Gaming has become one of the world’s most beloved pastimes. It has evolved from something on the fringes of society in the 90s and early 2000s to becoming a veritable pop-culture phenomenon.
Australia is no different when it comes to embracing gaming culture, and over the past few years, games like Fortnite and Minecraft have taken the world by storm. However, it’s also important to note that online gambling is one of the biggest gaming trends in Australia – especially when compared to other countries around the world.
1. Fortnite
Fortnite is a massively popular game that took the world by storm during 2014-2019. However, it’s still pretty well-loved almost 10 years on. The game has managed to garner an impressive player list of more than 220 million to date, and of those players, there are roughly over 460,000 dedicated Australian players who log on regularly to enjoy this zany and massively addictive game.
Essentially, the game gives you the ability to create your own unique avatar and lets you explore an open world where you can interact with other players. The game gives you an assortment of weapons to choose from and others that you can pick up over the course of the game or loot from other players.
While this may not sound too different from other MMO (Massive Multiplayer Online) games, what set Fortnite apart was that they added a lot of creativity to the type of outfits you could collect to customize your character with, which really led to the game’s pop status.
In fact, the game has become so popular that even celebrities like Drake have been known to log on from time to time and have some fun jamming it out with other everyday people like you and me on the game. While there has been a dip in all the rage about Fortnite, the game still garners more than 3 million players on a daily basis, which means it’s definitely going to age into a classic.
2. Online Gambling
Although it’s not a massive craze like Fortnite, online gambling is one of the most popular forms of gaming in Australia, and has become a real part of Australian culture. Roughly 11% of Australians had gambled online during a period of 6 months in 2022, whereas the figure had been 8% during a similar study in 2020.
The reason for the success of online casinos like those on Read Write’s list in Australia is that people tend to live far away from any real casinos, so being able to access them online makes the process a lot easier. Every state across the country has a fairly high per capita gambling spend, with Tasmania the lowest at $602 in 2020, and NSW topping the list with over $1500 in the same year. As a comparison to illustrate the scale of gambling in Australia, the average Brit (another country known for its significant gambling culture) spent £141 ($270) per year on gambling in 2023.
Pokies (slots) are by far the most popular online gambling game in Australia, much like in other parts of the world. These simple games can be played by anyone, with many players choosing jackpot slots for the potential of huge wins. Australia’s next-most popular online gambling game is Blackjack, with the following Australian rules:
- No Surrender Rule
- Double Only on 9 to 11
- You Can Double After Splitting
3. Minecraft
Now, for those of you who are tired of simply running, jumping, and eliminating other players online, there’s an alternative – Minecraft. This game also caused a massive stir when it was first released and has grown into becoming another of the most popular games in the world. It’s still widely enjoyed today, and is played by over 180 million people a month as of February 2023, with over 340,000 of them coming from Australia.
Essentially, the game gives you an open world, and you’re encouraged to interact with other players to build things within the game world, mine for resources in order to build tools and equipment, as well as having fun in whatever way you see fit with others on the game.
It’s gotten a lot of praise for being a game that can literally be enjoyed by anyone even though Minecraft has a very simple graphical style. Many would think that because it lacks violence and direct objectives, it wouldn’t be popular with adults, but popular streamers like PewDiePie are known for playing this game for hours on end and the majority of its users are actually those in their 20s and 30s.