One of the leading providers, Microgaming continues to dominate up until today. The provider is one of the biggest networks of progressive jackpot games in the industry. In the 90s they were the first to bloom.
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Games
Cryptologic was established in 1995. The company is a provider of online casino poker and bingo and had great success in the 90s. Popular games by CryptoLogic are Movie Mayhem, Rapid Fire and Millionaire's Club.
2000-2009
The 2000s kicked off with the first Australian Federal Government passing the Interactive Gambling Moratorium Act. As such it was illegal for any unlicensed online casino that hasn't operated before May 2000 to stay online. Making Lasseter's the only online casino able to legally operate within Australia. However, the casino was not allowed to take bets from Australian players.
For online slots, the start of the new era and the 2000s brought an increase in popularity. There were advancements in HTML and code writing which ensured releases to be even more exciting and appealing.
Online sports betting in 2000 was licensed. 680,000 customers are using online electronic payment systems for online betting.
In 2001 Playtech launches the first live dealer casino. And an online gambler strikes a $414,119 win by playing at a Caribbean online casino slot games. This notable win is marked as one of the largest wins on slot games in history.
This was also the year Novomatic launched Dolphin's Pearl, a popular game still loved and played in many casinos to date.
Microgaming steals the spotlight again when their progressive jackpot game, Major Millions, sets a world record with the largest jackpot win of over $1.5 million. The first big win of over $1 million for a progressive jackpot was at Captain Cooks Casino.
This was also the year that the popular Spin Palace Online Casino was launched. This online casino climbed the ranks over the years, gaining a loyal following and becoming one of the top trusted casinos for players across the globe.
In 2003 Novomatic had a double launch bringing out the classics still played and loved among players today, Lucky Lady's Charm and Sizzling Hot.
It was also the year of the big poker boom where the number of players started doubling on a yearly basis. The double in player numbers continued until about 2007 where it slowed down eventually.
Another big event for 2003 was the establishment of eCOGRA. It was founded as a non-profit organisation dedicated to providing operators with the best practice operating framework.
2004 was another year of wonder and excitement as IGT turned more games into online instant hits. For UK online casino players these not only became favourite but are still loved by many. This includes Texas Tea, Wolf Run and CLEO. They are regular non-progressive slots with the potential of awarding big wins of up to 5,000 the stake.
Mobile devices and technology started meeting the requirements for making real money casino gaming possible via mobile devices. Microgaming was again one of the first to test the waters by releasing its Double Magic slot for mobile and making all of their following games suitable for mobile devices.
2004 also marks the year Live Roulette was born in the UK and the Remote Gambling Association was formed.
Novomatic steps back into the spotlight with another product launch - slots such as Book of Ra which was set to become a favourite game in the decades to come.
In 2005 Microgaming started going deeper into their branded slots development, releasing the first co-branded slot game, Tomb Raider. The slot contains graphics from both the comic book and the movie, creating a trend which now is followed by most popular game creators.
IGT has worked hard, developing their MegaJackpots series before finally purchasing WagerWorks in 2005. The latter was done to streamline their online offering.
This was also the year that the United Kingdom Gambling Act passed.
Novomatic was honoured once again as Austria’s most dynamic company. Novomatic and IGT also entered into an international ticket-in/ticket-out (TITO) license agreement.
Microgaming’s Mega Moolah progressive jackpot was recognized as the most popular progressive jackpot network in the industry. And in this year, it was launched as a stand-alone slot game.
With the shift of focus from the US to Europe, the UK jumps on capitalizing and sets the Gambling Act in place to legalise and regulate the online casino industry.
This was also the year that NetEnt moved away from Cherry and was listed on NGM Equity. All this just two years after the company received its gaming license from the Malta Gaming Authority.
Tiki Wonders was released by NetEnt in January 2008 and became one of the first popular online slots by the developer.
In this year remarkable things happened in the industry with progressive jackpots reaching prize pools beyond $5.5 million!
In 2009 online casino revenue within the UK reached a whopping £1.6 Billion. Microgaming kicked off the year with a new slot release for Valentine’s Day. The Burning Desire slot boasts a first of its kind feature, offering 243 ways to win.
The new feature has no defined paylines, rather several possible winning combinations to trigger. It grows into one of the most popular mechanics used in most modern online slots.
Wolf Run is 5 reels and 40 paylines video slot that comes with a jackpot. The game is playable across all devices and comes with a free spins bonus feature. It’s a wolf-themed slot that is still extremely popular among players today.
