THE HISTORY OF ONLINE CASINO GAMES

The industry just getting started

One of the biggest developments was the IP Multicast technology developed in 1989. This development led the game console developer Sega to release Sega Meganet. It was the first major push from a console developer for online console gaming and was only released in Japan in 1990. This development is significant as it shaped the industry and marked the start of online gameplay.

In 1990, major changes started happening especially for gaming industries in the world. Colorado legalised gaming in the old mining towns. There were betting limits of 5 dollars in place, and only slot machines, blackjack and poker were allowed.

In the same year, the Illinois Riverboat Gaming Act was passed. The Act allowed for 5 licenses to be granted by January 1, 1992, and an additional 5 by March 1, 1992.

The rise of land-based casinos

Gaming on ships was addressed by the U.S. Flag Cruise Ship Act. After which the first three riverboats opened in Iowa, attracting over 1.5 million people. The first boat launched in April 1991 and the first riverboat casino in Illinois opened.

Missouri also legalised riverboat gaming allowing for several riverboats and one continuously docked boat. These boats were only allowed to offer games of skill such as blackjack, meaning no slot games.

In the same year, Louisiana legalised Video Draw Poker Machines as well as riverboat gambling under a statute separate from Video Poker which also included different regulations.

Under construction

This was another eventful year as a casino opened in Bay St. Louis Mississippi in September. The casino was operated by Casino Magic. In the same year, the Foxwood Casino owned by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe opened in February in Ledyard, Connecticut.

The latter had an initial construction cost of $70 million and was financed by Kien Haut Realty of Malaysia due to U.S. lender refusing to underwrite it. Its margins were 45%, making it double the percentage of the Atlantic City casinos. Connecticut received more than $100 million a year in donations in place of taxes if there was no other casino gaming happening in the state.

A year for legislation

In 1993, thirteen states had legalised casinos including Indiana and Louisiana where a single land-based casino was approved for the Rivergate site in New Orleans.

The first commercial casino opened in Montreal, considered the largest one in Canada. It still operates today with gaming available 24 hours a day.

The early 90s were also the developing years of the phenomenon known as slot machines. They were not as widely accepted, accessible or popular back then but there were slot machines available in a number of the land-based casinos. They became so loved among players that they are still available today and now even in online slot format. This includes the jackpot game Cash Splash from Microgaming and Hugo Slot Game from Play'n GO.

Online gambling sites were allowed licenses

This year the internet was completely commercialised with the Caribbean's nation of Barbuda and Antigua also being the first to regulate online gambling.

1994 marks the Free Trade and Processing Act allowing for online gambling sites to acquire licensing. Nowadays, this licensing jurisdiction is mainly associated with rogue online casinos.

In 1994, Bally Technologies introduced the Bally Game Maker. This was the first machine in casinos that put multiple games on the same unit. All were video and could be launched by touching the icon on the screen. The most popular of the games were still video poker and video blackjack.

Microgaming was established and started building on its reputation. Today Microgaming is one of the leading software developers in the industry.

The Gaming first online casino

In 1995, CryptoLogic was established and this online security software company also successfully developed methods to make secure financial transactions via the web. It was also at the end of 1995 that Microgaming launched The Gaming Club as one of the first online casinos to launch with Microgaming software. The industry leader launched blackjack, video poker, craps, and roulette.

During the Mid-1990s Aristocrat Technologies, an Australian company also started creating games with five reels and bonus rounds such as free spin bonuses. These weren't an immediate success, but after the win on the Pacific Rim, U.S. game makers were dedicated to creating video slots with bonus features.

Launch of InterCasino

CryptoLogic launched InterCasino which boasted a total of 18 online casino games. InterCasino became the first online casino to accept real money wagers online. The casino paid out over $3 billion in wins.

1996 is also the year that NetEnt was establia software provider set to become one of the biggest leaders in the industry over the years to come.

It's also a milestone year for the industry with the release of the "Reel 'Em" slot from WMS Industries Inc. The game is especially significant as it is the first video slot released with a second screen bonus round. The bonus round is played on a completely different screen which today is a common occurrence.

Slots became more popular at casinos. They started taking up about 70% of the casino floor space in land-based casinos. They were also responsible for about 70% of the casino revenue.

The great Wheel of Fortune

In 1997, International Game Technology brought out the Wheel of Fortune slot which came with a bonus wheel and sound effects from the iconic television game show. Where many themed slots lose their spark, this game continues to be a player favourite in the modern era.

The online slots available only imitated the main features of land-based slot machines, including games such as Cleopatra, still a popular online casino slot today. Slots were completely electronic and created a baseline for the design of slot machines as we know them today.

By the end of 1997, there were 200 online gambling sites to choose from. By then the industry had evolved to include online casinos, poker sites and sportsbooks. The industry already boasted annual revenues close to $1 billion by the end of 1997.

Progressive jackpot with Cash Splash

Microgaming released Cash Splash, the very first progressive jackpot game. It could only be triggered when a special combination was revealed on the wheel.

Cash Splash provided relatively high payouts and has inspired the launch of many exciting jackpot games since. Apart from Cash Splash, Microgaming also released five other games: Golden Dragon, Pirates Paradise, Martian Money, Pharaoh's Fortune and Trick or Treat.

Along with progressive jackpots, the first online poker sites were also launched. Planet Poker was considered the first online gambling site to provide online poker gambling options. It attracted a significant number of players and was also the first site to introduce an online version of Texas Hold 'em Poker.

First Australian online casino

Microgaming released another 24 games which is nearly four times the number of releases for the previous year. These titles include Sand Storm, Heavy Metal, Flo's Diner, Jester's Jackpot, Jurassic Jackpot, Cosmic Cat, Fruit Slots, Cyberstud Poker and Joker Poker.

Lasseter's was launched, becoming the first Australian licensed online casino. By this year sources claim there are over 700 online casinos accepting bets.

1999 also marks the year new gaming software becomes available allowing for multi-player functionality. This is a big step forward in the industry enabling players to play their favourite games together and even make use of a chat function to have a conversation throughout the game.

Gonzo’s iconic quest

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.

Gonzo’s iconic quest

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.

The mobile gaming industry’s year of wins

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.

Mobile gaming is a revenue lure

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.

Bitcoin and the Book of Dead

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.

Largest online slot machine jackpot payout

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.

Desktop games turned mobile-friendly

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.

Aristrocrat & NetEnt’s new ventures

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.

Aristrocrat’s continued acquisition spree

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.

A year of 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.

Doom, domination and determinations

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!