IGT and Aristocrat sign 10-year patent cross-licensing deal for game features, RGS technologies

International Game Technology (IGT) and Aristocrat announced Tuesday that they have signed a broad, 10-year patent cross-licensing agreement that includes valuable patents related to game features and remote game server (RGS) technologies. The financial terms of the agreement have not been disclosed.  

The new agreement covers a wide range of utility and hardware design patents, including patents for remote game server technologies which relate to Aristocrat’s mobile game publishing business (Pixel United), substantially expanding the scope of the parties’ previous cross-licensing deal. IGT will be able to offer licenses to the companies’ combined game feature and RGS patent portfolios to the global gaming industry. 

In an official press release, Renato Ascoli, IGT CEO Global Gaming, spoke about this agreement and expressed: “This agreement extends and expands the previous patent cross-license between IGT and Aristocrat. This combination of two of the gaming industry's most valuable game features and RGS patent portfolios can help propel the evolution of gaming with compelling content and advanced game mechanics. We look forward to providing the entire gaming industry with the opportunity to license IGT and Aristocrat patents, particularly the compelling content resulting from our combined RGS portfolios, in the spirit of competition and innovation."

Aristocrat CEO and Managing Director, Trevor Croker, said: “We are delighted to achieve this long-term agreement with IGT, which is highly aligned to Aristocrat’s established and successful IP strategy. The agreement will deliver significant flexibility and opportunity for Aristocrat, as we continue to execute our product-led growth plans and extend our reputation for making the world’s best gaming products and mobile content.”

IGT added that it will "continue in its efforts to protect its intellectual property, individually and through collaborations with gaming industry developers and suppliers". 

The company recently announced it also signed an agreement to acquire online and mobile casino games supplier iSoftBet for approximately $174 million in cash. 

The iSoftBet acquisition will more than double the IGT PlayDigital content library to approximately 225 proprietary games, in addition to providing a proprietary game aggregation platform to distribute third-party games, and data-driven promotional and user-engagement tools. It is expected to be completed during the second quarter of 2022.