The famous software developer Microgaming was one of the first companies who started creating games for online casinos. A number of the best-known slots games in the industry were created by Microgaming. They also invented a lot of innovations and new features, and introduced them into their games. The interested players will find in this article a short overview of Microgaming history and description of its main achievements.
The 1st Microgaming powered online casino was launched in 1995. And in three years one of its 3 reel online slots has become very popular among the players. The game’s name was ‘Fantastic Sevens’ and Microgaming modeled it on the land-based slot games. The Cash Splash was launched in 1998 to become the 1st wide area progressive jackpot slot on the web. The players who were playing form numerous online casinos could vie for this progressive jackpot. The instant play software was developed and launched in 2000. Thanks to it the players could now play online with no need to download the software. The first instant play software version had 3 popular online slots which were the Jurassic Jackpot, Double Magic and Fantastic Sevens.
2002 was a really remarkable event for Microgaming online casinos too, because it was the year when their progressive jackpot online slots called ‘Major Millions’ set the world record becoming the biggest jackpot ever won online. The amount of win was 1.5 million dollars. That event served as the trigger for a row of innovative developments. The Thunderstruck is one of the most popular slots developed by Microgaming. The game has superb animations and graphics. The game was based on the Norse God of Thunder and it has the highest popularity among the players. Microgaming launched the Thunderstruck game in 2003, the same year when the Viper software appeared. Also in 2003 the Mega Spin slots was introduced to the players. This game is actually similar to multi hand video poker and they allow the players spinning several sets of reels at the same time. Being one of the leaders in the industry, Microgaming developed its mobile gaming in 2004. The slot game ‘Double Magic’ was developed specially for mobile phones.
Also Microgaming was the first in the industry to launch a branded online slot. The game was called Tomb Raider and the company developed it in close cooperation with the Eidos Interactive video game manufacturer. The success was astonishing but not surprising as the game had excellent graphics and was full of action. The mobile and the instant play versions of Tomb Raider were launched at the same time. The sum of Microgaming’s progressive slots games total cumulative payouts reached 200 million dollars in 2006. Over 5,700 players had received their payouts. Hitman was the 2nd branded slot game that the company released in 2007. In 2008 the players were meeting the sequel to Tomb Raider, Secret of the Sword. One of the most innovative slots games that ever saw the world was developed by Microgaming too. It was in 2008 and the game was called MySlot. The players who played it could upload their own images that served as symbols, so the game was really personalized. The players could play the slot games with their own vocation as a theme or with the photos of their family or friends.
And year 2009 was signed with another landmark for the company as it was the year when its four hundred’s online casino game was launched. It was in the The Great Galaxy Grab form and had outstanding bonus rounds. Also in April that year the Mega Moolah progressive jackpot slot hit for more than 6 million dollars which as the hugest individual payout in the online slots history. A new feature was introduced into the slots games by Micogaming in 2009. It was the All Pays feature and it became very wide spread in the industry after it was introduced in Burning Desire. This game had no defined paylines, instead all the two hundred and foty three combinations could lead to a payout.
Microgaming is also known and honored among the players for providing slots tournaments that take place at its online casinos. The Grand Slam of Slots that was introduced by the company in 2009 and allowed the players from any Microgaming powered casino to participate in it. It was the 1st tournament in the online gaming history where the player who finishes first can get 1 million dollars as the prize.