I’m planning to include some reviews of various gambling machines here soon, so I thought I’d start with a look at some of the slot machine manufacturers and their products. There was a time, not long ago, when such a list would be short. But with the advent of internet casinos, the list of slot machine companies grows longer every day.

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Of course, depending on where you live, you might be searching for such information using a phrase like “fruit machine suppliers” or “gaming companies.” Such a list should (and does) include old slot machine brands like IGT (International Game Technologies) and internet casino software vendors like Microgaming and Playtech.

Pachinkos from the 1970's make up the vast majority of machines in the United States, in numbers easily approaching 95%. They come from a wide variety of manufacturers, with the bulk being Nishijin. Also plentyful are Sanyo, Sankyo, Daiichi, Ginza, and Heiwa to name a few.

As I create more posts about related subjects, I’ll update this page with links to manufacturer-specific lists of games and reviews of their overall offerings.

I know that a lot of sites in this space try to offer as complete a resource as possible, but please remember that I’m just one guy with a blog. I don’t have an army of freelance writers working for me, and even if I did, there are so many slot machine games from so many different providers that it would be almost impossible to keep up with them all.

But if I’ve left out your favorite slot machine manufacturer, let me know in the comments, and I’ll add it to the list.

Slot Machine Manufacturers List – Updated 2020

And here’s the list of slot machine manufacturers:

1. Ainsworth Game Technology

Ainsworth Game Technology is one of the oldest companies on my list of slot machine manufacturers. They’ve been in business for 20+ years. Ainsworth is an Australian company, and if you know anything about gambling in Australia, you know how popular slots are there. They call them “pokies,” though, which is an abbreviation for “poker machines.”

And some of Ainsworth’s most recent game additions include:

• Action Dragons
• Big Hit Bonanza
• Pac-Man Wild Edition

2. Amatic Industries

Amatic Industries has been in business for over a quarter of a century now. Besides slot machines, they make video lottery terminals and video roulette games. They have a huge selection of slot machine brands in their stable, too, including some of the following:

• Games Bond (Yes, this is a “James Bond” knockoff.)
• GrandX (A “Wheel of Fortune” lookalike.)
• Vampires (A simple enough theme and title, no?)

3. Amaya Gaming

Amaya Gaming is defunct now. It’s part of The Stars Group, the company which owns PokerStars. I include it here under its original name because I think some online users still look for games from Amaya Gaming. They offer lots of cute games, including:

• Barn Yard Boogie
• Jenga
• Street Fighter II

4. Aristocrat Gaming Technology

Aristocrat Gaming Technology is another Australian “poker machine” vendor. They’e recently gotten their hands on some major intellectual property, too, and they offer games like:

• Batman Classic TV Series
• The Big Bang Theory
• Britney
• Game of Thrones
• Sons of Anarchy
• The Walking Dead

5. Ash Gaming

Ash Gaming used to be a big deal, now they’re a part of Playtech. As part of that group, they have extensive licensed properties to create games about. Their most famous, though, is probably Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.

6. Bally Technologies

Bally Technologies is now a subsidiary of SG Gaming (Scientific Games). The company has been around forever. Not only do they make slot machines, but they used to be one of the biggest pinball machine companies in the world, too. Some of their most well-known brands include:

• James Bond
• Monopoly
• Willy Wonka

7. Barcrest Gaming

Barcrest Gaming–like Bally Technologies– is also now a subsidiary of SG Gaming (Scientific Games). If you’re a real slot machine aficionado, you might recognize the names of some of their games:

• Deja Vu Diamonds
• Flippin’ Out
• Psycho Cash Beast

8. Betsoft Gaming

Betsoft Gaming specializes in online gambling games, especially mobile friendly slots and 3D games. Here are some of their titles:

• Dragon Kings
• The Golden Owl of Athena
• Ogre Empire (which has a suspicious resemblance to the movie Shrek)

9. Blueprint Gaming

Blueprint Gaming is based in the United Kingdom. Most of their fruit machines can be found on casino floors there or in Germany and Italy. Here’s a sample of their titles:

• Fairy Fortunes
• Slots o’ Gold
• Wild Antics

10. Cadillac Jack

Cadillac Jack was a subsidiary of Amaya Gaming, which is now wholly owned by The Stars Group.

