As IGT approaches the 30th anniversary of producing Wheel of Fortune games, the brand’s impact on the casino industry keeps multiplying.
The company introduced a dozen new Wheel of Fortune titles at this year’s Global Gaming Expo, after debuting 11 the previous year. A video lottery terminal version launched this year in Illinois, and the Wheel of Fortune Big Money Spin ETG debuted in September at the Downtown Grand Casino in Las Vegas. A Wheel of Fortune side bet is available for video poker players.
IGT, which merged this summer with Everi, already has developed a Wheel of Fortune Cash Machine Jackpots game, marrying the brand with Everi’s most popular cash-on-reels slot mechanic in a game that will become available next year.
And more innovations are on the way through a licensing extension with Sony Pictures Television that gives IGT exclusive rights to continue developing Wheel of Fortune games through 2034.
“We’ve got a full-court press on all of our major channels,” said Boris Hallerbach, IGT’s director of product management, premium. He cited Wheel of Fortune’s large online presence in the United States and Canada and opportunities for the brand to expand internationally. “We have interest in Australia and in Europe for new Wheel of Fortune content. With this latest agreement, Sony and Wheel of Fortune have allowed us to go into (more) areas.”
Domenico Pastia, senior vice president of global product, attributed Wheel of Fortune’s success not only to IGT’s commitment to developing “a sizable amount of product throughout the years” but also to Sony and the show itself for making adjustments that keep Wheel of Fortune fresh and atop the television ratings.
“Once you have such a long relationship, you constantly need to innovate, but you also need to evolve yet keep the experience familiar. It’s a fine balance,” Pastia said. Holding onto the iconic “Wheel Of Fortune” chant in multiple titles is a model of consistency.
Finding new ways to employ the classic wheel accomplishes both goals. The Wheel of Fortune Trio cabinet, first deployed in February at Graton Resort & Casino in California, now is in “well more than 100” casinos and consistently ranks among the industry’s top performers, Hallerbach said. It has a 76-inch mechanical wheel centered above three 49-inch portrait-screen machines grouped together with an almost 12-foot-tall video backdrop.
Pastia said the configuration fosters a connection among the three players because the likelihood of at least one winning a chance to spin the wheel is high. “This creates a social experience that I believe is unique; there is nothing else like it in the industry,” he said.
Hallerbach said the Wheel of Fortune TV show has a similar attraction. “I watched it with my parents and grandparents growing up, and people have had that experience over the years. The brand has been just stamped onto America’s culture and is instantly recognizable.”
Pastia said Wheel of Fortune slots are the world’s only brand with the true omnichannel experience of providing a shared liquidity jackpot between land-based and online games. While some players focus solely on land-based or online Wheel of Fortune games, he said the majority of players in jurisdictions with the two modes are playing both. He cited Wheel of Fortune slots’ strong performance in Canada and New Jersey, which have long experience offering online and land-based games, as proof that player like to shift across channels.
Next year will be a milestone for Wheel of Fortune as IGT marks the 30th anniversary of the industry’s first licensed slot title. Pastia said the company has made a “sizable investment” in a months-long celebration that will include field activations with operators and player-oriented promotions, “particularly through the digital channel.”
“The two will go hand-in-hand and will be delivered throughout 2026, culminating at G2E, where Wheel of Fortune will play an even larger-than-usual role in our booth, in terms of presence. This will be paired with an interesting innovation on the land-based side,” he said, declining to provide details.
Hallerbach said WOF’s “recipe for success” combines Sony’s ability to keep the brand relevant since the television show’s 1975 debut and IGT’s focus on keeping slot content current.
Pastia agreed. “There is no other brand that comes to my mind that has such a strong native game mechanic embedded in the nature of the brand,” he said, and that is a crucial component of WOF’s unrivaled success in licensed slot games.
“I cannot say it will never happen again,” he said. “Never say never. But I think it would be really difficult to replicate for anybody, including for us.”
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