Barcrest
- Name
- Barcrest
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Founded
- 1968
- Games
- 12
- Mobile Games
- Yes
- Browser Games
- Yes
- Desktop Software
- No
- Average Payout
- 95,04
Review
The UK-based game provider was founded as early as 1968. Based in the Greater Manchester area, they set out to develop and supply fruit machines to UK based arcades, pubs and amusement centers. They quickly advanced to become the nationwide market leader, becoming nearly a monopolist in the heydays of the 1980s and 1990s. Lady Luck Trail of Riches, Devil of a Deal, Fortune 500, Andy Capp and Bite Night are just some of the fruit machines which achieved legendary status among UK pub-goers and arcade gamblers.
In 1998, International Game Technology, better known as IGT, acquired Barcrest to expand into new markets. Although IGT was well-known on the floors of land based casinos, they were virtually non-present in amusement parks and pubs. Barcrest was seen as the perfect acquistion to break into that business segment.
With the beginning of the 20th century, Barcrest started transitioning some of their most popular titles as well as new productions to online slot games to serve the rapidly growing online gaming market. One of their most popular online slot was launched during that period. The initial Rainbow Riches slot was released in 2006 and has since become an absolute players’ favorite. Meanwhile, it has been expanded to an entire series of about a dozen highly popular games such as Rainbow Riches Free Spins and Rainbow Riches Reels of Gold.
The mixture of land based presence and online content made Barcrest an attractive takeover target. In 2011, Scientific Games Corporation bought them from IGT for £33 million, joining the other four brands in the group – Bally, SG Interactive, Shuffle Master and WMS.
The older games from Barcest might not be the top of the class when it comes to graphics and animations but their slot features, pay mechanics and win potential are certainly in the front row among game suppliers. Latest releases like Soldier of Rome, Wild Times, Moon Shadow as well as Thai Flower are big improvements in the graphics area. Other popular slots from Barcrest include Monopoly, Monty’s Millions, Mighty Black Night and Ooh Ah Dracula.