11. EGT Interactive (Euro Games Technology)

EGT Interactive specializes in video slots. You can find a lot of their games at various sports book sites that also offer casino games. They offer over 150 different games, including titles like:

• 40 Ultra Respin
• Crazy Bugs II
• More Like a Diamond

12. Endemol Shine Gaming

Endemol Shine Gaming specializes in both online and brick and mortar gambling games. Some of their best-known properties belong to the licensed television game show genre. Some examples include:

• Deal or No Deal
• MasterChef
• Million Pound Drop

13. Fremantle Media

Fremantle Media is one of the more unusual listings on this page, because they don’t exactly design or manufacture slot machine games. They own several large television brands, which they aggressively promote through multiple channels–including slot machines. If you’re playing one of these slots, Fremantle Media had a lot to do with it:

• American Idol
• Blockbusters
• The X Factor

14. The Gamesys Group

The Gamesys Group does slots and bingo games. Some of the better known brands in their stable include:

• The Godfather
• Guardians of Fire & Ice
• Secrets of the Phoenix

15. Heiwa Corporation

Heiwa Corporation is a publicly-traded Japanese corporation that specializes in pachinko and pachislo machine manufacture.

16. High 5 Games

High 5 Games creates both internet-based and land-based slot machine games, some of which are popular. They use HTML 5 for their online slot machines. Their most famous games include:

• Cats
• Golden Goddess
• Photographing Fairies

17. IGT (International Game Technology)

IGT is far and away the largest slot machine company in the world. They’re everywhere. The most popular gambling machines in the casino are the product of International Game Technology. Just a few of their big names include:

• Family Guy
• Jeopardy
• Siberian Storm
• Wheel of Fortune

18. Konami Gaming

Konami Gaming is the maker of the following slot machines:

• Dungeons and Dragons
• Flaming Red Diamonds
• Year of Best Wishes

19. Mazooma Interactive Games

Mazooma Interactive Games is a UK game company that specializes in online games. They’re now a subsidiary of Novomatic.

20. Microgaming

Microgaming was the first large online casino software provider. They’re best-known for the wide variety of their online progressive jackpots. Some of their most famous brands include:

• Battlestar Galactica
• Halloween
• Playboy
• Terminator 2

I’ve written about Microgaming before, here.

21. NetEnt

NetEnt is another publicly-traded company that specializes in online games. They’re responsible for, among other things, the Jumanji slot machine game.

22. NewGin Co. Ltd.

NewGin Co. Ltd. is another Japanese manufacturer of pachinko and pachislo machines.

23. NextGen Gaming

NextGen Gaming serves both online and land-based casinos. They offer some really cool titles, including:

• King Kong Fury
• Samurai Split
• Wonder Hounds

24. Novomatic Gaming

The name “Novomatic” always reminds me of the Steve Goodman song, Vegematic.

But that song has nothing to do with the company, though. Novomatic Gaming is probably the biggest European slot machine maker there is, in fact.

Some of their games you’ve probably heard of include:

• From Dusk Til Dawn
• Stories of Infinity
• Treasure of Tut

25. Ortiz Gaming

Ortiz Gaming specializes in Class II and Class III slot machines, especially when it comes to bingo technology. And their games are OVERTLY bingo-based, too:

• Allstar Bingo
• Rodeo Bingo
• Multimania

26. Playtech

Playtech is another online game designer and creator, and, like Microgaming, they’re publicly traded. They also don’t allow their licensees to accept real money players from the United States. Some of their better known games include:

• Ace Ventura
• American Dad
• Batman Begins
• Grease
• Justice League
• Pink Panther
• Rocky

27. Realtime Gaming

Realtime Gaming (RTG) is probably the biggest online casino game vendor that still serves U.S. audiences — at least the audiences that don’t live in states with legal, regulated online casinos. (There are 47 states like that.) As a result, you’ve probably never heard of most of their games unless you’re a devoted internet gambler.

My favorite of their games is It’s Good to Be Bad, but I’m old school.

28. SG Gaming (Scientific Games)

Scientific Games is headquartered in Las Vegas. They own Bally now, and they own Shuffle Master. And they also own WMS Gaming. Their most well-known game is probably Monopoly slot machines.

29. Universal Entertainment Corporation

Universal Entertainment Corporation is another pachinko and pachislo manufacturer.

30. VGT (Video Gaming Technologies) – One of My Favorite Slot Machine Manufacturers

VGT is one of the biggest names in the Oklahoma gambling market, and they specialize in bingo-based slot machine games.

31. WMS Gaming

WMS Gaming is now a subsidiary of Scientific Games. So see that entry above.

32. Apollo Games (just added!)

Apollo Games has a full profile on our site. Click the link for full details.

