Lightning Aristocrat
Aristocrat is the second biggest producer of casino slots in the world – second only to IGT. They have come a long way since their start in 1953. Under the control of Len Ainsworth, Aristocrat would go from a regional niche player in their native Australia to the global slot powerhouse they are today.
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Aristocrat Slots. Aristocrat Leisure Limited or simply Aristocrat, as it has generically come to be known, is a public Australian company with its headquarters in Sydney. Over the years, it has built a strong brand name and has made its presence felt in the group of slot and gaming machines manufacturing giants. Find Aristocrat Gaming slot machine games at a casino near you. Learn how to play the games and experience why people love these slots. Discover all the games.
This company is best known for its live casino slots. Games include the Buffalo series, Lightning Link, Dragon Link, Walking Dead slots and many more. More recently, Aristocrat slot games became available online. Classic games from their extensive library have made it online. You can play them in states with regulated gambling, and at online casinos around the world.
You’ll find everything you need to get the best from Aristocrat slot machines on this page. Information on their best games, jackpot systems and options for playing online can be found below. You’ll also find a detailed history and FAQ section at the bottom of the page.
Aristocrat slot reviews and demo games
Where to Play Aristocrat Slots Online?
The only Aristocrat title available at legal online casinos is Buffalo. This game is available at the Hard Rock Online Casino and is exclusive to NJ.
Other casinos offer games similar in design and features to Aristocrat titles.
Chumba and Luckyland Slots offer a Buffalo game called Buffalo Rush, while the Golden Nugget Casino in NJ features three Buffalo titles including two versions of the Thundering Buffalo.
If you are new to online casino games, make sure you familiarize yourself with the bonuses and incentives available before you sign up. In regulated states, competition between the brands means that there are no-deposit bonuses available. These allow you to spin for real money without making a deposit. If you like what you find, there are matched welcome bonuses on offer too.
If you don’t live in a state with regulated online casinos, you’ll need to travel to your closest brick and mortar casino to enjoy the latest Aristocrat slot machines.
Aristocrat Slot Games: The Lightning Link and Dragon Link Games
There are few recent innovations in slot gaming that have proven as popular as the Lightning Link format. These games have varied themes, sharing a ‘Hold and Spin’ bonus feature and progressive jackpot system. Dragon Link slots have the same bonus, using a range of colorful Asian themes and flaming balls as graphics.
Hold and Spin bonuses are triggered when you get six or more special symbols on the same spin. These symbols show numbers (the number of coins won) or the names of jackpot bonuses. Themed symbols are now greyed out. You get three spins to add more special symbols. Any time you hit new ones, the number of spins resets to three.
If you fill all 15 positions on the reels, the ‘Grand’ progressive jackpot is coming your way. Lightning Link games also include wilds, scatter prizes and free spins (which come with various extras and twists to the gameplay).
Popular titles include High Stakes, Mermaid’s Pearl, Wild Chuco, Peacock Princess and Happy & Prosperous.
Aristocrat Slots: The Iconic ‘Buffalo’ Slots Series
The first Buffalo slot machine series stood out on the casino floor. With all-ways gameplay, multipliers and a theme based on Native American wildlife, these games proved hugely popular.
Over the years, Buffalo has become a family of slots. It is rare to see a live casino without the latest titles. Sound effects, graphics and free spins are a staple in all Buffalo titles. Aristocrat has since added unusual reel setups, jackpot wheels and unique features to this range.
Here are some of the most popular games:
- Buffalo Grand: You can spin a huge bonus wheel to win jackpot prizes in this version. Some prizes allow a second wheel spin for a multiplier.
- Buffalo Gold:The unique feature of this game is a collection element to the free spins. As you accumulate gold heads, extra symbols turn into the high paying buffalos.
- Buffalo Stampede: This game has jackpots, though the unique gameplay involves herds of buffalo. They run up the reels, expanding them – or across the top of the reels, adding extra buffalo symbols.
- Buffalo Diamond: A new title that has a progressive element to the number of free spins you can win (with multipliers). There is also an unusual diamond-shaped reel setup.
Other titles in this range include Buffalo Gold Revolution, Buffalo Xtreme – and titles with mechanical reel setups.
