Success Is Created By Those Who Dare To Change The Game

WMS has played a decisive role in games and entertainment since Harry Williams founded his Chicago-based company in 1943. A Stanford engineering graduate who devised the “tilt” mechanism for pinball machines, Williams changed the nature of pinball in wartime America. He and his firm had an unsurpassed ability to devise new game features and stay in touch with the changing tastes of the amusement market. The company retained this inherent strength when it entered the home video market in the 1980’s and, eventually, casino-style gaming in the early 1990’s.

We stand as one of the world’s leading slot suppliers with an unmatched reputation for innovative game design and development. Our portfolio includes many of the industry’s most popular and profitable branded casino slots and state-of-the-art gaming technologies.

Reel Innovation

However, the journey has not been without a few twists and turns. WMS came to the slot business as Williams Gaming, developing its first video lottery terminals for the Oregon market in 1992. We entered the reel-spinning market two years later, but the company’s video gaming roots ultimately would prove to be our niche when, in 1996, Reel ‘em In® was introduced to the casino market. Reel ‘em In was at the forefront of a revolutionary movement in the American casino market toward multi-line, multi-coin secondary bonus video slot games. It is nearly impossible to overstate Williams’ impact on the overall slot machine business that occurred when we merged our innate flair for entertainment with the technical possibilities of video gaming.

Williams leveraged the success of Reel ‘em In with a string of in-house, multi-line/multi-coin brands that slot players grew to love and which still remain strong earning products several years later. These include Jackpot Party®, Boom® and Filthy Rich®.

Setting Trends

Our growing success in the casino business dovetailed with the decline of the pinball machine industry – which was feeling the effects of in-home and arcade video gaming – leading to the renaming of Williams to WMS Gaming in 1999, a company wholly dedicated to slot machines. By this time, we were playing a leading role in another transformational movement on the slot floor: the trend toward popular branded games. This involved the adaptation of household brand names to gaming devices. Our biggest hit—indeed, one of the greatest success stories in the history of slot machines— was the introduction of the MONOPOLY™ themed series of slots.

Investing In Technology

To build on our successes in the 90’s, WMS invested substantially in executive talent, developed new game technologies and competed on a global scale. To this end our current President and CEO, Brian Gamache, was brought on board in 2000. A hospitality industry veteran, Gamache brought a deep understanding of organizational development, brand management and sales and marketing to WMS.
 
New technology campuses were built in Chicago and Las Vegas. New sales offices were opened in Spain, South Africa, the UK and Australia. Investments in new technology yielded a new wide area progressive jackpot system, and a new video gaming operating system, CPU-NXT®, with an eye-catching new Bluebird® cabinet that won praise throughout the industry.

Our reputation for innovative game design and development is unmatched. But, while games remain the lifeblood of WMS, our investments in technology have positioned us to reap the benefits of success for years to come.

Max Your Edge™

Today, WMS is proud to provide a distinct advantage over the competition. An advantage we call the WMS EDGE. This advantage is shaped by our passionate approach in applying cutting-edge technology, key intellectual property, and innovation into game designs that revolutionize the casino slot floor.

The WMS EDGE is continuously supported by our commitment to view the industry through our customers' and players' perspectives, ensuring premium quality products that create an emotional connection with our brand.

We invite you to use this advantage to your advantage. We invite you to Max Your Edge.