Ontario residents have seen a flurry of new casino gaming opportunities over the last few years. The industry’s rising popularity has seen new players sample classic games like blackjack, slots, and baccarat. For many, this is a brand new experience—especially considering many have only ever played at casino locations.

When someone imagines the features that make one online casino better than its competitors, they’re likely to think about the availability of titles and a solid rewards program. However, advanced software is just as important for casino gamers.

Not only does new technology influence gaming features found in online casinos, but also the broader video gaming industry as a whole. In fact, casino platforms and their partners have quietly helped steer key developments in sectors across the modern gaming industry, from eSports to mobile titles. This is in spite of the fact that the crossovers that exist between traditional video games and casino titles are often under accounted for.

Ever wondered how these two industries are tied together? Keep reading for a list of the top contributions casinos have made to the contemporary gaming world.

The Push for Multiplayer

Today, MOBA games are some of the most popular titles in the eSports industry. MOBA stands for a multiplayer online battle arena, with prominent examples being League of Legends and Dota 2. The key component of these games, as with FPS or first-person shooter games, is the multiplayer element.

Dozens of players battle it out during eSports matches, many of which are structured as five-versus-five battles. But back in the 1990s, multiplayer games were still a pipedream. Early popular examples of multiplayer FPS combat include 1997’s GoldenEye, released on the Nintendo 64, which included a four-person deathmatch mode.

But years before, poker rooms had already shifted online—and included multiplayer rooms. The trend soon spread to other games, including blackjack and roulette. Though real money wasn’t added until 1998, it’s worth noting that casino providers were leagues ahead of traditional video game software by this point.

The Original Live Stream

Similarly to the way casinos helped steer the future of online multiplayer games, they also helped put live streaming on the map. You guessed it—live dealer casino games, a staple in the industry today, predated the live-stream boom on platforms like Twitch and YouTube.

In fact, the same poker brands that began offering multiplayer games in the late 90s and early 2000s quickly began experimenting with live video links. The goal was to stream a real-life dealer to virtual and remote players to enhance the immersive aspect of the game.

This was especially true for brands that began to expand beyond poker. As more players sought out games like baccarat, roulette, and blackjack, demand for improved gameplay increased. Though it took a few years to nail live dealer technology, platforms like Twitch didn’t launch until 2011. YouTube, similarly, was late to the game.

While live-streaming video game sessions and live-streaming eSports events would have likely evolved without the influence of casino technology, it’s worth nothing that traditional video game developers weren’t the first to make pioneering steps in this direction.

The Rise of Spectator Gaming

Casinos helped spearhead multiplayer and live-streaming features in gaming as a whole. But what about the concept of eSports? As the industry has evolved over the last decade, dozens of famous athletes have gotten in on the ground floor. Overwhelmingly, the modern industry reflects traditional sports leagues in terms of infrastructure.

But the original spectator sport in gaming had nothing to do with early hits like Pong or Street Fighter. In fact, the first gaming competition was the World Series of Poker, launched in Las Vegas in 1979. In the 1990s, major US networks were showing the event—and they were relying on a tiny hole cam so that viewers could see the action unfold with all the necessary information to keep track of events.

It was one of the first times gaming had been transformed into a spectator market, and it would provide more than a few handy notes for the coming proliferation of eSports.