The Final Word about Slot Machine Manufacturers

The brand names in the slot machine manufacturers category are many, but, of course, IGT (International Game Technology) towers above the rest like Walmart towers over other retail establishments. The list above gets longer when you account for the companies making online slot machine games, too.

If you have any comments about the games available from these corporations, I’d enjoy hearing them. I’m human and make mistakes, so if you leave a comment pointing one out, I’ll update this post with corrections (and probably even give you credit.)

Bally Manufacturing, later renamed Bally Entertainment, was an American company that began as a pinball and slot machine manufacturer, and later expanded into casinos, video games, health clubs, and theme parks. It was acquired by Hilton Hotels in 1996. Its brand name is still used by several businesses with some trademark rights, most notably Bally Technologies and Bally's Corporation.

History[edit]

The Bally Manufacturing Corporation was founded by Raymond Moloney on January 10, 1932, when Bally's original parent, Lion Manufacturing, established the company to make pinball games. The company took its name from its first game, Ballyhoo. The company, based in Chicago, quickly became a leading maker of the games. In the late 1930s, Moloney began making gambling equipment, and had great success developing and improving the mechanical slot machines that were the core of the nascent gaming industry. After manufacturing munitions and airplane parts during World War II, Bally Manufacturing Corporation continued to produce innovations in flipperless pinball machines, bingo machines, payout machines and console slot machines through the late 1950s. They also designed and manufactured vending machines and established a coffee vending service. The company made a brief venture into the music business with their own record label, Bally Records.^[1]

Moloney died in 1958, and the company floundered briefly. With the financial failure of its parent company, Bally was bought out by a group of investors in 1963. Throughout the 1960s, Bally continued to dominate the slot machine industry, cornering over 90% of the worldwide market by the end of the decade. In 1964, Bally introduced the first electromechanical slot machine in 1963, called the 'Money Honey.', Bally became a publicly traded company and made several acquisitions, including German company Guenter Wulff-Apparatebau (renamed Bally Wulff) and Midway Manufacturing, an amusement game company from Schiller Park, Illinois.

The 1970s[edit]

In the late 1970s, Bally entered the casino business when New Jersey legalized gambling in Atlantic City. This effort moved forward even though the company was temporarily unable to attain a permanent license for the completed casino. During this period, company head William T. O'Donnell was forced to resign because of alleged links to organized crime. Prior to this, O'Donnell strenuously denied any such links.^[2] For example, when questioned at the Moffitt Royal Commission (the NSW Clubs Royal Commission) - an investigation held New South Wales, Australia - on alleged criminal activities with US and Australian criminals, he admitted that Genovese Mafia boss, Jerry Catena (Gerardo Catena), once owned shares in the business, 'but I bought him out.'^[2] He also denied knowing Chicago mobster, Joseph Dan Testa, even though Australian Police described Testa 'as a representative of Bally who visited Australia.'^[2]

The company opened the Park Place Casino & Hotel on December 29, 1979.^[3][4] Also in the late 1970s, Bally made an entry into the growing market for home computer games. The Bally Professional Arcade, as the machine was called, had advanced features for the time. These included a palette of 256 colors and the ability to play 4-voice music. The machine also shipped with a cartridge that allowed users to do a limited amount of programming on the machine themselves (using the BASIC language), and record their creations on cassette tape. The machine's price point was above the Atari 2600 (its major competitor), and it had a much more limited set of available games. Despite a loyal following, it failed to compete successfully. During the 1970s and early 1980s, Midway became a primary source of income for Bally as it became an early arcade video game maker and obtained the licenses for three of the most popular video games of all time: Space Invaders, Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man.^[3]

The 1980s[edit]

By the mid-1980s, the company again had a strong balance sheet and began buying other businesses including the Six Flags amusement park chain in 1983, and the Health and Tennis Corporation of America. The health club division, under 'Bally Total Fitness', grew during the 1980s and 1990s. The company also purchased several casinos, including the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip (which was subsequently re-branded as Bally's Las Vegas), The MGM Grand Reno (Reno, Nevada) and the Golden Nugget Atlantic City which was branded Bally's Grand and then later 'The Grand-A Bally's Casino Resort'. This expansion quickly took its toll on the company's finances, and Bally was soon forced to sell off several divisions, including Six Flags and Bally-Midway. The pinball division, along with Midway, was acquired by Williams Electronics in 1988.

