishing $45.27 billion in 2013. Vegas is still an iconic place for all things gambling, but to get back on top it may need to evolve. One way to do this would be to become the virtual reality capital of the world.

Virtual Reality – the Potential

Although it hasn’t really taken off yet, many people are expecting big things for virtual reality. Mark Zuckerberg has given the new technology his full backing, and Facebook bought the Oculus Rift for the whopping sum of $2 billion back in 2014. The founder of the social network giant wants everyone to be using the site in VR in the future, but so far sales of the headset have been poor. As of reports from March 2017, there were only 243,000 Oculus Rift sales by the end of 2016, while the HTC Vive moved 420,000 units. The low sales could be due to the fact that the headsets are still quite expensive, with the Rift and Vive retailing at around $599 and $799 respectively. On top of that outlay, users also need to own expensive computer equipment to run the devices. Despite the slow start, projections for VR are strong, and the market is expected to grow to $21.5 billion by the year 2020. To put that in perspective, it was worth $2.5 billion last year. These market predictions are down to the fact that there is a lot of belief in the technology, and more developers are seeking to add VR elements to their games. PlayStation is leading the way in this regard, with recent titles like Resident Evil 7: Biohazard featuring VR elements. In fact, Sony had already sold more than 1 million units of its headset by June this year.

VR Adventures in Vegas

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Las Vegas has now begun to embrace VR. VR Adventures is a recently opened VR experience which plunges guests into a three-dimensional virtual world. Players are required to make use of hand movements, and also walk, sidestep, and jump to move or fly through the virtual environment. It is open until 12am every day, and can be found on Las Vegas Boulevard. Some of the options to choose from include Screaming Skydive, Soaring Superhero, House of Horrors, and Fly N’ Shoot. It is an innovative idea, and provides another entertainment option in the city that has everything. If this becomes a major hit, more things that incorporate VR could soon crop up in Vegas. There has already been a movement towards creating virtual casino games, and Microgaming is leading the way with its VR Roulette which was showcased at the ICE Totally Gaming Expo in 2016. Roulette was an obvious choice for the developers who created the first online casino software in 1994, as the world famous game that first came about in Paris in 1796 has gone through many different variants in the internet age. At Betway Casino, for instance, there are European, French, multiplayer, and live versions of the spinning wheel, and players are increasingly looking to vary their casino games experience by choosing such titles. The Microgaming VR game utilises the diverse nature of roulette and transports players to a space scene, in which there is a roulette wheel operated by a robot croupier. Games like this could certainly be a hit in Vegas, where casinos are constantly striving to provide customers with unique and memorable experiences.

Vegas Could Help Boost VR Sales
Not only could the use of VR help to attract more visitors to Vegas each year, the famous gambling hub could also assist sales of VR headsets and push the new platform into the mainstream. Sin City has been setting trends for decades, and was the first place to have mega-casinos when Steve Wynn opened the Mirage in 1989. The massive complexes featured everything from gambling, to restaurants and swanky hotel rooms. Macao clearly took inspiration from Vegas here, and built the Venetian Macao which is the seventh-largest building on the planet at 10.5 million square-feet. If Vegas becomes the VR capital of the world, it would be wise to assume that other gambling hubs like Macao and Atlantic City will swiftly follow suit. For people who are yet to make their minds up on a holiday to Vegas, there is the Vegas VR app for Google Cardboard which transports users to the bright lights of the Nevada-based city. This should serve to attract even more VR users to Vegas in the near future.

It’s still early days, but Las Vegas has shown throughout its history how open it is to change. It has constantly evolved and grown over the years, and VR could well be the next big thing in the timeline. VR certainly needs an iconic city like Vegas on board, and if it takes off there is no reason why it can’t become the VR capital of the world.