Software Developer: IGT Review
Introduction
IGT are a game-developer in the online gambling industry, and in this post, we’re going to look at the company, their slots, and why you should consider checking out their titles. We’ll even cover the progressive jackpots they’ve built, some of which offer multi-million-dollar jackpots!
When it comes to online gambling, you don’t get much bigger than IGT – and this online and offline gambling giant is responsible for producing thousands of games, cabinets, and casino systems – and they’ve done so for over half a century!
IGT slots may not be instantly familiar to online players (although some of their signature titles will be), but as you’ll see in this post, the software provider have developed some of the best games to date, and their purchases of various other software providers adds to this stellar selection.
In this post, we’re going to take a look at some of IGT’s most enjoyable and popular slots – and we’ll begin by taking a brief look at the company itself, and its history.
About IGT
IGT was created in 1976, and the first 15-20 years of their business life was spent developing gaming machines for land-based-casinos. This begun with Video Poker games and lead quickly to slots, something the software provider have had close to their chests ever since, and a 1990 inclusion on the New York Stock Exchange began IGT’s rise to the ‘top’ of the online gambling world.
Today, they are one of the biggest names not just in online gambling, but in business – and they continue to grow, with various company-acquisitions further cementing their position as a dominant industry leader.
For example, in 1998 the company acquired Barcrest (a well-known game developer), and since, they’ve brought-out WagerWorks, GTECH, and WMS.
Worth an estimated $3.8 billion, it’s clear IGT have a solid grasp of what it takes to succeed in the online gambling industry – and now, we’re going to take a look at some of their most popular and well-known slots.
IGT Slots
IGT slots are easy-to-play, exciting – and, generally speaking, offer great win-potential.
Many of their games are built around a popular theme, usually from TV or films – and the best example of this is perhaps their “$1,000,000 Pyramid” range of games, which have become somewhat like ‘cult classics’ for the software provider.
Featuring three games – The $25,000 Pyramid, the $100,000 Pyramid, and the $1,000,000 Pyramid – this game range has been a huge success for IGT, thanks to the game’s large localized jackpots, and they can be found in both land-based-casinos and online casinos – with thousands of players spinning the reels every hour.
Like the pyramid games, IGT have also seen large-scale success with their “Wheel of Fortune” slots, again, which feature around the television show of the same name. The Wheel of Fortune slots are some of the best-designed games from IGT, and they were some of the first titles from the developer to be ported over for desktop and mobile play (as they were originally found only in land-based-casinos.)
Another name worth looking at is “Cleopatra”, arguably the software providers most popular online slot release yet, and this exciting game offers a simple, yet incredibly exciting dynamic to offer players the chance to win up to 10,000X their stake in a free spin bonus-round, where all wins are multiplied by 3X.
In the following section, we’re going to take a look at some of IGT’s progressive jackpot slots.
IGT Jackpot Slots
One of the only slot development companies to offer jackpots in both land-based-casinos and online casinos, IGT have solidified their stance as a reputable gambling operator with their fantastic range of games, and jackpots range from a few thousand dollars, right the way to multi-million-dollar jackpots.
One of the most popular progressive jackpot slots from IGT is “Family Guy”, unsurprisingly themed around the TV show of the same name, and with an average jackpot amount of $500,000, it’s not hard to see why so many players choose to join Brian, Stewie, and the gang to try and hit the free-spins bonus-round.
Another popular jackpot game IGT offer, is “Ghostbusters: Triple Slime”, and again, this is themed around the film of the same name; players battle it out in a quest to capture the most lucrative ghost… and if you can catch the elusive white-nemesis, you could find yourself walking away with a cool $2 million.
Mobile Gaming
It wasn’t until IGT brought-out WagerWorks back in 2011 that they really begun to take mobile slots seriously – but since they have, around 40% of the software providers game catalogue has been re-designed to be mobile-optimized, and while 40% may not sound much, remember that IGT offer – literally – thousands of different games, so it’s not a quick task by any means.
Thankfully, the last few years have seen the provider quicken the pace at which their games are made available to mobile players, and new games have a particularly heavy emphasis on being mobile-ready.
One thing worth bearing in mind if you plan on playing IGT’s slots from your cell phone or tablet; you’ll want to tilt your device into landscape mode, as the majority of their games require this for them to run correctly. While you may get the game to load in portrait mode, performance will likely be affected – so while it’s not a major setback, it’s something to bear in mind.
Final Verdict
IGT have been around since the very beginning of online gambling; indeed, they’ve been at the forefront of slot development, back since even the 1-line pokies, popular in Las Vegas, and it’s clear that the software provider has stood the test of time and know a thing or two about what they’re doing.
While they’ve come under criticism at times for being “behind the times”, their massive workforce and catalogue of games presents unique challenges that some of the smaller software providers don’t have to think about – so it’s worth giving IGT credit for managing to adapt and keep up in what is proving to be an incredibly fast-paced and changing industry.