The online casino industry has had many transformations over the last two decades, and a lot of that has come in the way of mergers and acquisitions. In some cases, software companies are acquired and rolled up into the new company, while in other instances the firm retains its name and independence even though it is now part of a new organization. The latter is the case with NextGen Gaming, which has been part of two acquisitions in recent years. Let’s have a look at he company and what has kept it so popular after almost two decades in the industry.
A Brief History of NextGen Gaming
NextGen Gaming is one of the longest-running online casino software companies, having launched all the way back in 1999. This length of experience gives the company an advantage as they have seen essentially everything happen in the space since its infancy. NextGen Gaming is focused on slots development and has done an excellent job building some gameplay features that continue to be popular today.
AS the company does not have a full suite of casino games, you may not realize that you have played NextGen games at a casino already. The company licenses its games as additional content to sites that have a primary software provider already. That means that there are multiple slots providers in the same lobby, which brings a wealth of content to you as a player.
NextGen Gaming had built enough of a stable of games to gather an excellent reputation in the industry, and this made it ripe for an acquisition. The company was sold to NYX Gaming in 2012 but remained its own entity within the new organization. The developer continued to add to its client base, and the combined organization ended up being acquired by Scientific Games in a huge deal in 2017. Through all of this, the focus for this development team has been clear – continue to build games that attract and retain players.
Recommended NextGen Casino Sites
Top Three NextGen Gaming Slots Games
Doctor Love
This is one of the most popular games in the NextGen Gaming catalog. The 5 reel, 20 pay line game features cartoonish graphics and the main character Dr. Love looks like he came straight from the Saturday funnies. This game features loads of great medical-themed symbols, but what you are looking for is the Love Meter, as this will pay you the Free Spins that add to your balance. Doctor Love himself is the wild symbol in this game. While the game doesn’t have any bonus rounds, the campy nature of the layout and characters make it an engaging slot.
Dolphin Reef
Games with a nautical theme tend to be very popular in the online slots world, and when you throw in a cute dolphin that creates so much excitement on the reels, how can anyone resist? This is a 5 reel, 20 pay line game, where you are hoping the Dolphin appears, as it is the wild symbol. The real fun happens when you get a dolphin on both the second and fourth reel as then it expands and stays on the screen while the other reels spin. As the dolphins frolick about those two reels, you get some extended spins and hopefully some additional prizes! This game features the Gamble option where you can choose to try to multiply your win by playing a quick side game.
300 Shields
This is a game that the company released in 2014 and clearly takes its theme from the comic book and movie “300”. The graphics in this game take you right into the world of Sparta, and the soundtrack to the game has ominous undertones which give the game even more depth. This is another 5 reel machine that this time features 25 pay lines. It also has some graphics that some may find disturbing, like the flowing blood coming down the reels during the Free Spins portion of gameplay. Overall, this is an excellent game, and if you are lucky enough, you may get the 300x multiplier to give your balance a mega-boost!
Mobile Compatibility
Even though this company has been building software since before mobile casinos were a thing, the games they have in the stable are all compatible with the majority of devices on the market. In order to make NExtGen’s games available to clients with other software suppliers, the development was always done in a non-download format. This means that you should be able to access all the great slots from the browser of your device.
Conclusion
We are very impressed with the output of the development team at NextGen Gaming. Even though the company has been part of two acquisitions in the last few years, it is clear that the parent company wants NextGen to maintain its independent identity. Being part of the Scientific Games group now means that the NextGen Gaming slots are in a prime position to be integrated into some of the largest lotteries in the world, which should give the titles even more exposure.