Games Global Software Review

A Bit of History

So much of Games Global is owed to Microgaming’s hard work. Therefore, it’s helpful to see what happened in the past and learn a bit about their history.

• Microgaming was founded in the early 90s as a pioneer in the online gambling industry. They established their casino in 1994 after creating the first casino software in the world. They launched the Microgaming Poker Network in 2003, designed the first mobile casino software in 2004, and in 2006 launched their famous progressive jackpot network called Mega Moolah.
• A big moment in their history was the launch of the Quickfire platform in 2010. Previously, you had to download the casino’s software if you wanted to play their games, but the era of the browser-based casino has finally started to come true. A casino can now integrate multiple platforms and games from several collections, which means that the number of available slot machines can reach thousands in some cases.
• Another landmark moment is the Mega Moolah world record for the largest progressive jackpot ever paid. In 2015, Mega Moolah paid €17.8 million, but it went even higher in 2018 when a player won €18.9 million while playing on a mobile phone. Overall, over €1.5 billion has been paid by this network as of 2021. Even more impressive is that they’re paying these jackpots in a lump sum, all at once, and other networks do it over multiple years.
• In 2018, they began collaborating with independent studios to get a more significant number of games on their platform. Their first partner studio was Triple Edge Studios, but many more followed.

They started negotiating the sale of the Quickfire distribution channel in 2021 and completed the process in May 2022. Microgaming sold its entire distribution business and games portfolio to Games Global, and all its casino operators went with them. Microgaming continues to operate, now licensing sports betting software and building upon that side of the business.

Frequent Themes and Bonus Features

Games Global owns an incredible collection of pokie machines, with over 300 under their name and hundreds upon hundreds of others released by their more than two dozen exclusive partners. They continue to release over half a dozen new online pokies each month, all thanks to these partnerships, so the Quickfire platform has a constant stream of new content.

Microgaming stopped designing pokie machines regularly a few years back, and since then, most of the pressure has been on their partners. Many of the original pokies have a dated design these days, but they’re still popular. Their newer releases have better graphics, but it varies with each developer contributing to the collection.

Since there is such an extensive collection of pokie machines, the themes vary, but not many of them could be considered original. The branded slot machines certainly contribute, but the rest are mainly inspired by topics like the Wild West, vampires, wildlife, Irish luck, and so on.

The vast collection has notable highlights, mainly owing to huge progressive jackpots and popular features in trending titles. Some of those we mention and explain below.

Link & Win: With Link & Win, Microgaming has created its version of the Hold & Re-Spin feature, which players can find under different names nowadays. In most cases, it uses bonus symbols to trigger 3 re-spins, where you can reset the number of remaining spins if additional symbols land. Each money symbol pays a prize, and there are fixed jackpots players can claim.

Hyperspins: This is a paid re-spin option. When implemented in a pokie machine, it adds a Re-Spin button at the bottom of each reel. It allows you to re-spin individual reels in exchange for a price that varies. The price depends on the potential outcome of the re-spin. The higher the possible prizes, the bigger the price to re-spin that reel.

Mega Moolah progressive jackpot: This is a record-breaking progressive jackpot network, with New Zealand being among the top countries with the most winners since the pokie’s launch in 2006. Only topped by Canada and the UK, New Zealand houses 15% of all Mega Moolah jackpot winners to date. 

The highest amount won by a Kiwi player was NZ$32,829,081 in 2018. 

It all started with the Mega Moolah pokie, which is still around today, but there are dozens of other titles from the network to choose from, including some recent releases with better graphics.

WowPot progressive jackpot: Launched in 2020 by Microgaming, this is the second major progressive jackpot network currently owned by Games Global. A payout in the 7-figures range is guaranteed, and players can choose from various pokies in the network, from 9 Blazing Diamonds WowPot to Wheel of Wishes.

Our Thoughts on Games Global

Having made its way into the online gambling industry, Games Global became a contender for one of the most important companies in the casino world. It powers many online pokie sites, more than 900 at last count, and offers a platform with over 3,000 games.

There aren’t a lot of companies that you can compare this behemoth to, especially if you’re looking at the ones that focus on the online side of the gambling industry.

Games Global has a robust collection of online pokie machines enjoyed by many players, with Microgaming’s all-time favourites. As a result, everything they release is closely watched. Their new games get undivided community attention and plenty of spins.

Even though Games Global pokie machines are above-average overall, many other providers are doing a better job innovating, delivering big prizes, designing gorgeous graphics, and giving people exciting content. In other words, software providers like Games Global now have to swim in a much bigger pond and stay afloat. We’ll see how that goes for this brand.