Ainsworth Game Technology

About Ainsworth Game Technology

Ainsworth Game Technology, or simply Ainsworth, is a developer of games for both land-based and online casinos. It was founded back in 1995 and based in Sydney, Australia. It’s owned by and named after Len Ainsworth, who is very well known for founding Aristocrat, which is one of the world’s largest developers of physical slot machines. Ainsworth has become so successful over the years that it’s listed on the Australian stock exchange and has offices both in the US and in Europe, alongside its headquarters in Australia.

For much of its history, the developer specialised in creating physical slot machines for land-based casinos; it wasn’t until 2013 that they decided to enter the online market. In the few years since, they’ve managed to form partnerships and distribution deals with a number of big industry names, such as Microgaming and Playtech. Thanks to these partnerships, the developer’s slots have been able to reach a diverse audience of online casino players.

Strengths

What makes Ainsworth a particularly great developer is the fact that, before coming online, the company had many years of experience in the land-based casino games industry.

When they eventually branched out into the online casino market, it already had an existing collection of popular physical slots. It was relatively straightforward, therefore to gain a foothold in the online gaming market by adapting their current library to online formats for online casinos.

This is great for anyone who has played the developer’s slot in land-based casinos, primarily since the online versions are designed to be utterly faithful to the originals. So far, the collection of Ainsworth online slots includes only a selection of the developer’s land-based games - there are still plenty more to come.

What you may notice is that a lot of the games have animal themes, with examples including Run With The Wolves, Barnyard Bonanza, Crazy Goose and Jade Tiger, to name a few. It’s currently not apparent whether the developer intends to be known for animal-themed slots, or whether it’s just a coincidence that many of its slots are based on animals. So overall, the developer’s key strength is its committed approach to digitising its land-based slots.

Weaknesses

The main criticism levied at Ainsworth’s games is their slots aren’t as advanced as those released by the competition. Ainsworth doesn’t chase trends and release slots with sophisticated bonus features or flashy, high-quality graphics. Instead, it focuses on making its slots recreate the traditional land-based casino slots experience as much as possible; the graphics in its slots to tend to be quite basic and there are usually very few animations.

There’s also the fact that the developer’s portfolio is quite limited, with only around 30 games launched to date - they’re all slots and, as of the time of writing, a lot of them aren’t yet mobile friendly. Some developers choose to focus on quality over quantity, and many have been able to produce games at a much faster pace; they’re therefore able to compete better since they have a more comprehensive, more diverse selection of games to offer.

Key Facts

1. The developer is fully licensed to operate in many countries.
2. Ainsworth doesn’t appear to have won any major industry awards for its slots as of yet.
3. So far, the number of games released for handheld devices is limited. The developer hasn’t been as keen to enter the mobile market as most others.
4. Ainsworth hasn’t been responsible for any new innovation. Instead of launching industry firsts, the developer is more focused on adapting its physical slots into online formats and giving online players the chance to play slots that recreate the classic land-based casino slots experience.

Final Verdict

Many online casino game developers are in the seemingly never-ending race to produce the newest, most advanced and most sophisticated slots out there. Ainsworth isn’t one of those companies.

What's excellent about Ainsworth is that its remaining faithful to its roots as a developer of land-based slots. It entered the online market much later than most other companies and is taking its time to convert its favourite land-based games into online formats. While other developers focus on creating slots with the most up-to-date and state-of-the-art graphics, it’s encouraging to see Ainsworth do its own thing and instead focus on making its games look and play just like the originals in the way they were meant to be played.

The games may not be the most advanced or feature-heavy, but they’re incredibly fun to play. They’re nothing groundbreaking they’re straightforward slots that anyone can play and enjoy, especially for beginners new to Slots.