The slot industry mirrors the film industry in certain ways. You have studios and production companies that make films continuously for general release. Some films have huge budgets and are highly promoted and anticipated blockbusters, whilst others are from independent studios and the productions are on a much smaller scale – also check out Ambiance Slots.
Some films are instantly recognizable as belonging to a certain studio, because of the style of the production itself. All these factors can apply to the slot studio developer system as well.
Since the invention of online gambling, demand for games both from gambling platforms and the public has continued to increase. The result has been the creation of global slot game developing studios. Some have become the biggest in the business and now dominate the industry.
The Major Players
There are plenty of up-and-coming slot corporations that are steadily working their way to the top. This journey is often aided by either creating outstanding games, or by inventing a gaming concept that takes the industry by storm. An obvious example of this is the Megaways mechanism which is a reel modifier introduced by the Australian slot design house Big Time Gaming. It allows different numbers of symbols to land on each reel during each spin and this creates thousands of winning lines. Even though Megaways slots are all the rage, there are still slot studios that are bigger than Big Time Gaming.
Playtech
Playtech was founded in 1999 and has been providing gambling software for online casinos, including poker, sports betting, scratch cards, mobile gaming, and live dealer games ever since. It is also an accomplished slot game developer and is behind the Age of The Gods series of slots. Playtech has become so big that it held a licensing contract with Marvel and produced several slots featuring the characters from the Marvel universe. This contract expired in 2017 and instead, Playtech acquired the rights to create slots based on DC Comics creations such as Batman and Superman instead, courtesy of Warner Bros.
Microgaming
Microgaming has been credited with developing the first online casino software that was developed in 1994 and rolled out in 1996. Apart from this accolade, they are also one of the largest produces of slot games. This award-winning corporation is one of the oldest in the business, but timeless productions such as Immortal Romance, Thunderstruck II, Mega Moolah, and Tomb Raider have ensured that this slot producer remains at the top of the slot developing food chain. They also have the rights to produce slot versions of big Hollywood blockbusters and titles such as Terminator 2, Jurassic Park, and Bridesmaids are just a few of their movie-themed slots.
NetEnt
NetEnt is another slot and gambling software development corporation that has years of experience within the industry. It was recently acquired by the Evolution Gaming Group in December 2020 and this is despite it being one of the top five biggest slots developers in the world. Some titles of memorable slot games that NetEnt has produced include Starburst, Blood Suckers, Jack Hammer, Mega Fortune, and Jack and The Beanstalk.
