Wheel of Fortune Slots games

International Game Technology, one of the world’s biggest slot machine makers, really likes the idea of combining slot machines and popular brands. That’s why it is launching DoubleDown Casino‘s latest social casino game, Wheel of Fortune Extra Spin, on desktop and mobile devices.

Back in December, IGT turned the long-running TV quiz show Jeopardy into a social-slot machine game as part of the DoubleDown Casino line of games. Mobile gaming is $25 billion industry, according to market researcher Newzoo. And social casino and slots games are a $2.7 billion slice of that market. Churchill Downs moved into the market by buying social casino game maker Big Fish Games for up to $885 million. That deal made Churchill Downs into the No. 4 social casino game company, by revenue, according to market analyst Eilers Research.

By launching the Wheel of Fortune Extra Spin game, IGT is trying to hang on to and grow its No. 2 position. IGT previously launched its Wheel of Fortune Double Diamond and Wheel of Fortune Triple Extreme Spin during the past year. Inspired by classic slot machines, the new game features the Wheel Bonus, which changes all of the spin symbols into the letters W-H-E-E-L, with each letter revealing a number of extra spins or awards of 10 to 250x the initiating bet. The payouts (in virtual currency, not real money) can be huge.

“We put a huge amount of focus and talent into Wheel of Fortune Extra Spin. We thrive on the pressure of taking this legendary brand and increasing the ‘wow’ factor of the world’s most popular slot machine, ” said Jim Veevaert, DoubleDown Interactive vice president of Games, in a statement. “It’s a fun challenge to turn a great slot machine into a mobile game. With Wheel of Fortune Extra Spin, we struck the ideal balance of art, math and audio that recreate the authentic casino experience.”

More Wheel of Fortune titles are coming for DoubleDown Casino as part of a multi-year agreement with Sony Pictures Consumer Products.

IGT generated about $82.7 million in revenue in the fourth quarter, resulting in a 10.5-percent share of the market, according to Eilers Research. Only Caesars Interactive is larger, with $167.3 million in fourth-quarter revenues and 21.2 percent of the market.

DoubleDown has about 6 million monthly players, IGT said.

Image Credit: IGT

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