This is a 5 reels, 3 rows and 20 paylines video slots released by IGT with a 10,000 coin jackpot. The slot has an ancient Egyptian theme with the primary focus on Cleopatra. The main bonus feature of the slot is the free spins.
Mega Moolah, one of the all-time favourites, is a 5 reels and 25 paylines video slot that comes with four progressive jackpots. The slot has an African theme, focusing on wild animals. Bonus features include a wheel of fortune and free spins.
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Games
The provider teamed up with other industry stakeholders forming eCOGRA in 2003. A year later, Microgaming launched the first mobile gaming software. In this decade Microgaming also became the first provider to develop a branded online slot - Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.
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Games
IGT turned land-based classics into instant online casino hits. Like Microgaming, they started developing branded games using sophisticated technology. IGT partnered with big names such as Columbia Pictures, Hasbro, High 5 Games and Jeopardy to bring you the best range of games.
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Games
Real Time Gaming gained a reputation for taking gaming seriously. They developed the highest quality games and left the compliance details to all licensees. RTG boasted an exciting range of table games, video pokers, and online slots loved by many in this period.
$0,000,000
2010-2020
The new decade kicked off with a boost for the industry-leading software provider, NetEnt. In 2010 NetEnt launched one of their best slots - Gonzo’s Quest video slot. This is also the year NetEnt received their Category 2 license in Alderney.
The game was also the first platinum game released by the top provider NetEnt. In the lost city of gold, players can wander and win.
This year, the number of online casinos had risen drastically to over 865. Edging closer to nearly a thousand online casinos to choose from.
For NetEnt, 2011 is another big year as they launched their first mobile games and expand into Italy’s newly regulated market which made them grow even more as a provider, setting foot to become one of the leaders later.
Also, in 2011 a player managed to strike a massive $11.7 million progressive jackpot win on NetEnt’s Mega Fortune Slot. This was one of the first big wins at a NetEnt online game and was remembered as a peak in their history.
We get to 2012 when the phenomenon of mobile gambling has begun to expand, grow, and succeed. Now mobile casinos are available for all iOS, Android and Windows devices making it possible for players at any devices to enjoy online gambling.
Software providers such as Microgaming, NetEnt, and Novomatic were all working to create games to adapt to mobile devices. The selection is smaller than desktop offerings but there were already several games available.
In addition, WMS launched the Jackpot Party Social Casino for iPhone.
In 2013, Juniper Research revealed that more than $10 billion had been wagered via mobile devices across the globe throughout the year.
Scientific Games acquired WMS industries which is marked as a significant act in these years.
To highlight their success, NetEnt also launched live casino games with several online casino operators including several mobile options. All this gave a great start to mobile gaming and gambling via different devices.
This is the year that things are set to change on an even bigger scale for the iGaming industry. Bitcoin entered the online gambling industry leading to the start of cryptocurrency gambling. Since 2014 players have been able to pay with cryptocurrencies and this added to the glory of online gaming.
Play‘n GO released the massively popular Book of Dead slot on the 11th of July 2014 and it became one of their most famous slots.
Microgaming took mobile gaming to the next level by launching slot games created specially for wearable devices.
Microgaming received the Guinness World Records title for the ‘Largest jackpot payout in an online slot machine game’.
This was after UK player, Jon Heywood hit the Mega Jackpot on the Mega Moolah slot, triggering a win of over £13.2 million! This is still one of the biggest jackpot wins for not only Microgaming, but any provider. Mega Moolah was starring and became one of the most preferred to play slots online.
This was another exciting year for the industry marking the big move as gaming providers switched various games to mobile-friendly platforms. This included top names such as Microgaming, NetEnt, IGT, SG Digital and more.
One such game was the Dead or Alive slot by NetEnt, originally a desktop game revamped to run smoothly across mobile devices. By 2016, non-progressive slots also boasted impressive maximum payouts of as high as 10,000x the stake.
2017 marks the year that Aristocrat acquired Plarium Global Ltd, expanding their digital portfolio. The latter is a free-to-play mobile, social and web-based game developer. It is responsible for popular games such as Vikings, Sparta and War of Clans.
NetEnt entered the regulated markets of Mexico, Serbia and Czechia, ensuring an expansion of the game provider’s offerings and their reach across the globe.
Aristocrat continued with acquisitions and Big Fish was next in line. The leading global publisher of free to play mobile and desktop games added even more diversity to the Aristocrat gaming portfolio.
