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Nowadays they are the predominant games on the international gambling scene, keeping players charmed by the simple rules and gameplay which they understand easily. Please join us on a journey into the evolution of this irresistible game that has transitioned from the early days of one-armed bandits to the sophisticated smartphone slot games of the present.

The Genesis

Sittman and Pitt, a firm, which was based in New York started the story of slot machines in 1891. The gaming machine, consisting of five drums and 50 playing cards, became the go-to product of such bars because of the unique pull-lever mechanism that randomly displayed five-card poker hands on rotating reels. Every time the machine was used, the ten of spades and the jack of hearts were eliminated to guarantee that the house had an advantage. Consequently, the probability of landing a royal flush was slashed in half. It was in those times that the machine printed out big paper receipts but did not have a direct payout system. With this being the main purpose of the contests, the winners would win their prizes at the bar and this would generally be non-cash rewards like complimentary drinks or cigars.

The Emergence of the Liberty Bell

In the year 1894, a Bavarian-born American inventor soon brought about change in the gambling industry by engineering the first slot machines in a close-to-modern form. His launch of the coin operated machine was a bright idea and the invention quickly became a success, which prompted Fey to make another machine he called the 4-11-44. The machine's incredible success was why he chose to build a production factory on a full-time basis. In 1898 the creation of Fey´s third-iconic invention card bell was a brutal three-reel slot machine which also could pay the winner in cash automatically.

And his innovation didn't stop there. In 1899 Liberty Bell, which was the next big thing in the slot machine series, he came up with a game-changer that had an improved design and caused slot machines to transform into a phenomenon. This launched a period of different types of machines, which provided gum as a reward to winners. This is where you can see today why most of the latest slot machines have cherries and melon symbols on them while the specific BAR logo originally had been used by the Bell-Fruit Gum Company.

The Era of Operator Bell

In Chicago in 1907, Herbert Mills was the manufacturer who invented a slot machine that got called the Operator Bell and was named after the popular Liberty Bell. In the end of 1908 the machines spread to such places as tobacconists, bowling alleys, retail stores, and hairdressing salons, which is testimony of their popularity and success.

The Advent of Money Honey

One of the important events in the history of slot machines became a reality when The Bally Manufacturing Co. introduced the first fully electromechanical slot machine, called" Money Honey", in 1964. Although the machine was electricity-driven, which reeled it in, a lever pull was still needed to initiate the game, making experienced gamers feel at home. One groundbreaking feature of Money Honey was its continuous hopper (not stopping at 500 coins) and as a result the first machine with this capacity in existence. Initially, a player would request to initiate the game by pulling a lever, but this was eventually replaced by buttons as the predominant mode of approach.

The Introduction of Fortune Coin

Simultaneously with that, the real history of slot machines was started with the invention of the first video slot machine in 1976 by an American company Fortune Coin. The creation of the machine was initially made by the Fortune Coin company in Kearny Mesa California and Sony TV was modified for the display section. The Braselton group introduced it first at the Hilton Hotel, Las Vegas and later went through some serious changes, making the game more secure against cheats, finally getting statewide support from the Nevada State Gaming Commission. The machines were small in size and looked like electromechanical predecessors of contemporary classic reel slots. After their introduction, they started to populate the strip, bringing in all-time high revenue and signaling the beginning of a new era in slot gaming.

The Dawn of the Progressive Jackpot

The idea of providing progressive jackpots to major casinos as the first ones was presented in 1986, which marked the introduction of the leading progressive machine MegaBucks by the International Game Technology (IGT). With this system the offer increased each time someone missed the jackpot, so the prize pool had no limits. Consequently, in the year 1987, a lucky lady luckily made her name stand out as the first progressive jackpot winner of the jaw-dropping amount of $4,988,842.17.

1996 and Beyond

In 1996, the manufacturer, WMS Industries Inc. came out with "Reel 'Em" which was a major landmark in the continuing story of slot machines. This was the very first video slot game to have the bonus rounds that played on a different screen, and on the other monitor a separate display activated every time the bonus round started. This innovation, together with the other new elements, remarkably strengthened the profitability of slot machines, such that they would then form a very large part of the casino revenue and consume the most of the casino floor.