The 1990s[edit]

German Slot Machine

In 1990, Bally came under new management as its largest shareholder, Arthur Goldberg, was appointed chairman and began a restructuring process.^[5] By 1993, the company had sold off several divisions and used the proceeds to pay down debts, including the slot machine division (which became Bally Gaming International, an independent company); Scientific Games, a maker of lottery equipment; Bally's Reno; and exercise equipment maker Life Fitness.^[6] The Aladdin's Castle chain of video arcades was sold that year to Namco, and was renamed as Namco Cybertainment.

The company opened Bally's Saloon & Gambling Hall, a riverboat casino in Mhoon Landing, Mississippi in December 1993.^[7][8] It was moved to Robinsonville in 1995 and became part of a joint venture with Lady Luck Gaming.^[9]

In 1994, the company changed its name to Bally Entertainment, to reflect its focus on the casino business and the fact that it no longer had any manufacturing operations.^[10][11] It also announced that the health club business would be spun off to shareholders, to further narrow Bally's focus on casinos.^[11] The spin-off was completed in January 1996, with Bally Total Fitness becoming a separate company.^[12][13]

In May 1995, Bally Entertainment announced plans to develop Paris Las Vegas, a new casino hotel next to Bally's Las Vegas. The project would eventually begin construction in 1997 and open in 1999 at an estimated cost of $760 million.

In June 1996, Bally agreed to be acquired by Hilton Hotels Corporation.^[14] The sale was completed on December 18, 1996, with Hilton paying $3 billion ($2 billion in stock plus $1 billion in assumed debt).^[15] Later, Hilton's casino division, including the former Bally properties, was spun off as Park Place Entertainment (later Caesars Entertainment, Inc.), which was acquired in 2005 by Harrah's Entertainment (later Caesars Entertainment Corp.).

The name[edit]

Many casinos and businesses worldwide took on the Bally name and logo in the maze of ownership, division spin-offs and licensing agreements.

Midway, and—after buying Midway—Williams, continued to use the Bally name for its pinball games, until WMS Industries (the parent company of Williams) ceased pinball production in 1999. On March 31, 2005, WMS Industries struck a deal with Australian company The Pinball Factory to give them a license for the intellectual properties and the rights to re-manufacture former Bally/Williams games in the field of mechanical pinball. In addition, The Pinball Factory also has bought the right to manufacture new games using the company's new hardware system under the Bally brand.

Alliance Gaming, which had bought Bally Gaming International in 1995, changed its name to Bally Technologies. Bally Total Fitness, gambling distributor Bally France, and arcade distributor Bally Pond still use the same 'Bally' logo though any formal business relationships, as of June 2007, are coincidental. The rights to use the name for casinos were sold by Caesars in 2020 to Twin River Worldwide Holdings, which then changed its own name to Bally's Corporation and said that it would rename most of its properties under the Bally's brand.^[16]

The name is was mentioned in the song, 'Pinball Wizard' in the rock operaTommy and its soundtrack.

Pinball machines using the Bally brand[edit]

Select machines developed by Bally or Bally-Midway[edit]

• Amigo (1974)
• Ballyhoo (flipperless) (1932)
• Bally Baby (slot machine) (1932)
• Ballyhoo (flippers) (1947)
• Baby Pac-Man (1982)
• Blackwater 100 (1988)
• BMX (1982)
• Boomerang (1974)
• Bow and Arrow (1974)
• Capersville (1967)
• Captain Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy (1976)
• Centaur (1981) & Centaur II (1983)
• Cybernaut (1985)
• Dixieland (1968)
• Dogies (1968)
• Dungeons & Dragons (1987)
• Eight Ball (1977)
• Eight Ball Deluxe (1981)
• Embryon (1981)
• Evel Knievel (1977)
• Fathom (1981)
• Flash Gordon (1981)
• Fireball (1972)
• Fireball II (1981)
• Freedom (1976)
• Four Million B.C. (1971)
• Frontier (1980)
• Future Spa (1979)
• Gator (1969)
• Hi-Lo Ace (1973)
• Hokus Pokus (1975)
• KISS (1979)
• Lady Luck (1986)
• Lost World (1978)
• Mata Hari (1977)
• Monte Carlo (1973)
• Night Rider' (1977)
• Nip-It (1972)
• Nitro Ground Shaker (1978)
• Odds and Evens (1973)
• On Beam (1968)
• Mr. & Mrs. Pac-Man (1982)
• Paragon (1979)
• Playboy (1978)
• Power Play (1977)
• Shoot-A-Line (1962)
• Sky Divers (1964)
• Strange Science (1986)
• Strikes and Spares (1978)
• The Six Million Dollar Man (1978)
• Vector (1982)
• Wizard! (1975)
• Xenon (1980)

