Slot manufacturing has become an increasingly competitive market in recent years. Not long ago, in the 1970s, about 90% of the market was owned by one company, Bally Gaming Systems. So during that time, if you were playing a slot machine, you were most likely playing one made by Bally. There are now more than a dozen slot machine manufacturers on the market, including software designers who create slot machines for online casinos. Below, while not a complete list, is a sample of some of the biggest names in the field of traditional slot machine manufacturing. AC Coin & Slot was founded in 1978 in Pleasantville, New Jersey. I don’t know about you, but when I saw Reese Witherspoon and Tobey Maguire in Pleasantville, I had no idea the city was real. I certainly didn’t think it was in New Jersey, although parts of the Garden State look pretty nice. Anyway, AC Coin & Slot started building slot machines around the same time that gambling was legalized in New Jersey and today, in addition to selling its own slot machines, it is the exclusive distributor of slot machines manufactured by International Game Technology in Atlantic City.
Aruze Corporation, based in Japan, manufactures slot machines and other products. They are licensed to manufacture and distribute slot machines in Nevada, New Jersey and Mississippi. Aruze Gaming America, its US subsidiary, is based in Las Vegas and is a wholly owned subsidiary.
Atronic Americas is not, as you might expect, a company based in North, South or Central America. In fact, it is a German company. For some reason, online slot indonesia they didn’t think Atronic Deutchland sounded good. She has a nice ring if you ask me. Regardless, the company started in 1994 and has become the third largest slot machine manufacturer in the world.
Bally Gaming Systems is the original big guy on the scene. Founded in 1968, it has operated under a variety of names, including Bally Technologies, and produced the first multi-currency slots and the first multi-currency video slots. While they don’t have absolute dominance in the market as they once did, Bally is still a dominant name in the industry. They are not related to Bally Total Fitness.
International Game Technology (IGT) is a Reno, Nevada-based manufacturer, the home of Lt. Jim Dangle and his excellent assistants. IGT is a multinational, with subsidiaries located all over the world and is the largest slot machine manufacturer in the world. They pioneered the popularization of progressive slots for large areas and created a ticketing system called EZ-Pay.
Konami Gaming is the gaming division of the Japanese company known for creating popular video games that are played in arcades and Nintendo around the world. How awesome is Konami? They created Castlevania. Stop talking. They have been making slot machines since 1973, but have only been distributing slot machines in the US since 2003. They are now licensed in Nevada and various tribal territories in the US. Mikohn Gaming is relatively new to slot machine manufacturing. They are based in Las Vegas and started in 1996. Most of the games they develop and market are owned by IGT.
In addition to slot machines for land-based casinos, there are some companies that specialize in designing software for online slots. While there are many companies in this field, there are a handful of big names dominating the market. Microgaming is a software development company based in the Isle of Man. They claim to have launched the first online casino in 1994 and to produce online slots for nearly 100 casinos. In addition to slots, they also design games of poker, blackjack, roulette, and more.
Playtech identifies itself as the largest publicly traded online gaming software developer in the world and I couldn’t find anything to refute that claim. They design a wide variety of games, including slots and various table games. Real Time Gaming (RTG) was founded in 1998 in Curaçao. They are best known for their progressive slots and are one of the leaders in their production. RTG is one of the few online game designers who did not develop their own policy regarding American customers after the United States Congress passed the Illegal Internet Gambling Enforcement Act in 2006. Instead, they let each of their customers decide whether to accept American players. .