History of Microgaming Online Casino Games

Published on: April 22, 2012 

Microgaming is one of the leading online casino software developers in the industry. It offers over 600 games to its clients, which is the largest portfolio from any software provider and it adds more games every year than any software provider.

Microgaming had evolved online casino software as far back as 1994. In 1995 it perfected the casino administration and player tracking system and in 1996 it launched its first online casino. The casino is still in operation under the name The Gaming Club. The first games developed by Microgaming were three reel slots, of which Fantastic Sevens became very popular. In 1998 Microgaming released Cash Splash. This was the first wide area progressive jackpot slot at online casinos. In 2000 Microgaming launched the Flash instant play online casino games. Initially the games in the instant play software were the popular download online slots. The inaugural offering included Double Magic, Fantastic Sevens and Jurassic Jackpot.

2002 saw the start of the boom in the online casino industry. A popular Microgaming progressive jackpot online slots Major Millions was hit for over $1.5 million. In 2003 Microgaming upgraded to the Viper software. The ability of the software was immediately seen in the Thunderstruck slot game. Despite Thunderstruck II being released a few years ago, the original game remains a favorite at Microgaming online casinos. 2003 also saw the release of Mega Spin slots. These slots allow players to spin a number of sets of reels simultaneously. New developments at Microgaming continued throughout 2004. Microgaming created video versions of popular three reel progressive slot games. This cashed on the brand equity of the existing games and allowed extra features to be introduced. Both versions were linked to the same progressive jackpot.

In 2004 Microgaming had signed an agreement with Eidos for release of online slots games based on their popular arcade games. The first product of this agreement Tomb Raider was released in 2005. In 2005 Spin3, Microgaming’s mobile gaming partner made an entry in the industry. Tomb Raider was simultaneously offered at the Microgaming mobile casinos. In 2005 the 100 hand Power Poker video poker games were also launched. 2006 continued to be a great period for Microgaming. The total cumulative payouts on all the Microgaming progressive slots games exceeded $200 million with more than 5,700 players benefitting. Microgaming launched its Live Dealer casino and also introduced multi hand play on table games. The landmark event of 2006 was, however, the release of Mega Moolah the multi-tiered progressive jackpot that reset at a million dollars.

The second branded Eidos slot game Hitman was released in 2007. The sequel to Tomb Raider, Secret of the Sword was released in 2008. The other landmark releases that year were MySlot that allowed players to upload their own images as symbols on the reels and Cashapillar, the first 100 payline slot game. The outstanding event in 2009 was the €6.37 million single hit payout on Mega Moolah. The Great Galaxy Grab was Microgaming’s 400th online casino game. In 2009 Microgaming released its first All Pays slots Burning Desire and its first multi player slots game Wheel of Wealth.

In 2010 Microgaming made the biggest scoop in branded slots with the release of the first part of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. In 2011 a 3D slot game Sterling Silver went live. In the summer of 2012 another branded slot based on the Batman movie The Dark Night has been announced.

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