PokerStars has livened up its Virtual Reality product, PokerStars VR, with the addition of casino-style games such as Blackjack and Slots.
This comes following a major update to PokerStars VR earlier this month, expanding beyond poker and venturing into the VR casino field for the first time since its launch two years ago.
“PokerStars VR has been live for [over two years] and throughout that time a key component of its growth has been engaging directly with our community, listening to their feedback and bringing it to life as part of our ongoing efforts to improve the gameplay experience,” James O’Reilly, Innovation Manager at PokerStars – Flutter Group told pokerfuse.
“Our community asked for slots and blackjack, so we are delighted to now be giving it to them,” O’Reilly added.
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For the uninitiated, PokerStars VR is a free-to-play, authentic immersive social game that attempts to combine elements of live poker and now live casino with the online environment and offering almost a lifelike experience.
Just as in the real world, players can literally handle their chips and cards, pick up on opponents’ tells, interact with players on the table using audio chat, and even order food and drinks.
The product was officially launched by PokerStars in late 2018 after partnering with virtual reality development house Lucky VR. It remains the only major online poker room to offer Virtual Reality Poker and Casino offerings in the industry.
The game is available for download through Oculus and Viveport VR platforms, as well as through Steam, a leading digital content distribution platform. A virtual reality headset with touch controllers such as the Oculus Rift, Valve Index or HTC Vive is required to fully experience the game. The game also facilitates live streaming on both Twitch and Oculus Live streaming platforms.
Although the game is free-to-play, it does allow in-game purchases starting at $1.99.
The game has been quite well received by players. It has its own community on various platforms including Discord. In fact, PokerStars VR has received a “very positive” rating from hundreds of users and is currently ranked as one of the best VR games.
Over the past two years, PokerStars VR has received frequent updates to the product including the addition of Sit & Go’s, new themes, monetization of the platform and such, but the addition of Blackjack and Slots marks one of the biggest upgrades to date.
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Last year, it launched its first-ever tournament series called the Virtual Reality Poker Tour (VRPT) played entirely on the PokerStars VR platform.
Recently, PokerStars announced Mason Hughes as its first-ever PokerStars’ Virtual Reality ambassador, joining the ranks of the operator’s established team pros such as Chris Moneymaker, Lex Veldhuis, Andre Akkari, Spraggy, Fintan Hand, and others.
“It’s not just a game of poker, it’s a great place to be social and meet new people from across the globe whilst enjoying the game,” said Hughes.
With the COVID crisis forcing casinos to shut down, the addition of Blackjack and Slots is the operator’s attempt to fill the void for those who may be missing live gambling by offering them a realistic experience.
