WMS Industries, Inc. was an American company that made electronic games and amusement machines in Enterprise, Nevada. In 2016, it was combined with Scientific Games. The company that became WMS Industries started as the Williams Manufacturing Company, which was created in 1943 by Harry E. Williams. However, the company that later became WMS Industries was officially formed in 1974 as Williams Electronics, Inc.
Williams originally made pinball machines. In 1964, Williams was bought by Seeburg Corp., a company that made jukeboxes, and became the Williams Electronics Manufacturing Division. In 1973, the company entered the arcade video game market with a game called Paddle Ball, which was similar to Pong. Over time, the company created many classic video games, including Defender, Joust, and Robotron: 2084. In 1974, Williams Electronics, Inc. was created as a fully owned part of Seeburg, which later changed its name to Xcor International in 1977. Williams Electronics became an independent company in 1981 after Seeburg went bankrupt in 1979.
In 1987, the company became a publicly traded company as WMS Industries, Inc., using a shorter version of its name for its stock symbol. In 1988, it bought Bally/Midway, which was the amusement games part of Bally Manufacturing. Bally decided to focus on casino businesses instead. The video game part of the company was called Midway, while pinball machines kept the Williams and Bally names. After Midway had many successful arcade games, WMS bought Tradewest in 1994 to publish home versions of arcade games directly, instead of letting other companies do it. Midway Games became a publicly traded company in 1996 and was fully separated in 1998.
In 1991, WMS created a subsidiary called WMS Gaming to make gambling equipment. Starting with video lottery terminals, the company introduced its first slot machines in 1994 and became a major player in that industry. In 1999, WMS closed its pinball division after a new pinball concept called Pinball 2000 did not sell well. In 2013, WMS became a fully owned part of Scientific Games. In 2016, WMS was combined with Scientific Games, which later changed its name to Light & Wonder in 2022.
Early history
Harry Williams, who studied engineering at Stanford University, joined the coin-operated amusement industry in 1933. He helped popularize several important pinball innovations, such as the tilt mechanism, electrically-powered scoring holes, and the ability to win a free play by achieving a certain score. After working for several companies, including Pacific Amusement Manufacturing, Rock-Ola, and Exhibit Supply, he partnered with Lyndon Durant in 1942 to start a business called United Manufacturing. In 1943, after ending his partnership with Durant, Williams founded the Williams Manufacturing Company at 161 West Huron Street in Chicago, Illinois. The first seven products included a fortune-telling machine called Selector Scope (1944), two electro-mechanical (EM) games, Periscope (1944) and Liberator (1944), a novelty called Zingo (1944), a pinball conversion called Flat-Top (1945), another EM arcade game, Circus Romance (1945), and a second pinball conversion called Laura (1945). The two pinball conversions (Flat-Top and Laura) were built by purchasing older pinball machines made by other companies and changing artwork and other elements on the playfield. The lack of raw materials during World War II made the manufacture of new machines difficult and expensive. The first all original amusement device made by Williams was a flipperless pinball machine called Suspense (1946). During the late 1940s and early 1950s, Williams continued to make pinball machines and the occasional bat-and-ball game. In 1950, Williams produced Lucky Inning, its first pinball machine to have its bottom flippers facing inward in the modern manner.
In 1948, Williams sold 49% of his company to a Philadelphia distributor named Sam Stern, who became a vice president and took over much of the day-to-day running of the company. In 1959, Stern arranged for Consolidated Sun Ray, a New York retail company that operated drug stores and discount houses, to buy Williams’ company. The company was then renamed Williams Electronic Manufacturing Corporation. Harry Williams left after the buyout, though he occasionally worked for the company. The last game he designed for Williams was also one of the last electromechanical games, Rancho (1977).
In 1961, Stern bought Williams back from Consolidated Sun Ray. Three years later, the company was acquired by the Seeburg Corporation, which also purchased United Manufacturing. The two amusement companies were combined under the Williams name but moved into the United factory. Sam Stern continued to run the amusement business, which was renamed Williams Electronics in 1967.