You shouldn’t have any issues finding the original Buffalo slot machine at your local casino. For online players, the only regulated state offering a Buffalo slot machine is NJ, where you can find it at the Hard Rock in the live games section.
Aristocrat Slot Machines: The Walking Dead Series
These live casino slots are based on the massively popular TV series. Big screens and amazing animations and clips (many involving zombies) bring these games to life. There are now three, each based on different series.
The original Walking Dead slot machine involved a huge bonus wheel. This paid progressive jackpots and accessed free spins bonus games. Wilds literally oozed down the reels, linking multiple win-lines.
Walking Dead 2 took the popularity of these games to a new level. This game had special zombie sequences including an entertaining ‘Wild Horde’. That saw zombies tumble over the reels. There are also entertaining picks games for jackpots and free spins. Walking Dead 3 has wider reels, which zombies can walk across.
Other Popular Live Casino Slots from Aristocrat
Aristocrat has developed many casino slots based on TV and movie franchises. These include two different slots based on Game of Thrones, plus Zorro, Ted, Sons of Anarchy, Big Bang Theory, and an entertaining game featuring Elvira – mistress of the dark.
Music acts are also featured heavily in the Aristocrat games list. Popular slot machines include Britney Spears, Madonna, The Rolling Stones and the B-52s.
Regular slot themes include a range of Asian titles. Choy Sun Doa, 5 Dragons (including the new 5 Dragons Gold) and 88 Fortunes can be enjoyed in addition to the long list of Dragon Link titles.
The list goes on, with Miss Kitty, Big Red and many other titles waiting to be tried. Look out for the ‘double click’ sound effect when the reels stop, plus the electronic ‘circus’ tunes which are triggered for your big wins.
History of Aristocrat
When Aristocrat got started back in 1953, today’s spectacular multi-media slots were the stuff of science fiction. Instead, the games were fully mechanical. They were housed in solid metal frames to prevent tampering and operated by pulling a lever. Original games included the iconic ‘Clubmaster’ series.
Aristocrat started in Australia by Ainsworth – where they are still headquartered today. They first came to the USA in 1961, when Aristocrat Nevada was opened. This company produced the first all-electronic slot. This was called ‘Wild West’ and debuted in 1979.
Innovation continued for the next decades, with electronic machines taking over from mechanical ones. Networks of slots with linked jackpots were made possible by the 1990s. Aristocrat’s ‘Hyperlink’ was an early example.
Aristocrat has made acquisitions as they expanded operations online and to new geographical locations including Macau. A separate slot company, named Ainsworth, was started separately. This is also chaired by Ainsworth – and has a separate list of beautifully designed slots.
| Type | Public company |
|---|---|
| ASX: ALL | |
| Industry | Gambling |
| Headquarters | , |
Key people | Trevor Croker, CEO |
| Revenue | A$4,397.4 million (2019) |
| A$1,162.5 million (2019) | |
| A$698.8 million (2019) | |
| 6400+ | |
| Subsidiaries |
|
| Website | https://www.aristocrat.com/ |
Aristocrat Leisure Limited is an Australian gambling machine manufacturer, which has its administrative and research headquarters in the Sydney suburb of North Ryde. It has marketing and development offices in South Africa, Russia and the United States.
Aristocrat is the largest gambling machine manufacturer in Australia, and one of the largest manufacturers of slot machines in the world, currently second only to International Game Technology.[citation needed]
History[edit]
The company produced its first machine in 1953, and was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in 1996. The company was founded by Len Ainsworth, whose family[1] maintains a substantial stake in the company, but is now chairman of a different gaming company, Ainsworth Game Technology. Aristocrat is licensed to distribute slot machines and other gaming products in over 200 jurisdictions (note that many countries, such as Australia, have a number of different gaming-licence jurisdictions).
