International Game Technology (IGT) was founded way back in 1975. I say “way back” as it won’t take a genius to figure out that was before the advent of online gaming (which was around 1994 for the history buffs). IGT started life as a supplier to land-based casinos and that still accounts for much of their business today. They are based in Nevada, with main offices in the gambling havens of Las Vegas and Reno but have numerous other bases throughout the world, including the UK (London and Manchester), Australia, Mexico and China.
That a Nevadan company has offices in Manchester (not to mention New Zealand, Estonia and others) should tell you something: IGT are big, very big. Their 2012 financial report shows a turnover of $2.1bn, it is estimated they produce half of America’s slot machines (and anyone who has been to Vegas knows that’s a LOT of slots) and they are listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
About IGT
As said, IGT began life as a supplier and developer for bricks and mortar casinos but relatively recently began to also look at the online market. That process was quickened in 2005 with the company’s purchase of Wagerworks whilst they enhanced their mobile capability in 2008 with the acquisition of Manchester-based company, Million-2-1.
Both these companies now fall under the IGT Interactive umbrella which employs over 200 people and they provide software to some massive online casinos. The merging of these companies, along with the broad industry know-how of the parent company make IGT a force to be reckoned with.
The company has won several major awards including Slot Provider of the Year and various prizes for video poker and their technology generally, from bodies such as Casino Player Magazine and eGaming Review. Their size and history are enough to assure us of their security and fairness, as is the impressive list of online casinos they power, as shown in the table above.
IGT Casino Games
Unsurprisingly one of IGT’s major strengths is their slots, with big branded games like Monopoly, Cluedo, Wheel of Fortune and Star Trek all featuring. They offer over 80 interactive slots supporting a huge range of languages and currencies. They have 20 table games, including all the classics like blackjack and roulette, but they have enhanced these by offering different versions complete with extra features, side bets and bonuses.
They also power instant win games such as Keno and Hi-Lo, as well as video poker and sports-themed games. With well over 100 games in total, to play either instantly or by download, you have a good choice at IGT. Some offer more games but there are still plenty to choose from and more importantly the quality is good with some unique extras.
Conclusion
IGT know this industry inside out and their Interactive arm bring that same experience to bear on the online side of the operation. Their big name, branded games will be familiar to many people whilst they are also increasingly developing their social and mobile offerings, which are definitely areas to watch in the future.
Overall IGT software is very good. Two minor negatives are that the choice of games is not as wide as at the massive players in the online world, whilst they only offer one progressive jackpot (although admittedly, at the time of writing, this stands at over £2.5m!). Those small gripes are more than offset by the reliability, speed and security that IGT offer though, so all in all the company gets the thumbs up.