In 1962, 3 Coin became the best-selling Williams machine, with 1,100 units sold. One year later, Skill Pool sold 2,250 units. In 1964, Williams was bought by the Seeburg Corporation. Its 1966 pinball machine A-Go-Go, with its avant-garde 1960s theme, sold a record 5,100 units. Early Williams pinball machines often included innovative features and pinball firsts, such as mechanical reel scoring and the "add-a-ball" feature for locations that did not allow game replays. By 1967, pinball was in the middle of its so-called "golden age," and the number of pinball units that sold began to increase dramatically. Popular Williams pinballs included Shangri-La (1967), Apollo (1967), Beat Time (1967), Smart Set (1969), Gold Rush (1971), and Space Mission (1976).
Golden age of arcade games
In 1972, Atari, Inc. achieved success with its game Pong. Inspired by this, Williams decided to join the new coin-operated arcade video game industry. After early talks with Magnavox, Williams hired the Magnetic Corporation of America to create its first arcade game, Paddle-Ball. In 1974, the company changed its name to Williams Electronics, Inc. In 1980, Seeburg, which was struggling financially, sold Williams to Louis Nicastro. With his son Neil, Nicastro took the company public and led it for more than 20 years.
Williams created its own major success with the 1981 game Defender. This game introduced new features, such as a moving background and bright colors, which influenced many later games. That same year, a sequel called Stargate was released. Other popular games followed, including Joust, Robotron: 2084, Sinistar, and the licensed game Moon Patrol. Except for Sinistar, these games were later released on home systems by other companies, such as Atari.
In 1983, the game Dragon's Lair helped make LaserDisc video games popular. Williams then created Star Rider, a game that combined LaserDisc video with computer graphics. This game caused the company to lose $50 million.
In 1988, Williams bought Bally/Midway, a company that had previously competed with Williams. Bally Manufacturing, the parent company, left the arcade business to focus on casinos. Midway had strong sales in the early 1990s with games like Mortal Kombat and NBA Jam. In 1994, Williams acquired Tradewest and renamed it Williams Entertainment to publish home versions of Midway's arcade games. Two years later, WMS purchased Atari Games from Time Warner. That same year, all video game operations were combined under Midway. Atari Games became Midway Games West, and Williams Entertainment became Midway Home Entertainment. Pinball rights remained with WMS under the Williams brand.
Solid state pinball
In 1976, Williams created its first solid-state pinball machines as test models based on earlier electromechanical games, including Aztec (1976) and Grand Prix. Williams continued making electromechanical pinball machines until October 1977, when it released its final one, Wild Card. Starting in November 1977, Williams only produced solid-state pinball games. Its first solid-state model, Hot Tip (1977), sold 4,903 units. Earlier, the electromechanical version of Hot Tip, released in June 1977, sold 1,300 units. From the late 1970s through the 1980s, Williams created many new pinball games, such as Gorgar (1979, the first with a synthetic voice), Firepower (1980), Black Knight (1980, the first with multiple levels), Jungle Lord (1981), Space Shuttle (1984), Comet (1985), High Speed (1986), Pin*Bot (1986), F-14 Tomcat (1987), Cyclone (1988), and Taxi (1988).
Between 1989 and the mid-1990s, pinball machines began using dot-matrix displays. During this time, Williams released popular games, including Black Knight 2000, FunHouse, The Machine: Bride of Pin-Bot, Terminator 2, Fish Tales, and The Getaway: High Speed II.
In 1992, Williams produced The Addams Family pinball game, based on the 1991 movie, under the Bally label. The Addams Family sold 20,270 units, a record that remains unbroken. In 1993, Williams released Twilight Zone, which sold 15,235 units. After 1993, even though Williams remained the top pinball manufacturer, it did not match those sales again. Williams won the American Amusement Machine Association’s 1995 Manufacturer of the Year award. Medieval Madness, released in 1997, is often considered the greatest pinball machine of all time.
In 1999, Williams tried to revive pinball sales with Pinball 2000 machines, which combined pinball with computer graphics on embedded raster-scan displays. This innovation did not succeed because production costs were too high for the market to support. That same year, WMS left pinball to focus on slot machine development.
