WMS Gaming
WMS Gaming is a Las Vegas-based manufacturer of slot machines, video lottery terminals, and casino software, and it also develops online and mobile games. It began as part of WMS Industries and became a wholly owned subsidiary of Scientific Games in 2013.
The company entered the reel-spinning slot market in 1994 and scored its first big hit in 1996 with Reel ’em In, a multi-line, multi-coin video slot. It followed with popular titles like Jackpot Party, Boom, and Filthy Rich. In 2001, WMS started licensing famous brands for its “participation” slots, beginning with Monopoly, which helped drive sales through licensing and leasing arrangements rather than outright sales.
WMS’s roots go back to Williams Manufacturing, founded in 1943 and known for pinball and arcade games. In the 1990s, as the arcade business declined, Williams Gaming expanded into video lottery terminals and slot machines. The division was incorporated as WMS Gaming in 1999 and has since focused on manufacturing, selling, leasing, licensing, and managing gaming machines. The company faced a 2001 software glitch and a patent dispute with IGT, which led to changes in its reel-spinning games.
In the 2000s, WMS launched the CPU-NXT platform, a fast, scalable Linux-based system that used flash memory. The brand expanded with branded games such as Men in Black, The Wizard of Oz, Star Trek, The Lord of the Rings, and Clue, many of which can network across casinos to offer large jackpots. WMS also produced the G+ series, the Community Gaming family, mechanical reels, poker games, and video lottery terminals.
To grow beyond traditional machines, WMS entered online gaming in 2010 in the UK and 2011 in the US. It partnered with Large Animal Games in 2012 to create a cruise-ship-themed Facebook game called Lucky Cruise, and later focused on mobile and online offerings, including My Poker video poker for casinos.
Today about 70 percent of WMS’s revenue comes from the United States. Its corporate offices are in Las Vegas, with development, sales, and service facilities across the U.S. and internationally, including an online gaming center in Belgium.
In 2013, Scientific Games acquired WMS Industries for about $1.5 billion, and WMS shareholders received $26.00 per share as the stock stopped trading. WMS’s products helped move the industry toward branded intellectual property and more creative payout methods, replacing older, generic mechanical slots.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 00:38 (CET).