Developed by Midway[edit]

German Slot Machines For Sale

• The Addams Family (1992)
• Attack from Mars (1995)
• Black Rose (1992)
• Cactus Canyon (1998)
• The Champion Pub (1998)
• Cirqus Voltaire (1997)
• Corvette (1994)
• Creature from the Black Lagoon (1992)
• Doctor Who (1992)
• Dr. Dude and His Excellent Ray (1990)
• Eight Ball Champ (1985)
• Gilligans Island (1991)
• Harley-Davidson (1991)
• Indianapolis 500 (1995)
• Judge Dredd (1993)
• NBA Fastbreak (1997)
• The Party Zone (1991)
• Popeye Saves the Earth (1994)
• Radical! (1990)
• Revenge from Mars (1999)
• Safe Cracker (1996)
• Scared Stiff (1996)
• The Shadow (1994)
• Theatre of Magic (1995)
• Twilight Zone (1993)
• Who Dunnit (1995)
• World Cup Soccer (1994)

Developed by The Pinball Factory[edit]

The Crocodile Hunter Outback Adventure based on the wildlife documentary television series The Crocodile Hunter was in development by Australian pinball manufacturer The Pinball Factory under license from Bally. It was abandoned at the end of 2007 due to the death of the main character of the game, Steve Irwin, and never went into production.^[17]

Slot machines[edit]

• Money Honey (1964)
• Big Top (1982)
• Jackpot Riot (1993)
• Blazing 7s (1993)

Casinos[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^'Bally Records'.
2. ^ ^abc'Bally chief denies links with mafia'. The Age. 18 September 1973. Retrieved 8 October 2018 – via Google News.
3. ^ ^abChristian Marfels; 2007, Bally: The World's Game Maker, 2nd ed., Bally Technologies Inc., Las Vegas ISBN978-1-4243-3207-6
4. ^'Bally Manufacturing Corp'. Encyclopedia of Chicago. Retrieved 21 June 2007.
5. ^P.J. Bednarski (November 13, 1990). 'Top exec quits as Bally revamps'. Chicago Sun-Times – via NewsBank.
6. ^Debra Dowling (December 19, 1993). 'Goldberg whips Bally Gaming into shape'. The Star-Ledger. Newark, NJ – via NewsBank.
7. ^Laurel Campbell (December 7, 1993). 'Adjacent casinos open in Tunica'. The Commercial Appeal. Memphis, TN – via NewsBank.
8. ^'Bally's licensed to open in Tunica'. The Commercial Appeal. Memphis, TN. AP. December 4, 1993 – via NewsBank.
9. ^Michelle Hillier (December 22, 1995). 'Bally's rolls upriver, reopens casino closer to Memphis crowds'. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Little Rock, AR – via NewsBank.
10. ^Scott Ritter (March 18, 1994). 'Options help CEO's earnings'. The Star-Ledger. Newark, NJ – via NewsBank.
11. ^ ^abDavid Dishneau (May 18, 1994). 'Bally gambling its games will outperform its gyms'. Akron Beacon Journal. AP – via NewsBank.
12. ^'Bally spin-off final'. Chicago Sun-Times. January 10, 1996 – via NewsBank.
13. ^Debra Dowling (September 19, 1995). 'Bally Entertainment pushing out its network of push-up centers'. The Star-Ledger. Newark, NJ – via NewsBank.
14. ^Barry Meier (June 7, 1996). 'Hilton Hotels to buy Bally Entertainment for more than $2 billion'. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2019-03-14.
15. ^Joe Weinert (December 19, 1996). 'Hilton and Bally close deal'. The Press of Atlantic City – via NewsBank.
16. ^'Twin River Worldwide Holdings to become Bally's Corporation'. Delaware Business Times. October 29, 2020. Retrieved 2020-11-11.
17. ^'Internet Pinball Machine Database: The Pinball Factory 'The Crocodile Hunter Outback Adventure''. www.ipdb.org.

1970 German Slot Machines

• Galecki, Irek (2006), Slot Machines History, Online Casino Press, archived from the original on September 17, 2012, retrieved 2007-06-25
• Wilson, Mark R. (2005), 'Bally Manufacturing Corp.', Encyclopedia of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois: Chicago Historical Society, retrieved 2007-06-27
• Lawlor, Pat (1992), 'The Addams Family', Pinball Hall of Fame, Internet Pinball Database, retrieved 2007-06-25

Bally 1970s Slot Machine