Bally Technologies
In the fast moving, technologically advanced world of online gaming, it’s common for successful companies to be relatively youthful. Many up and coming software design outfits have been around for less than a decade, sometimes far less. It is unusual indeed for a big name gaming software company to have been around for more than thirty years – especially when you consider that the concept of ‘online’ didn’t really exist until the 1990s.
Bally Technologies is a notable exception. It was founded closer to a century ago, back in 1932. Admittedly, it has been through several name changes and changes in ownership over the years, but there is no dispute about the fact that the current company’s roots really do reach back to the formation of the Bally Manufacturing Corporation back in 1930s Chicago.
A look at the History of Bally Technologies
The original Bally was founded by Ray Moloney, with his company soon becoming a big name in the manufacture of pinball machines. Toward the end of the decade, the company began to diversify into slot machines. The war years saw the Bally switch to manufacturing parts and equipment for the war effort, before returning to pinball and slots afterwards.
The 1960s saw the company change hands for the first time, but it continued to thrive, dominating the pinball and slot machine market not only in the United States, but worldwide. It then went public, being listed on the New York stock Exchange for the first time.
Progress continued in subsequent decades, but the 1990s saw a period of considerable turmoil. The company was saddled with large debts, and new management was introduced to attempt a re-structure. It was at this point that the slot division was sold off, to become Bally Gaming International. Ironically, another Bally Technologies off-shoot, Scientific Games was also divested. Meanwhile, the remaining rump was renamed Bally Entertainment. This company was now entirely focused on its casino interests, with all its manufacturing functions now removed. Bally Gaming was subsequently re-branded Bally Technologies.
The final step in the Bally story to date came in 2014, when Bally Technologies was acquired by Scientific Games. Yes, the very same Scientific Games that the original company had sold off in the 1990s! The new owners paid a princely price of over of $5 billion for the company.
What Games Can You Expect?
Having been around for so long, the company has quite a comprehensive selection of slots in its portfolio. In fact, there are well over one hundred in its locker, although it is fair to say that few of them are among today’s most familiar favourites. Nevertheless, the quality is high, and Bally games are popular amongst casino operators looking to broaden the range of slots on offer to their players. Fewer resources are invested in producing new online titles than by many of their similarly sized competitors. The company continues to focus most of its energies on the real world industry of producing cabinet games for casinos and amusement arcades.
Many of their legacy online titles remain popular to this day. Bally are renowned for their officially licenced movie and TV show slots. Anchorman, Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Titanic are starring performers from the world of film, while TV favourites Betty Boop, Wacky Races, Wonder Woman and the ever popular sitcom Friends are among the television tie-ins which have stood the test of time. Their officially licenced Monopoly board game themes are also evergreen favourites.
With such a large back catalogue, Bally have most of the popular slot genres covered too. There are half a dozen or so alternative Egyptian and Chinese Luck themed games amongst their titles, with plenty of classic games in their locker as well.
Where is Bally Technologies Today?
Today, Bally Technologies operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of Scientific Games. The Scientific Games group is now one of the biggest names in the online casino industry. It operates as a conglomerate, with its major brands consisting of Bally, SG Gaming, Shuffle Master and WMS Industries. Owners Scientific Games act as the umbrella organisation.
Bally Technologies is now headquartered in Las Vegas, in the US state of Nevada. It is responsible for the employment of around 2,000 people. The largest proportion of these live in Las Vegas or within the state Nevada, but hundreds are located overseas, predominantly in India, but also in Australia, France and Canada. The company’s employees constitute almost one third of the Scientific Games Group’s total workforce.
It’s unlikely players will see many new games from this American outfit, as the company’s attentions are currently focused elsewhere. Nevertheless, Bally’s games are widely found on many online casinos. These include Dragonfish powered casinos, where you will find many of their quality back catalogue of games available for you to play.