The Digital Age

The 1990s were the time of the first web casinos that came to the rescue of the slot machines and started a new digital era for these legendary reel devices. In the first year of this establishment it came under severe doubts from the regulators, the players too, did not give it a chance to prove itself. Regulators were concerned that it would aid to launder money in the gray market and engage in other illegal transactions therein. Nevertheless, gamblers were unwilling to embrace the new-era games because they found it rather unbelievable that online slots could be just as thrilling and fun as traditional, physical games. But gradually times changed and people's faith in these web casinos started increasing. Today, like stellar spins there are tons of so many online casinos available in the market where gamblers can enjoy the best high quality slots games.

The Genesis of Temple of ISIS and Microgaming

However, there is not a factual proof cited online about who the first online casino was and some states even claim that it came into being in 1994. What is likely to be agreed, though, is that Cryptologic and Microgaming, two notable pillars of the industry, joined forces to found the online gambling software market's first major casino. The first delivery of this venture was the slots game – Microgaming's Cash Splash.

After that release, the number of slot games has gone up probably into hundreds, if not thousands. They took on the role of a simple random number generator and did not require much development. Furthermore, the changing technology also allows developers to create games with the improved graphics, sound effects, unique bonuses, and high payouts.

The Advent of Mobile Slots

The history of the slot machine took a great shift in 2005 , with the invention of mobile slots. Pub Fruity had been the pioneer among an assortment of Java games stealing its glance with a vivid display representing a traditional pub fruit machine. Nevertheless, these originally mobile slots were able to provide only virtual rewards, but not the real physical cash.

The debut of the iPhone was in 2007 and perhaps it was in 2008 the App was introduced, and that marked a new dawn for both toolbuilders and smartphone users. Mobile platforms became the main injectors to the market: at that time online casinos were present for about ten years, but the mobile options have been even more than a revolution. The app stores had - by then - changed the scene. Developers could create and sell games directly to consumers at the app stores. In order to keep up with the scene, the Android Market then replicated the same model.

At around the end of the 90s, downloadable casino games first appeared. You need to download the file directly from the casino website and play slots designed for mobile devices. This was also the first time players deposited mobile slots.

The Metagames Era

As an extension of what can be done to amplify the gaming experiences, developers started consolidating meta-game features into the slots, hoping to make the play last for a long time. Through metagames, players would enjoy various, new, more diverse, alternative games with different challenges, rewards, and add-ons available only to the faithful and loyal customer base. This would add further differentiation and value to loyal and returning players.

That was definitely one of the coolest innovations presented in the gambling market, the Red Tiger Daily Jackpot that took place in 2016. Because of that, it has now evolved into a more complicated version as it now has a daily jackpot added as well. They developed technology that was smart and slender, adding jackpot features into any game as a metagame. It was only for the short term, however, in which every game ensured the jackpot.

Introduced in 2020, Pragmatic daily drops offered random prizes during a win. Other notable metagames included Quickspins tournaments, initiated in 2018, and PokerStars Races.

The Emergence of Megaways

The Megaways mechanical gaming device produced by casino game developer, Big Time Gaming (BTG), in 2016, completely reformed the slots region. It made the company the talk of the town and also made other casinos in the industry aware of them. The slots engine functioned in the same manner as a random reel modifier, only it modified the number of symbols that appeared on each reel during the spin; the resulting unpredictability led to thousands of possible winning combinations. The fundamental appeal of Megaways games for players consists in the fact that the gamblers have a chance, though a very small one, to get a multiplier of x100,000 every round, which changes from one round to the next. The Megaways phenomenon literally encompassed the industry with its core engraved in the history of slot games. As a result, now there is an abundance of new titles from famous game developers.

Future

The emergence of online casinos and mobile casinos have led more youth to involve their playing on slots. Development teams have managed to create the modern versions of old games, but it is imperative to the survival ethics to innovate steadily and meet the needs of the audience and competitors. By now there are almost 27,000 video slots around and 100 new ones coming almost every month. The competition therefore is a huge one. Nonetheless, undefined competition encourages slot machine companies to come up with new mechanisms while integrating metagames including tournaments, missions, mystery awards, short-term Jackpots and others.

The story of slot machines is still in the spin. As technologies constantly advance, ever-improving mobile devices and Internet connections keep up a good pace for the slot ecosystem development. They will persist in shaping their destiny in their own way. A flow of innovative and intriguing games is being framed in the future. Emergence of new technological breakthroughs like 5G, virtual reality and wearable devices will help to improve the aspects like engagement, convenience and sophistication of the customers' experience. The future of the slots appears exciting, and we are curious what is waiting next for us.