Aristocrat's CEO blamed the US subprime mortgage crisis for poor financial results in 2008,[2] despite the fact that competing companies have experienced record growth[3] in the same time period. As a result of the expected drop in revenue, the CEO enacted sweeping budget cuts, including large-scale retrenchments of staff from all areas of the business.[4] The company again faced difficult market conditions in 2009 with its full year resulting in a net loss of $157.8 million.[5]
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In 2011, the company reached an agreement with the AGLC to provide equipment and games for Alberta's video lottery terminal network.[6]
In July 2014 Aristocrat agreed to buy Video Gaming Technologies for about $1.3 billion to triple its North American business amid falling profit in Australia.[7] On 10 August 2017, it acquired mobile game developer Plarium for $500 million to enter into mobile gaming.[8] On 30 November 2017, it acquired mobile game developer Big Fish Games for US$990 million.[9]
Since March 2017, the CEO has been Trevor Croker, formerly executive vice president for global products, who succeeded Jamie Odell.[10][11]
In July 2019, Aristocrat sued Ainsworth, alleging that they had used proprietary code and media assets leaked by a former Aristocrat employee to produce a clone of its popular Lightning Link games.[12][13]
In 2020, Aristocrat is rebranded and now called Aristocrat Gaming (instead of Aristocrat Leisure) and changes its corporate identity to a more vibrant and colorful one.[14]
Aristocrat Lightning Link Casino
Products and partnerships[edit]
Aside from spinning reel slot machines, the company has interests in gambling systems (computerised network systems that manage slot machines), computerised card game simulations, electronic table games and linked jackpot systems (such as the patented Hyperlink systems). The company has developed the Reel Power system, where players buy reels instead of lines, win combinations in the standard configuration.
Aristocrat's most prominent products have been game setups which place large progressive jackpots over a number of machines, including its Lightning Link series. The series has seen substantial popularity, to the point that Aristocrat has licensed branded areas at several North American casinos dedicated exclusively to the machines.[15][13][12][16]
The company has a number of distribution partnerships, including Sammy Corporation in Japan.[citation needed]
In the U.S., Artistocrat has licensed titles to Grand Vision Gaming of Montana for use on video lottery terminals.[17]
References[edit]
- ^'RICH PICKINGS: Len Ainsworth'. Business Spectator. 10 May 2008. Retrieved 7 July 2008.
- ^'Aristocrat feels pain in US'. Fairfax Digital. 30 April 2008. Retrieved 2 June 2008.[permanent dead link]
- ^'Bally Technologies, Inc. Announces Record Earnings for Third Quarter Fiscal 2008 on Record Revenues of $233 Million'. The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. 12 May 2008. Retrieved 2 June 2008.
- ^'CEO & CFO Presentation, Macquarie conference'. asx.com.au. 7 May 2008. Retrieved 2 June 2008.[dead link]
- ^'CEO and CFO Presentation Script - Full Year Results 2009'(PDF). 23 February 2010. Retrieved 14 March 2010.
- ^'Canadian lotteries infuse Nevada's slot industry with sales opportunities'. Las Vegas Review-Journal. 30 May 2012. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
- ^'Aristocrat to Buy Video Gaming for $1.3 Billion'. 7 July 2014. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
- ^'Plarium acquired in $500 million deal'. gamesindustry.biz. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
- ^'Kentucky Derby operator Churchill Downs selling Big Fish Games for $990M, just three years after initial purchase'. 29 November 2017. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
- ^'Trevor Croker named chief executive of Aristocrat Leisure'. Gaming Intelligence. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
- ^8 March 2017 at 10:00 PM (8 March 2017). 'Aristocrat CEO Trevor Croker flogs shares, pockets $2m to manage 'tax liabilities''. afr.com. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
- ^ abBegley, Patrick (15 July 2018). ''A little bit of magic': The pokie that took over the world'. The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
- ^ abSimmons, Author: David. 'Pokies giants Ainsworth and Aristocrat to duke it out in the Federal Court'. Business News Australia. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
- ^'Aristocrat changes the name and style of the brand'. New Casino Australia. 23 August 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
- ^Hatch, Patrick (5 July 2019). 'Pokies maker says rival had access to secret maths codes for slot machine'. The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
- ^'WinStar World Casino and Resort inaugurates Lightning Link Lounge'. World Casino News. 29 August 2017. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
- ^'Grand Vision Gaming renews VLT cross-licensing deal with Aristocrat'. Gaming Intelligence. Retrieved 2 December 2019.