Australia has a particularly strong history in manufacturing pokie machines – or slots, as they’re called elsewhere. Two major companies from Australia are still active in the pokie world, developing both physical machines and online casino games.
In this article, we will be looking at Australian pokie manufacturers, particularly the two big Aussie names: Aristocrat and Ainsworth. We’ll look at their histories, as well as the impact they’ve had on the country and the world, and also look at the future of pokie manufacturing in Australia.
Table of Contents
The Origins of Pokies Manufacturing in Australia
While pokies were invented in the late 19th century, the first major company to produce them in Australia was Aristocrat, founded by Jim Ainsworth in 1953. Their rise in the 1950s came as New South Wales liberalised laws around gambling, fuelling a boom in pokie manufacturing, which hugely benefitted the recently formed company.
Since the formation of Aristocrat, Australia has become a major player in the pokies industry, punching well above its weight and going toe-to-toe with huge brands from the US, Europe, and elsewhere.
The Major Pokies Manufacturers in Australia
There are two major pokie manufacturers in Australia. The first is Aristocrat, a big name in land-based and online pokies. Some of the physical pokies they produce nowadays include Dollar Storm, Wild Wild Emerald, and many more.
The other significant Aussie manufacturer of pokies is Ainsworth – a company closely related to Aristocrat, as you’ll see shortly. Ainsworth pokies found in Australia include Golden Roo, Galaxy Gold, and Egyptian Wealth.
There are no other major pokie manufacturers in Australia, although you will find machines manufactured by foreign companies. These companies include IGT, WMS Gaming, Konami, Bally, and Aruze Gaming.
Company Profiles
Aristocrat was founded in 1953 by Len Ainsworth, and they manufactured the first popular pokie to hit Australia, called the Clubman. With gambling being restricted in the US in 1951, which saw only Nevada permitted to offer pokies, many major US manufacturers struggled, and Aristocrat soon took their places.
By the 1960s, the company started to send machines to Europe, and in 1964 they began exporting machines to the all-important American market. The company would then launch the world’s first all-electronic game in 1979, called Wild West.
In 1994, Ainsworth gave the company to his family after a health scare. Things continued going well for the company, and it was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in 1996. Nowadays, Aristocrat is still a huge player in the pokies market, supplying around 60% of all pokies in Australia.
But there’s another major name to mention, and it’s Ainsworth, founded by… Len Ainsworth! After giving away Aristocrat, he received the all-clear from illness and decided to found Ainsworth Gaming Technologies in 1995.
Ainsworth would go on to release several popular pokies in Australia, as well as abroad. The Ambassador model was a huge success, and was followed by the Ambassador SL, then the A560SL. In 2014, the company expanded, creating a large facility in Las Vegas. After this, the A600 was released, and the A-STAR was then released in 2020. This is the latest cabinet to be released by the company.
Len Ainsworth is no longer the owner of Ainsworth Gaming Technologies. He sold his 53% stake in the company in 2018 to Novomatic for the sum of A$473.3 million.
Impact and Influence of Pokies Manufacturers
There’s no doubting that Australian pokie manufacturers have had a large impact on the country. It was Aristocrat that drove the boom of pokies in the 1950s and later, so without them, the country might not be such a hotbed of pokies today. In fact, the whole world has been influenced by Aussie manufacturers, as they were some of the first, and both Aristocrat and Ainsworth are still huge names in the industry.
Their impact has also been a financial one, as various governments in Australia make huge sums from the taxation of pokies. In fact, New South Wales alone makes over A$2 billion from taxing pokies every year – a significant percentage of its overall tax revenue.
Challenges and Controversies
Of course, there have also been accusations that Aussie pokie manufacturers have fuelled the growth of problem gambling in the country. This is irrefutable, as without pokie machines, there would be far fewer opportunities for Australians to gamble physically. Opponents of gambling also say pokies have led to suicides, insolvency, domestic violence, and crime.
In the past, pokie manufacturers have even been accused of being predatory in their thinking, targeting those with gambling issues to boost their own profits. But in recent years there’s been more focus than ever on the impact pokie companies are having, and this spotlight has forced through several initiatives.
More initiatives are expected soon. For example, NSW looks likely to force all pokies to be card only, so players can monitor their spending better. And in Tasmania, players will be forced to set limits before they gamble.
The Future of Pokies Manufacturing in Australia
Australian companies are in a strong position moving forward, as they occupy a prominent role in the industry. But they do face challenges, with the biggest being how to balance the need to make money with the responsibility of protecting people from gambling problems. Much of this will be taken out of their hands, with governments not just in Australia, but throughout the world, introducing rules to curb pokies and other games.
There will also be increasing technology coming to the pokies world, boosting the player experience. This could lead to new features on slots, which will ensure even experienced players have something new and exciting to keep them entertained.
Conclusion
Two Australian companies, Aristocrat and Ainsworth, have not only fuelled the Australian pokie industry, but have been hugely influential worldwide. They now contribute a huge amount to the Aussie economy, with some governments earning giant sums through the taxation of pokie machines.
While they’ve had positive impacts, they have also faced controversy, and it’s now important for pokie manufacturers to work with the government to find a way to protect those vulnerable to gambling addiction.
It’s important that all pokie players in Australia understand how influential manufacturers have been in shaping the country, but they shouldn’t be blinkered. Only by acknowledging the issues pokies have caused can a balance be struck, allowing people to have fun playing but also driving down addiction problems.