Focus on gambling machines
As the pinball industry declined, WMS put money into the hotel industry. It successfully took its hotel business public and then separated it into a new company called WHG Resorts in 1996. WHG Resorts was later bought by Wyndham International.
In 1994, WMS entered the market for reel-spinning slot machines. Its products helped shift the industry away from simple mechanical machines toward games that used popular characters and themes. For more than 100 years, starting in the late 1800s, mechanical slot machines used limited themes like card suits, horseshoes, bells, stars, fruits, black bars, and the Liberty Bell. In 1996, WMS used its experience with video games to create its first successful casino slot machine, Reel 'em In, which was a video slot machine with bonus features. Later, WMS released other successful games like Jackpot Party, Boom, and Filthy Rich.
By 1996, WMS moved all of its video game copyrights and trademarks to Midway, including games like Defender, Stargate, Robotron: 2084, Joust, and Smash TV. WMS took Midway public and later separated it into its own company in 1998. In 1999, WMS closed its pinball division and focused only on gaming machines. During the 1990s, the gaming industry grew as more states allowed casinos and video lottery games, and Native American tribes built casinos.
In 2001, WMS released a series of slot machines based on the Monopoly board game. These machines were licensed or rented to casinos instead of being sold. The company’s games used themes from well-known entertainment brands, such as Men in Black, The Price Is Right, Match Game, Star Trek, and The Lord of the Rings. Some games were connected to other machines in casinos or across multiple casinos, allowing players to win large jackpots based on total play. These branded games were popular and profitable for WMS. Other recent games included Brazilian Beauty and Hot Hot Super Jackpot. In 2006, WMS bought a company called Orion Financement Company B.V. in the Netherlands.
From 2006 to 2011, WMS’s revenue increased from $451 million to $783 million. Its net income reached $113 million in 2010. By 2012, revenue dropped to $690 million.
WMS continued making video gaming machines and, to a smaller degree, reel-spinning slots for sale and rental to casinos in the U.S., some foreign countries, and state lotteries. Some of WMS’s designs changed to match the preferences of younger players, who often want more challenging games than older players. Machines now include surround sound, flat-screen displays, and colorful images.
WMS also made the G+ series of video reel slots, the Community Gaming family of connected slots, mechanical reels, poker games, and video lottery terminals. In 2010, WMS began offering online games for people over 18 in the UK. In 2011, it started online games in the U.S. at www.jackpotparty.com. In 2012, WMS partnered with Large Animal Games to create a Facebook game called Lucky Cruise, which used slot machine themes. Players could earn "lucky charms" instead of money. The game had a simple strategy element. In 2012, WMS also introduced mobile gaming and focused on expanding online games. For casinos, it released My Poker video poker games.
WMS’s technologies included:
About 70% of WMS’s revenue in 2010 came from U.S. customers. Its design offices were in Chicago, Illinois. Other offices and facilities were in the U.S. and internationally, including Argentina, Australia, Austria, Canada, China, India, Mexico, the Netherlands, South Africa, Spain, and the UK. An online gaming center was in Belgium.
In 2012, WMS bought Jadestone Group AB in Sweden and Phantom EFX in Iowa. These companies later became part of a new subsidiary called Williams Interactive, which focused on online gaming. That same year, WMS launched Jackpot Party Casino, a Facebook social casino game. Betsson and Unibet online casinos signed multi-year agreements with Williams Interactive to provide games like Jackpot Party, Zeus, and Reel 'Em In to their players. In 2014, EveryMatrix partnered with Williams Interactive to offer online slot games from Williams Interactive.
Acquisition by Scientific Games
In October 2013, WMS merged with Scientific Games, becoming a company completely owned by Scientific Games. Scientific Games paid $1.5 billion to buy WMS, and each share of WMS was worth $26.00 to its owners. The next year, Scientific Games also purchased Bally Technologies, which was the company that continued the slot machine business started by Bally Manufacturing. In 2016, WMS was reorganized and fully combined with Scientific Games. In 2022, Scientific Games separated its lottery terminal operations and changed its name to Light & Wonder. WMS, along with Bally and Shuffle Master, remains a brand under Light & Wonder.