Rival gaming technology firms International Game Technology (IGT) and Scientific Games Corporation have inked a deal to share proprietary game features.
On Tuesday, IGT and Sci-Games announced the signing of a ‘patent cross-licensing agreement.’ The deal will allow the companies, which hold the two largest slots game features patent portfolios in North America, to offer games using patented game features from each other’s portfolios, as well as those of other members of the the IGT slots game features pool.
The brief release by IGT – there was no corresponding communiqué from Sci-Games – stated that financial terms of the deal weren’t not disclosed. All other details regarding the extent and limitations of the new arrangement went left unsaid.
IGT has inked similar deals of late, including a cross-licensing agreement with electronic gaming machine maker Everi Games Holdings last October, under which Everi agreed to pay licensing fees to access IGT game features. That same month, IGT signed a deal with Aristocrat Leisure Ltd that covered intellectual property including game features and system patents.
In other IGT news, the company has just re-upped its licensing deal with casino operator Caesars Entertainment. The deal allows IGT’s lottery division to continue representing the Caesars, Harrah’s, Paris Las Vegas, Rio, Flamingo and Horseshoe brands in the US, Canada and Europe.
IGT issued its Q2 financial report card last month, during which the company reported a net loss of $290m, thanks primarily to $220m worth of foreign exchange losses. Absent these and other temporary headwinds, IGT claims its adjusted net income would have hit $31m.
IGT’s Q2 revenue was down 5% to $1.22b, due in part to the recent sale of its lucrative social gaming division DoubleDown Interactive. Service revenue was off 6% to $1.02b while product sales were essentially flat at $196m.