Big Fish is the creator of popular games such as Big Fish Casino, Cooking Craze and Gummy Drop.
Big Time Gaming also stepped it up with the launch of the popular Extra Chilli slot on the 4th of April 2018. It rapidly became one of the most played online slots.
2019 was a year of spectacular gaming for both online and mobile slot players. There were some amazing releases by top software providers in the industry. The year started with the high volatility NetEnt slot relTurn Your Fortune.
In June, Play‘n GO released the Rich Wilde and the Tome of Madness slot following on the popular Rich Wilde and the Book of Dead slot.
In August, Yggdrasil Gaming surprised the industry with the spectacular Yokozuna Clash slot release and again in November with Aldo’s Journey. NetEnt ended the year with the release of Finn’s Golden Tavern. Playtech also came out with several exciting releases including Cascading Cave and Blue Wizard. For Real Time Gaming fans, the release of 777 brought a lot of excitement.
It’s amazing to see how much the industry has grown. What started with a few simple slot games has expanded into a popular world of gaming with over 5,000 casino games to choose from.
Now the competition among software providers and online casino operators is tight. Big Time Gaming, NetEnt and Microgaming are the leading developers at this stage guiding the industry into the next generation through innovation and creativity.
You will find more than regular classic and video slots at online casinos. There are exciting Megaways slots, trademarked by Big Time Gaming. When it comes to the classics, Play‘n GO is the favourite and the live casino market is currently ‘owned’ by Evolution.
As for the non-progressive slots, they are no longer small pay-out slots and can offer maximum wins of over 100,000x your stake!
Highly entertaining live casino game with a game show look and feel. What makes it unique and special is the fact that it has 4 bonus rounds. The Coin Flip Bonus Round can award wins of 5,000x your stake.
This is a 7 reel and 1 payline slot. Reactoonz Original has a science theme with cartoon characters filling the reels. There are wild reels, 2x2 wilds and quantum features providing thrills for players with every spin.
This slot game is a 5 reels, 3 rows and 9 paylines video slot powered by NetEnt. It’s a popular Wild West-themed game with a jackpot of 2,500 coins. It comes with free spins, sticky wilds and 2x multipliers.
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Games
Evolution Gaming is the king of Live Casino games and the provider currently dominates this section of the industry. Evolution was established in 2006 and since then has revolutionised the world of live casino gaming.
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Games
Play‘n GO launched independently in 2004 and has games available in 30 different languages accessible across all desktop, tablet and mobile devices. The company made its mark in 2014 with the release of Book of Dead.
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Games
NetEnt launched mobile games in 2011 and developed its first HTML5-only game in 2014. The provider acquired Red Tiger Gaming in 2019, leading to higher numbers of new releases. Now NetEnt is among the leading providers.
$00,000,000
The Guinness World Record for the biggest online slot jackpot was won in 2018 with Mega Moolah.
Play Mega Moolah SlotOver the past three decades, there have been many big events leading to the industry growing into the wonderful world of magical creations we know and love today.
Here are the most prominent events that you need to know:
1994
This marks the year the online casino industry truly started getting on its feet. It was also the year that Microgaming and Cryptologic launched the first-ever online casino site.
1996
In this year, things moved into the next phase with the first real-money wagers being accepted. InterCasino was the first to accept real money wagers, paying out over $3 billion in wins in the decade.
1998
Microgaming stepped back into the limelight with the release of Cash Splash. This classic game was the first of its kind providing progressive jackpot wins.
2001
Playtech launched the first live dealer casino. It gained popularity but internet connections were not yet at an optimal speed to fully captivate audiences.
2004
In 2004, mobile devices and technology had advanced enough to start supporting real money casino games. Microgaming was among the first to enter the new field with the release of the mobile-friendly slot, Double Magic.
2005
IGT was on the hunt, pursuing players all around the world while they developed their MegaJackpot series in 2005.
2007
With the shift of focus from the US to Europe, the UK set the Gambling Act in motion. This enabled them to legalise and regulate the online gambling industry.
2012
This year marked the time when mobile casinos started opening their virtual doors for several devices. Players could access online casinos via iOS, Android and Windows devices.
2014
This year marked the time when mobile casinos started opening their virtual doors for several devices. Players could access online casinos via iOS, Android and Windows devices.
2020
The iGaming industry is growing and expanding with over 5,000 casino games available currently. New games launch regularly, with software providers working on exciting and innovative games, features and mechanics for next-generation slot machines.