IGT (International Game Technology) Slots
They don't really come any bigger than IGT. International Game Technology boasts around half the slot 🌜 machines in US casinos, and their online output is impressive enough to suggest the developer isn't just a land-based player. 🌜 In fact, there are few slots manufacturers around today that have so completely cornered both live and online markets.
The slots 🌜 world was shocked by the firm's takeover by GTECH in 2014 but it did nothing to change the reputation of 🌜 a firm that's undergone many alterations and takeovers but has remained a major player across the world.
From popular land-based slots 🌜 (some times called Vegas Slots) to the biggest progressives around, and online slots that keep the welcome bonus hunter occupied, 🌜 things don't look like slowing down anytime soon for IGT.
About IGT
IGT started out life as A-1 Supply, developing video poker 🌜 and blackjack games, and slot machines. Founder William "Si" Redd changed the name to SIRCOMA (an abbreviation of Si Redd 🌜 Coin Machines) and went public as International Game Technology in 1981.
Incredibly, sales of the firm's machines rose from a few 🌜 million bucks in 1975 to overR$60 million just seven years later, IGT boasting about 90 percent of the video gaming 🌜 market in Nevada.
It wasn't until 1986 that IGT's technological revolutions sent the company into the stratosphere.
The firm developed the Player's 🌜 Edge Video Poker machine as well as one of the first microprocessor-operated machines - the S-Slot - while also investing 🌜 in lottery ticket terminals in some US states.
By the late 1980s, IGT controlled the market share and celebrated its position 🌜 by introducing the Megacbucks slot machine in 1987. The world's first progressive jackpot slot allowed players to connect across networks 🌜 and multiple casinos to create some truly 'mega' jackpot prizses.
In the late 1990s, IGT focused its attentions on the British 🌜 market with a buyout of Barcrest Gaming, in one fell swoop snapping up the giant of the UK fruit machine 🌜 market.
The 2005 acquisition of WagerWorks provided IGT with the platform it needed for the growing online slots market. It enabled 🌜 the US player to bring a lot of its popular land-based slots to the online casino world.
But amid an era 🌜 of takeovers and mergers, it was the giant's acquisition by Italian tech firm GTECH in 2014 that really caught the 🌜 attention. The sale went through forR$6.4 billion (made up ofR$4.7 billion cash andR$1.7 billion of debt).
Free to Play IGT Slot 🌜 Machine Games
IGT Slot Machine Reviews (No Free Games)
Popular IGT Slots
Let's get down to the business; when it comes to some 🌜 of the most popular slot machines around, IGT titles are up there.
Wheel of Fortune, and its many variants and upgrades, 🌜 features a real-life spinning wheel atop the slot machine which is triggered by lining up special symbols on the reels.
Taking 🌜 the 'wheel' bonus to another level, however, is the big-brand video slot based on the hit Hollywood film, Sherlock Holmes.
Featuring 🌜 five reels and 30 paylines, actual characters and video footage from the Guy Ritchie-directed film accompanies the play. The wheel 🌜 spin bonus awards progressive jackpots galore andR$1 million payouts are not uncommon.
Enjoyed in land-based casinos the world over, as well 🌜 as the best online casino sites, Cleopatra is the Egyptian-themed slot to end all Egyptian-themed slots (sorry, Book of Ra).
Five 🌜 Cleopatra symbols on a payline triggers a 10,000-line bet jackpot, while a free spins bonus awards 15x multiplier.
Da Vinci Diamonds, 🌜 meanwhile, is the online slot that casinos never tire of using to attract new real-cash depositors. The game features IGT's 🌜 trademark 'Tumbling Reels' where winning combinations disappear to allow symbols above to fall into their place. In both land-based and 🌜 online casinos, the Da Vinci Diamonds Dual Play format features two game screens where symbols 'tumble thru' the top set 🌜 of reels onto the bottom one.
Elsewhere, IGT's Multiway Xtra range of slots like Siberian Storm offer something different - and 🌜 72- possible paylines - but newer slots like Bubble Craze have tapped into a desire from slots players to see 🌜 something a bit different in the lobby.
One of a new breed of arcade-style slots, Bubble Craze is played over a 🌜 honeycomb-style set of reels where 'bubbles' rise from the bottom to form connecting paylines.
Progressive Jackpot Games
Where do you start but 🌜 with Megabucks? Developed in the 1980s as the first progressive jackpot 'wide area' slot machine to carry aR$1 million jackpot, 🌜 it quickly became popular with slots players across the US.
The game has been responsible for some ridiculously big winners, but 🌜 perhaps none bigger than the software engineer who bagged aR$39 million jackpot in 2003 playing at the Excalibur casino in 🌜 Las Vegas.
Other IGT Games
IGT is just about slots. In 1997 the firm introduced its 'MegaSports' system that allowed sports bettors 🌜 to gamble on sports in Vegas more efficiently. At the same time, it devised computerised systems to keep track of 🌜 gambling activity on every game in a casino and award personalized bonuses to players - a first.
In 2000 IGT brought 🌜 out its millionth machine and developed the innovative 'MultiPLAY' machine which allowed players in casinos to play up to four 🌜 video slots at the same time.
More recently, IGT has attempted a move into the social gaming market with its DoubleDown 🌜 Casino app. The social casino, available through Facebook, boasts over six million players and features some of the developer's most 🌜 popular slots like Siberian Storm and Cleopatra. Video poker, blackjack and roulette are also available as part of the Player's 🌜 Suite.
