IGT

IGT History and Overview

International Game Technology (IGT) is an American gaming company that's become one of the largest slots providers in the world. They are headquartered in New York and also have offices in Las Vegas, Rome and other cities around the world. Today, IGT produces around half of the land-based slot machines in America, and they are very prevalent in the online/mobile gaming sector too.

IGT's Beginnings

It's little surprise that IGT is so large today, given that they are one of the world's oldest providers of slots and other gaming technology. The company was launched in 1971 under the name A-1 Distributing Company, and they quickly began producing video poker and slot machines. By 1981, IGT was already a big success so they went public.

The company evolved in 1984, when they acquired Electronic Data Technologies and became one of the first software providers to use computerized player tracking to reward loyal players. Even today, many casinos use similar technology in their loyalty programs.

IGT begins offering Progressive Slots

Fueled by the success of their early slots, video poker machines and loyalty tracking, IGT continued being an innovator in the casino field in the 80s. A product of this time was Nevada's Megabucks, which was the first-ever, wide-area progressive slot machine. Players immediately took to Megabucks because its progressive jackpot was seeded with $1 million.

Worldwide Expansion

IGT was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in the 1990s and also began establishing roots on other continents. They opened various offices in Europe, Argentina and South Africa as they became a very hot stocks. The expansion was justified when IGT developed the incredibly popular "Wheel of Fortune," which is a legendary progressive slot that is still widely played.

Acquiring WagerWorks

While IGT continued to add new technology companies to their portfolio, none were as significant as their acquisition of WagerWorks in 2005. This was huge because WagerWorks was already in the online gaming space, and IGT found this to be an easy way to enter iGaming. They were then able to transition some of their most-popular land-based slots like Cleopatra, Double Diamond and Wolf Run onto internet casinos. Since this time, IGT has continued to expand their online offerings to hundreds of casinos.

Acquired by GTECH

Another pivotal moment in IGT's history came when they were acquired by the Italian gaming company GTECH for $6.4 billion. After the merger, the new company name became International Game Technology PLC.

IGT Today

IGT PLC continues to supply their slots and other gaming products to some of the largest land-based and online casinos in the world. They earn over $2 billion in annual revenue and remain one of the most-elite software providers in the casino industry. Some of their more-popular slots today include Avatar, Bridesmaids, Cleopatra II, Elvis, Family Guy, Lord of the Rings, Orange is the New Black, Star Trek and The Hangover.